While proposals from anti-tobacco civil society organisations were not initially reflected in the current fiscal year’s budget, mid-year adjustments raised the maximum retail prices of cigarettes across tiers by 8–20% and imposed a uniform supplementary duty rate of 67% on all tiers. T
The government has announced the dissolution of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) and the separation of tax policymaking from administration with the aim of improving efficiency, reducing conflicts of interest, and broadening the country’s tax base. In a statement issued on Tuesday afterno
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has finally agreed to disburse the next two tranches of its $4.7 billion loan package for Bangladesh, amounting to $1.3 billion, in June. The decision follows a series of meetings held in Washington between Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Ahsan H Mansur and senior
Bangladesh’s protectionist trade policies and heavy reliance on apparel exports are hampering its prospects of joining regional and multilateral trade blocs, said Albert Park, Chief Economist of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Speaking at a sideline event during the 58th ADB Annual Meeting
Bangladesh's remittance receipt breaks annual record in over 10 months of this fiscal year with more than US$25 billion bagged, in a much-needed prop to its foreign-exchange reserves. With the receipt of $922 million in the first 11 days of this month, the forex-hungry nation got $25.46 billion so
Broad-based reforms across Bangladesh's economic and institutional landscape are urgent and the country must act swiftly to avert an "existential threat", a government functionary alerts as noted economists also highlight ways of recovery from a stagflation-like situation. Lutfey Siddiqi, special
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has reaffirmed its support for Bangladesh focusing on development cooperation, policy reforms, and climate resilience in the context of the county's upcoming graduation from least developed country (LDC) status. The assurance came at a meeting between Finance Advis
Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Ahsan H. Mansur says limiting inflation within 5.0 per cent is not an impossible task if there be no need for printing money to fund development recipe. To make it happen, he underlines continuous efforts and policy predictability. "If we continue printing money and sa
Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H Mansur on Thursday said that the country's inflation rate has dropped significantly – from 14.5 per cent to 8.5 per cent-over the past nine months. The governor made the remarks while speaking as the chief guest at the opening ceremony of the Banker SME Women
Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) Executive Chairman Chowdhury Ashik Mahmud bin Harun has said APM Terminals, a subsidiary of Danish shipping and logistics company AP Moller-Maersk, will invest $800 million in the proposed terminal at Chattogram Port’s Laldiar Char. Visiting
Speakers at a seminar on Wednesday stressed the importance of establishing a strategic partnership to facilitate Korean investment in Bangladesh. They identified a number of sectors, including infrastructure development, logistics, electronics, ICT, digital services, renewable energy and textiles,
The price of food items remained the major contributor to overall inflation by 42.71 per cent, reveals the April issue of the report titled "Monthly economic Update and Outlook" prepared by the General Economics Division (GED) of the planning commission. Dr. Monzur Hossain, Member (Secretary) of t
Bangladesh made a routine payment equivalent to US$ 1.88 billion to the Asian Clearing Union (ACU) against imports during the March-April period of the current calendar year, officials said. Despite making such a high volume of overseas payments, the country's foreign exchange (forex) reserve stil
