Bangladesh stands at the threshold of a paradigm shift in technological development as it is poised to change gear into a faster mode of economic development, and realising its vision of becoming a developed nation by 2041.

Hiring in the United States heated up again in May, according to government data released Friday, with the strong labor market defying expectations of a slowdown amid efforts to cool the world’s biggest economy.

In 2019, when AHM Mustafa Kamal took charge as the finance minister, the Bangladesh economy was taxing for take-off for its long-haul flight to the developed country club.

Sustaining the development that has taken place in Bangladesh in the past 14 years and curbing inequality are key major challenges facing the economy owing to the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war, said Planning Minister MA Mannan.

While the government has pursued a number of poor economic policies, the fact remains that they have largely been driven due to political considerations.

Bangladesh’s economy is in its worst state in recent history, and the situation may worsen if the policymakers do not address the problems by employing the appropriate policy tools, the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) said yesterday.

The think-tank says in a media briefing on Bangladesh economy

The government is yet to take any comprehensive corrective measures to tackle macroeconomic challenges as it has not properly assessed the gravity of the situation in the current fiscal year, an economist said.  

The private investment-to-GDP ratio in Bangladesh declined in the current fiscal year owing to a lower confidence among investors amid the persisting dollar crisis and global uncertainty, higher inflation and a fall in demand for goods in international markets.

Reforms following the IMF prescription should not harm disadvantaged groups

Bangladesh’s trade gap and current account deficit have narrowed significantly in recent months but the positive developments might not prove enough to bring back stability to the economy. 

The upcoming budget poses significant challenges – arguably the most challenging in recent times – for economic policymaking in Bangladesh.

The economy is estimated to have expanded at a slower-than-expected pace in 2022-23, said the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) yesterday, a figure that analysts describe as good in view of elevated inflation, slowing exports and remittances and the ongoing pressure on the country’s foreign exchange reserves.

The deficit in Bangladesh’s financial account widened further in the first nine months of the ongoing fiscal year, an indication that the current instability in the foreign exchange market will continue in the coming months. 

Four state-run commercial banks registered 29 per cent year-on-year spike in bad loans in 2022 as the central bank’s relaxed classification rules introduced in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak ended and their inefficient lending persisted. 

Businesses are set up to make a profit. We all understand that. But to what extent that profit would be made?

Bangladesh’s exports to Asian markets are growing steadily thanks to increasing demand from several major markets but the country needs to sign trade pacts and diversify products in a continent where the consumer class is fast expanding.     

The business sector in Bangladesh has been going through severe challenges for the past four years, which, for many, have been the toughest period in decades, with the coronavirus pandemic being the dominant factor in the early part before the Russia-Ukraine war broke out. Today, we are running the last report of a series and it focuses on the lessons for the businesses from the two unprecedented shocks.

The poverty rate in Bangladesh has declined to 18.7 per cent and the extreme poverty rate stood at 5.6 per cent, according to the latest data from the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).

Mess residents’ struggle highlights vulnerability to high food prices