The International Monetary Fund has revised down its economic growth projection for Bangladesh to 6.4 percent for the current fiscal year largely because of Russia-Ukraine war and supply chain disruptions.

Public expenditure for development programmes gained pace in March this fiscal year, taking the overall implementation rate to a three-year high of 45.5 per cent, according to official data.

The Bangladesh Bank yesterday relaxed the rescheduling policy for short-term farm loans to support farmers in the wake of rising prices of agricultural items in the global market.

Bangladesh’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector has shown phenomenal annual growth after the launch of the Digital Bangladesh initiative in 2010.

Bangladesh needs to sign a free trade agreement (FTA) with South Korea that enables a win for both as the East Asian country previously attained huge success engaging in such bilateral agreements, experts said yesterday.

Carew & Co (Bangladesh) Ltd, the country’s sole state-owned distillery, could face a shortage of sugar as sugarcane threshing at its mill in Chuadanga hit an all-time low this season.

Banks have been asked not to impose over 1 per cent interest on the exporters after disbursing fund from their own pocket and before being reimbursed from Bangladesh Bank’s export development fund (EDF).

Businesses based in Dhaka’s New Market area had to close down for most of yesterday due to a clash between students and traders, leaving them to face huge losses just one-and-a-half weeks ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr, the biggest sales season in Bangladesh.

Inflation in Bangladesh rocketed to a 17-month high in March driven by higher food costs as global uncertainties stemming from the Russia-Ukraine war and supply chain disruptions show no sign of abating, official figures showed yesterday.

Gold prices jumped about 1 per cent to a more than one-month high on Monday as concerns over the economic fallout from the Russia-Ukraine war and surging inflation drove investors to the safe-haven asset.

Around 102 factories in greater Rangpur, including 28 at the Uttara EPZ in Nilphamari, will likely get gas connections by December 2023 as the “Construction of Bogura-Rangpur-Saidpur Gas Transmission Pipeline Project” should be complete by then.

Five local brick manufacturers received a total of Tk 2.87 crore yesterday for reducing carbon emissions through the use of fuel efficient technology.

Sales on digital platforms have picked up in Bangladesh as people in droves are purchasing products online as part of their preparations to celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr.

The Finance Division has recommended that the government avoid hard-term loans and discourage import of luxury goods to cope with macroeconomic pressures arising from the Russia-Ukraine war.

Generation Unlimited (GenU) launched in Bangladesh in February 2019 is a public-private-youth sector-driven multi-stakeholder initiative and partnerships platform with an ambitious goal of enabling 17 million opportunities for youth with quality education and training, employment, youth entrepreneurship and youth engagement in the country by 2025. GenU CEO Dr Kevin Frey shares the journey so far and what lies ahead.

People mainly from the ethnic community of Ramchandrapur village under Kaharol upazila of Dinajpur usually spend a portion of their day catching snails in Dhepa river, which once was a significant source for edible breeds of the shelled gastropod.

Bangladesh has devised a strategy for signing trade deals with major trading partners for retaining duty benefits past its United Nations status graduation from a least developed country (LDC) to a developing one in 2026, according to a government official.

Traffic congestion in Dhaka’s Tongi alone is causing financial losses of Tk 10 crore per day, including waste of fuel by idling vehicles, according to the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI).

The government has set an ambitious economic growth target of 7.5 per cent for the next fiscal year although the country faces new headwinds owing to higher prices of commodities globally and is still recovering from the shocks of the coronavirus pandemic.

The government should prioritise job creation and inflation control in the budget for the next fiscal year in a bid to help the marginalised people survive amid higher prices of essentials, said the Citizen’s Platform for SDGs, Bangladesh, yesterday.