On November 4, the price of diesel and kerosene rose by 15 tk per litre. The decision came at a time when the economy of the country is struggling to recover from the severe depression caused by the pandemic.

On Sunday, 12 trucks -- waiting in a parking lot near Petrapole Port -- were burnt to the ground after a fire broke out. These trucks were carrying cotton bound for Bangladesh. According to local sources, no one got injured in the incident.

The government raised the prices of kerosene and diesel by Tk 15 a litre to Tk 80 on November 4. And at the same time it has increased the price of 12-kg cylinder of LP gas by Tk 54 to Tk 1,313. The prices have been hiked at a time when the general mass have been struggling to recover from the pandemic induced economic downfall. In today’s Star Connects, Khondoker Md Shoyeb along with M Tamim, professor of the petroleum engineering department and dean of engineering of Buet, and Dr Khondaker Golam Moazzem, research director of CPD, tries to find out why the government has to increase the prices of kerosene and diesel and what could be done other than rising the prices now.

Decreased interest rates in banks has made saving accounts more attractive to the masses. Many middle class and lower middle class families even rely on saving accounts to sustain their livelihood. 

BMW, Mercedes Benz, Ford, Land Rover, Lexus, Mitsubishi, Toyota and many more luxurious cars are on auction in Chittagong Port’s auction this time around. The auction will be open for the public both online and through several tender boxes around the country coming Wednesday and Thursday.

During the coronavirus induced lockdown, Facebook based businesses drew more customers. But recently, complaints of fraud in many of these social media businesses have not only skyrocketed, it has also seen an increase in delivery of wrong and substandard products. As a result, customers are now losing faith in this business model as a whole.

Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) is now proving to be inadequate in handling current export traffic -- because of laxity in providing functional Explosive Detective Systems. Exporters are worried that this can cause delay in shipment, and ultimately substantial loss in foreign revenue.

For the last one year, share market indices have been on the rise. Since October 2020 till now the shares of 20 companies whose share prices have increased the most are either Z or B category shares or shares of companies whose production had been halted.

Prices of essentials are on the rise. The increase in the price of onion in India and price of oil in the international market has affected respective prices in Bangladesh as well. To that has been added the recent hike in LP gas and fuel prices.

Recently, NRB Bank bought shares at high prices and sold them at a lower price. Although the bank incurred losses because of this, others benefited through the unethical trading practice that put depositors’ money at risk. How did this kind of irregularity happen in an institution like a bank?

On October 10, 2021, Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission increased the price of LP gas by Tk 226 per 12kg cylinder unit, a new record in retail price. Now consumers have to spend Tk 1,259 for one 12kg cylinder of LP gas.

Bangladesh has seen its lowest remittance in 16 months in September. In last fiscal year 2020-21, Bangladesh received a record remittance of US$ 24.78 billion, and many saw it as a change towards the positive.

The e-commerce sector experienced rapid expansion during the coronavirus pandemic but the scene changed at the beginning of this year when news of corruption and irregularities of different online platforms started to surface. People started moving away from these platforms and the number of transactions in e-commerce through cards declined by 42% from Tk 1,277 crore in June to Tk 742 crore in July.

The European Union, the largest importer of readymade garments from Bangladesh, will cease to provide the generalised system of preferences (GSP) scheme after the country upgrades to developing nation status.

There are often irregularities in share prices at the stock market. But this is the first time in a while that an institutional investor like a bank is involved in such an irregularity. The culprit here is NRB Bank.

The government has reduced the interest rate of savings certificate, allegedly due to pressure from different stakeholders.

Bangladesh recently decided to lend $250 million dollars to Sri Lanka from its foreign currency reserve. This loan will be provided through a currency swap mechanism.

Farmers in Moulvibazar are profiting from honey cultivation with minimal investment.

The stock market index in the country is stepping up to another new record high as time passes and experts are pointing towards a number of recent incidents and stock market authorities for this upwards trend.

Ten of the top-ranking private banks of the country have breached central bank regulations by setting the interest rate on deposits far lower than the interest rate charged on loans to account holders. In some cases the clients stand to face losses if they make fixed deposits.