Although some steps were taken in the right direction, the measures proposed in the budget for the upcoming fiscal year centring macroeconomic stability, trade and investment are insufficient, experts and businesspeople opined in a discussion.

The leading banks will arrange a dinner for expatriate Bangladeshis at New York LaGuardia Airport Marriott

Offshore banking is increasingly becoming a key window for banks in Bangladesh to facilitate investments and international trade by attracting deposits in foreign currencies.

BB yesterday barred banks from transferring foreign currency to their offshore units

The reserves stood at $19.16 billion as of December 13.

Bangladesh’s conglomerates have lost Tk 65,000 crore over the past one year because of the fluctuation of the value of the taka against the US dollar as loans have become costlier due to the volatile global economy, said a noted economist yesterday. 

Unpredictability has become the new normal in a world afflicted by the forces of deglobalisation amidst rising geopolitical tensions.

Come January there won’t be any volatility in the foreign exchange market -- was the overarching message from the government in the past couple of months. January has arrived, and the situation is dicey as before.

Bangladesh does not have too many policy options other than reducing consumption of goods and services and making the exchange rate flexible in order to ensure macroeconomic stability, said a central bank report.

The government is expecting $2.5-3 billion by June next year from multilateral lenders other than the International Monetary Fund to help the Bangladesh economy weather the storm caused by the Ukraine war.

The Bangladesh Bank has allowed, for the first time, the domestic banks to borrow from their offshore banking operations, to settle the import payments of capital machinery, industrial raw materials and imports made by the government.

To ease pressure on foreign exchange reserves, the government has decided to stop foreign trips of its officials and postponed implementation of less important projects that require imports.