Editorial

Bulging unutilised project aid in pipeline

Bulging unutilised project aid in pipeline

At a time when the country is struggling to prop up its dwindling foreign exchange reserves and aggressively hunting for more foreign aid and loans to implement various projects, it is disconcerting to know that a staggering amount of $46.5 billion in foreign aid remains stuck in the pipeline due t

Prices are fixed but of no use

Prices are fixed but of no use

The current price ceiling fixed for as many as 29 commodities by the Department of Agricultural Marketing (DAM) and its positive impacts conspicuous by their absence is more like the game of pranksters Tom and Jerry. In the cartoon, they play pranks which are funny and hilarious at times but hardly

Banking sector mergers finally happening

Banking sector mergers finally happening

That the country has too many banks relative to the size of the financial market is hardly any news. What is news is that the central bank (Bangladesh Bank) has finally stepped in to prod the weaker, tottering banks into mergers that will save some institutions from going down under. In line with t

Looking for new manpower markets abroad

Looking for new manpower markets abroad

To the worry over the decline in the earnings from foreign remittance due to the rise in the use of informal channel for money transfer by the migrant workers abroad, a new anxiety has been added.   It concerns, as reported in this paper in its March 13 issue, the fall of manpower export

Preparing for post-LDC era

Preparing for post-LDC era

As Bangladesh approaches graduation from the band of Least Developed Countries (LDCs), the imperative for facing the post-LDC era head-on becomes increasingly conspicuous. With the much cherished graduation barely two years away, the need for moving ahead without preferential cushioning is the call


Missing link of healthcare system

Missing link of healthcare system

A report on heart, lung and brain diseases carried in this newspaper on Tuesday paints a dismal picture of the health condition of the nation and the medical treatment available in the country. Although the focus of the report is primarily on cardiac problems, it has referred to other fatal disease

A shot in the arm for leather sector

A shot in the arm for leather sector

Of the export sectors that did not perform well in the previous fiscal (FY2022-23), 'leather and leather goods' was one. The Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data say that in FY23, this sector earned US$1.25 billion from exports which was 2.0 per cent less than that of the previous fiscal (FY22). In t

Ambitious National Highway 9

Ambitious National Highway 9

Rudyard Kipling could not be more correct when he wrote,"East is East, West is West, and never the twain shall meet". The implications of his vast oriental and occidental context are true on a mini scale in case of eastern and western parts of Bangladesh, a small country. Geographically, the 131-ki

Clipping middlemen's wings

Clipping middlemen's wings

Middlemen, the intermediaries connecting buyers and sellers across various sectors of the economy, are meant to facilitate trade and transactions, and add value to both ends of the spectrum. In theory, their role appears indispensable, yet in practice, they are disdained for their nefarious and dec

Automated pricing of fuel oils needs transparency

Automated pricing of fuel oils needs transparency

The government's much-hyped automated petroleum pricing has fallen short of expectations of most experts and economists. The plan was to introduce a mechanism that would regulate fuel prices in accordance with the rise and fall of fuel prices in the international markets. Sadly, that has not happen

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