The death of Begum Khaleda Zia yesterday, December 30, is an irreparable loss to the nation at a moment when it is at a critical juncture. In fact, this is no eulogy to her memory to say that Khaleda Zia was the first elected female prime minister of the country or that she was elected prime minist
For a developing country like Bangladesh, the importance of pursuing an import substitution strategy cannot be overstated. Import substitution is not merely about reducing dependence on foreign goods; it is a strategic pathway to building a robust industrial base, generating employment, saving fore
The government's decision to expand the list of essential medicines to 295 and bring all of them under price regulation comes at a time when the cost of basic treatment is increasingly outpacing the ability of ordinary families to pay. In this context, regulating prices offers a practical means of
Chronic shortage of natural gas has been hampering fertiliser production especially at the five urea fertiliser-producing plants operated by the state-owned Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC). But Boro being the country's major dry season rice crop (January-February its peak planting
Several years have passed since Bangladesh successfully resolved its long-standing maritime boundary disputes with Myanmar and India -- an achievement widely hailed as historic. Yet, with the passage of time, a quiet unease has set in. The verdicts of the international tribunals were not merely abo
If the benchmark index of a stock exchange loses 351 points in a year, its impacts on that bourse depend on its current level and typical volatility. For the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), this margin is severe because of its current level staying below 5,000 mark. A 351-point drop in the DSE market i
Splitting the National Board of Revenue (NBR) between its policymaking and revenue management functions has been one of the major reform agendas of the post-July 2024 interim government. The aim was to render the tax regulator more efficient, transparent and accountable. Though the inte
That Bangladesh's tax-to-GDP ratio is one of the lowest in the world is widely known. In the Asia-Pacific region this ratio is as high as 19.50 on an average and the average for the developing countries is 17-18 per cent. Bangladesh cuts a sorry figure with this proportion as low as 7.0-9.0 per cen
The interim government has apparently failed to bring about any perceptible change in the atrocious traffic congestion and road safety. On the contrary, the city's traffic situation appears to have worsened as Dhaka has literally become a city of road blockades. Since the government assumed o
The launch of National Equipment Identity Register (NEIR) at the start of the new year constitutes a long-overdue step to curtail the chaos and illicit trade that have defined much of Bangladesh's mobile handset sector. For years the sector has functioned with a large grey zone where illegal import
