Bangladesh has endorsed elimination of poverty as a national goal, and the country can be proud of its achievements in this respect during the last 25 years.

Jobless" growth is the phenomenon when an economy experiences growth without an expansion of jobs. In recent times, South Asia is considered to be the fastest growing region in the world.

For many years now, Greece has been considered the “sick man” of the European Union (EU). The Greek economy was on the verge of collapse right after the major world economic...

One common discourse in the financial and policy arena of Bangladesh is the idea that higher rate on national savings schemes discourages investment in the stock market.

The title of this essay may raise a few eyebrows in Bangladesh. Bangladesh has already embraced the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and there is no doubt that the government and civil society are marching ahead to reach the various targets.

The National Social Security Strategy approved by the Cabinet in 2015 points to a strong political commitment of Bangladesh to become a welfare state.

Here is an example of an organisation that benefitted substantially from research: Courtyard by Marriott found out that business travellers needed hassle-free service, relevant information, and time to relax during their travels. They made their check-in and check-out procedures efficient; seeded their website with maps, restaurant types and locations, and promotional materials; and introduced quiet lounges which didn't have music or TV noise to cause distraction. I don't need to elaborate on Marriott's customer satisfaction ratings or their bottom line!

The 20th Anniver-sary of the Asian financial crisis and 10th Anniversary of the North Atlantic financial crisis brought back a sense of déjà vu—we have been here before.

Trade flourishes where there are high levels of education, developed financial sectors, strong governance, accountable institutions, and transparency that combats corruption.

How should we read the SDGs as far as the priorities of the South Asian countries are concerned? In my view, SDG 7 (affordable and clean energy), SDG 8 (decent work and economic growth) and SDG 9 (industry, innovation, and infrastructure) are at the heart of priorities mainly because of the fact that South Asian countries have national priorities aligned with these SDGs, and more importantly, these SDGs have strong linkages with other SDGs.

Has the finance minister addressed these issues and is this budget adequate to meet the challenges stated above? An equally important issue is this: do the responsible agencies have the capacity and capability of implementing such a large budget?

A minister was telling me the other day that if people don't mind spending Tk. 300 on a cheese burger, why can't they afford a little more for rice?

Our finance minister has proposed a mega budget of Tk 4,00,266 crore for FY2017-18, of which Tk 1,53,331 crore is earmarked for Annual Development Programme (ADP).

Bangladesh has been making steady economic progress over the past decades. But Bangladesh will not be able to achieve eight percent GDP growth rate by 2020 unless major concerns relating to its labour force and employment are adequately addressed.

If we look at the growth pattern of Bangladesh from 1990, we discover two specific characteristics...

In a few years, Bangladesh will celebrate its 50 years of independence. When Bangladesh was born in 1971 as a new nation, there was

Discussions on the proposed national budget for the FY2017-18 need to be placed in the current context of six major economic challenges in Bangladesh.

Smoke and mirrors” is an idiom based on illusions created by magicians, where they make objects appear or disappear by extending or retracting mirrors amid a distracting burst of smoke.

Bangladesh has made remarkable progress toward ending poverty and sharing prosperity with more of its people. As recently as 2000,

Most economists view Brexit as something seriously negative for the economy of the UK. Although negotiations for leaving the EU are yet to begin...