Shamsul Huda, a beneficiary of the government’s social safety net programmes, lives in a rickety little tin- shack in Noboganga area under Paba upazila of Rajshahi.

Natural calamities, including the recent flash floods in haor areas caused by heavy rain amid cyclone Ashani, have damaged the production of 78,987 tonnes of boro rise this season, according to the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE).

Central banks around the world have commenced hiking policy rates in order to contain the inflationary pressure stemming from the ongoing global supply chain disruption and demand recovery.

When the country's economic situation as a result of the global economic crisis caused by the Russia-Ukraine war became the talk of the town, a parliamentary body in its meeting yesterday (May 23, 2022) stayed silent on the topic.

Exchange rate management has become a frontline issue in Bangladesh in recent times. The sharp rise in the price of the dollar and the significant decline in the foreign exchange reserves within a short span of time have sent shock waves across the economy.

Bangladesh’s economy should be on guard for 2027 and 2028 from when the country will start to collectively pay back the interest due on four or five foreign loans taken for domestic mega-projects, according to Bangladesh Economic Association (BEA).

After a long wait, the experimental farming of vannamei is set to begin in the Chattogram region that could pave the way for the commercial production of a shrimp variety that rules the roost in the global market.

Bangladesh Bank yesterday directed banks to increase lending to farmers at 4 per cent interest to encourage cultivation of import substitute crops, namely pulse, oilseeds and maize.

Employees of all banks operating in Bangladesh will not be able to travel abroad from now on as the central bank has stepped up its efforts to stop the foreign currency reserves from sliding further.

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal today (May 22, 2022) sat with the top bosses of National Board of Revenue (NBR) and Bangladesh Bank to discuss measures to contain the prices of essentials commodities and stabilize the forex markets, said officials.

Despite a lot of stress, the Bangladeshi taka remains one of the strong currencies in the region. No doubt, the taka is still overvalued and consequently, it is trying to realign itself with the value of the US dollar through measured depreciation.

A good number of farmers in Rangpur have been earning unexpected profits from growing mint, a medicinal crop, on small patches of land.

Retail prices of wheat flour recently shot up to a 15-year high amid concerns of a supply shortage in local markets after India banned exports of the staple food in order to ensure its availability at home in the face of rising global costs due to Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Although the corporate tax levied on listed firms is lower than that of their non-listed counterparts, many companies in Bangladesh lack interest in joining the stock market as they want to avoid the obligation of ensuring good corporate governance, regularly disclosing financial information and complying with other rules.

The taka faced less depreciation against the US dollar compared to other South Asian currencies in the last one year, eroding the export competitiveness of Bangladesh against its peers.

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s economic philosophy gives equal importance to public and private sectors and co-operatives in terms of ownership of industries, said Binayak Sen, director general of the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), yesterday.

The upcoming budget for fiscal year 2022-23 should focus on checking inflation to give relief to the poor, lower middle and middle-income people, not on the higher gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate, said economists yesterday.

Transparency International Bangladesh today (May 20, 2022) called upon the government to form an independent "Economic Strategy Advisory Committee" to advise on ways to address the potential global economic fallout and ensure continued commendable economic performance achieved so far.

Litchi production in Magura has increased ten fold compared to what it was a decade ago thanks to favourable weather and soil conditions this year.

Editors yesterday urged the government to bring down the corporate tax for newspapers to 10-15 per cent from the fiscal year of 2022-23 to help the print media survive amid rising costs.