Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) expenditure by Islamic banks in Bangladesh has witnessed a persistent downward trend, with spending in the third quarter of 2025 falling significantly from what it was a year ago. According to the latest Bangladesh Bank (BB) data, expenditure on CSR activities
Bangladesh has achieved a measure of macroeconomic stabilisation, but the progress has come at the cost of slower economic growth, weak investment and declining purchasing power, speakers said at a policy dialogue in the capital on Sunday. The observations were made at the launch of the latest iss
The VAT base has expanded sharply following a special nationwide registration drive in December 2025, as the National Board of Revenue (NBR) brought more than 131,000 new entities under the value-added tax (VAT) system. The campaign, timed with VAT Day and VAT Week, exceeded official targets and u
Bangladesh’s foreign exchange reserves have surged to the $33 billion mark, reaching a three-year high, bolstered by a massive influx of remittances and strategic dollar purchases by the central bank. According to the latest data from the Bangladesh Bank, expatriate Bangladeshis sent $3.04 b
Bangladesh Bank has finalised the scheme to merge five troubled Shariah-based banks into a single entity named ‘Sammilito Islami Bank PLC’. This newly formed bank will acquire First Security Islami Bank, Social Islami Bank, Union Bank, Global Islami Bank, and EXIM Bank. The central ba
Bangladesh’s foreign loan and grant disbursements have risen by 26 per cent year-on-year in the first five months of the fiscal year 2025-26. Data released on Monday by the Economic Relations Division (ERD) show that development partners and international lenders disbursed $1.95 billion betw
Almost all of Bangladesh's development partners have put their aid commitments on hold ahead of the national polls in February next year, adopting a wait-and-see approach until a politically stable government is in place, analysts said on Saturday. The pause -- covering stalled project approvals a
Economists and experts on Wednesday said Bangladesh risked slipping into a prolonged phase of low growth and high inflation unless deep structural reforms were carried out alongside ensuring political and macroeconomic stability. Without decisive action on long-pending institutional and structural
The World Bank approved $150.75 million to help Bangladesh scale up support to create employment, opportunities and better income for low-income youth and microentrepreneurs, with a focus on women and those living in climate-vulnerable areas. The additional financing to the Recovery and Advancemen
Sylhet division has become the worst victim of regional disparity in the banking sector, with the region witnessing the lowest inflow of bank credits despite its immense potential. While people in the four districts of the division contribute significantly to the deposit portfolio of the banking s
The Bangladesh government and the World Bank's (WB) soft-lending arm International Development Association (IDA) recently signed four agreements with relevant stakeholders to secure loans of $350 million. State-run Petrobangla had inked project agreement and facility agreement with the IDA and thr
Long 17 years' wait for an energy-boosting facility ends with the endorse of a project for building a second unit of the Eastern Refinery planned for augmenting Bangladesh's crude-oil-refining capacity. The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) approved the "Modernisation an
Loan and advance disbursements by non-bank financial companies (NBFCs) continued to decline in the July-September period of 2025, extending a downward trend that began after peaking in the first quarter of the year, despite remaining well above last year's levels. Total disbursements of economic-p
