The government should focus on restoring macroeconomic stability and providing rations to people who are financially insolvent and in the lower-income tier in the upcoming national budget for fiscal year 2022-23, recommended economists yesterday. 

Small investments in the cottage and micro sectors are playing an important role in employment generation and sustainable development of the country, said Bangladesh Bank Governor Fazle Kabir at a conference.

The harvesting of Haribhanga, a variety of mango native to north-western districts such as Rangpur, will begin in the once Monga-stricken region on June 20, according to officials of the local administration.

Foreign assistance disbursement jumped 58 per cent in the current fiscal year’s July-April period thanks to spending for vaccination, one-time budget support and implementation of mega projects, including that of the Russia-funded Rooppur nuclear power plant. 

Bangladesh’s trade deficit shot up 53 per cent year-on-year to $27.5 billion in the July-April period of the current fiscal year as the surge in imports continued against lower export receipts, exceeding last year’s total shortfall.

Macroeconomic stability has been a hallmark of Bangladesh’s development strategy. This has served the country well, especially in terms of providing a solid enabling environment for the private sector.

Export earnings, the largest source of foreign currencies for Bangladesh, slowed in May reflecting the fall in demand in western economies reeling from the crisis caused by higher inflation, the Russian–Ukraine war and supply chain bottlenecks.

Tea export from Bangladesh has not increased keeping pace with the use and production of tea in the country, Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi said yesterday.

China  “firmly” opposes a new trade initiative between Taiwan and the United States, the Commerce Ministry said on Thursday, a plan the government in Taipei says is a recognition of the key position the island plays in global supply chains.

In the last two years, many expected that the budget would be framed keeping three perspectives in mind: economic aspect concerning people’s lives and livelihoods; ethical aspect regarding legalising black money at a substantially reduced rate of tax, without any question and penalty; and the need for thinking out of the box of a conventional annual budget.

Powdered milk prices have increased by Tk 50 to Tk 80 per kilogramme (kg) as rising transportation charges and the growing value of US dollars pushed up costs in the international market.

Remittance flows to Bangladesh declined 13.15 per cent year-on-year in May as higher rates of US dollars in the informal markets are prompting many migrant workers to shun formal channels, creating additional pressure on the country’s already heated foreign exchange market.

The government has formulated a “Charcoal Policy, 2022” to establish an eco-friendly, sustainable and export-oriented charcoal industry of international standard. 

Bhutan wants Bangladesh to make 2017’s transit route deal functional soon so that the landlocked country can use Mongla and Banglabandha ports to carry goods from and to Bangladesh through India.

Fitch Solutions Group Ltd, an affiliate of Fitch Ratings, has cut Bangladesh’s growth forecast to 6.5 per cent for the next fiscal year owing to the multiple challenges facing the economy for the Russia-Ukraine war and higher commodity prices.

Litchi growers and traders in northern districts such as Dinajpur are expecting good profits this season following two years of pandemic-induced losses as they are getting better prices for their produce with the market having gained momentum over the past two weeks.

In the wake of a foreign currency crisis in the country three recent steps of the government that drew wide appreciation are the travel restrictions for government officials (Finance Division, May 12), lifting of source declaration requirement for over Tk 5 lakh remittance (Bangladesh Bank, May 23) and imposition of additional duty on 68 various importable items (National Board of Revenue, May 24). While we fashionably go against the government on every possible issue on social media, these three rather attracted profuse praise with the first one, cessation of foreign tours, causing hysteria.

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has been left with a target of collecting Tk 102,244 crore in the last two months of the ongoing fiscal year as it logged 69 per cent of its overall target until April.

The country’s apex trade body yesterday urged the Bangladesh Bank to take steps so that existing borrowers are not classified as defaulters until December this year.

Bangladesh set out for financial sector reforms in the 1980s.