The cumulative written-off loans in Bangladesh's banking sector rose to over Tk 818.63 billion until March 2025, according to the Bangladesh Bank (BB) data. State-owned commercial banks accounted for a major share of such loans, amounting to over Tk 258.39 billion. Private commercial banks follow
Mobile financial transactions in Bangladesh fell by 29.77 per cent in April 2025, despite a rising number of users and continued strong demand for digital payment services. The decline was primarily driven by two factors: a temporary data reporting gap from Nagad, one of the largest Mobile Financi
Greenfield foreign direct investment (FDI) into Bangladesh took a significant hit in 2024, with announced project values plummeting to $1.75 billion, according to the latest World Investment Report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The 35-percent decline from $2.7
World Bank’s new Vice President for the South Asia Region Johannes Zutt has said the global lending agency ‘remains committed’ to helping Bangladesh to maintain a ‘sustainable and inclusive growth path and create more and better jobs’ for the two million youths enterin
Hope against hope lives on for cuts in the 35-per cent additional tariffs on Bangladeshi exports to the US market as the second round of three-day negotiations between Bangladesh and the United States end today in Washington. Meanwhile, the Trump-touted 'reciprocal tariff' turmoil begins to grate
Chinese Ambassador Yao Wen has reaffirmed China's commitment to increasing trade and investment in Bangladesh, stating that support for the country's development will remain steady regardless of its political leadership. "China will continue to support Bangladesh's sustainable development and the
Although Bangladesh is the 52nd largest trading partner of the US and its trade deficit with the latter is much lower than its competitors, the Donald Trump administration has imposed a higher 35 per cent tariff on its products, analysts say. They say the tariff on Bangladesh has likely been impos
As part of belt-tightening measures, the government has put on hold all types of spending from block allocation under its operating budget for the fiscal year 2025-26. To this effect, the Finance Division under the Ministry of Finance on Tuesday issued a notification, outlining suspension/lowering
Bangladesh resumed talks with the US Administration, especially the United States Trade Representative (USTR), to negotiate a reduction in the newly-imposed tariffs on Bangladeshi products at a favourable level. The meeting began at 11:00 am local time in Washington D.C. with high-ranking official
An ambitious export target of US$65 billion is proposed for this fiscal year with the government having gauged all the ground realities and global and local economic scenarios, officials say. The uppish export turnover for 2025-26 reflects a 17.22-percent growth over the estimated export earnings
Bangladesh Bank will unveil its new monetary policy by the end of July, signalling a shift from its current contractionary stance in a bid to spur economic growth while still reining in inflation. Sources indicate the central bank is preparing modest adjustments to the policy interest rate under I
Governor of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) Dr Ahsan H Mansur has asked commercial banks to create forced loans against importers who have failed to make letter of credit (LC) payment on maturity dates. He gave the instruction at the bankers' meeting held on Tuesday in light of reports that some banks ar
The foreign exchange reserves held by Bangladesh Bank have dropped below the $25 billion mark following the payment of import bills through the Asian Clearing Union (ACU). A total of $2.02 billion had been paid to ACU to cover the bills for the past two months, the bank’s Executive Director
