Ahsan Habib

Despite low GDP growth over the past three consecutive years, the government is targeting 6.5 percent growth for the next fiscal year in the proposed budget, based on the democratisation of the economy and encouraging private sector investment to boost growth, two economists said today

There are at least half a dozen reasons why the government’s revenue compared with the size of the economy has remained low for such a long time

Contributions were allegedly made under pressure during Nazrul Islam Mazumder’s leadership at BAB

Grameenphone, the country’s top telecom operator, saw both turnover and profit decline in 2025, while rival Robi Axiata recorded growth on both counts.

Food costs drove May inflation higher; fuel price adjustment to push more in June, experts warn

Says Managing Director and CEO M Shamsul Arefin

In terms of government expenditure as a share of GDP, Bangladesh has one of the lowest ratios in South Asia

As per BB’s order, the bank’s total exposure to a single borrower or group is restricted to 25 percent of its capital.

The government’s net borrowing from the banking sector in the first nine months of the current fiscal year has crossed the full-year target by more than Tk 22,000 crore, due mainly to weak revenue collection.

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) seeks at least 10 percent higher value-added tax (VAT) collection from businesses each year, regardless of whether their sales grow, according to Riad Mahmud, president of the Bangladesh Association of Publicly Listed Companies (BAPLC). He said the practice has created a “double whammy” for manufacturers already strained by years of overlapping economic shocks.

FY26 debt servicing to cost $30.59b, says IMF

New BB rules leave BRAC Bank as the only listed lender effectively eligible

Nineteen years ago, BNP finance minister M Saifur Rahman placed a national budget of Tk 69,740 crore for fiscal year 2006-07. Three governments have since come and gone, and BNP has now returned to power through a national election.

The country is not short of money for development projects. Instead, it is suffering from weak project planning, poor coordination and a culture that values expenditure over outcomes, according to AK Enamul Haque, director general (DG) of the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS).

In an interview, Sayema Haque Bidisha, a professor at the economics department and also a former pro-vice-chancellor of Dhaka University,

Ahead of the fiscal year 2026-27 (FY27) national budget, the government faces mounting fiscal pressure amid high inflation and low investment at a time when the global geopolitical situation remains volatile, said Prof Mustafizur Rahman, distinguished fellow at the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD).

Bangladesh’s next national budget should focus on strengthening economic resilience rather than increasing spending, said Zahid Hussain, former lead economist at the World Bank’s Dhaka office.

Climate budgeting in Bangladesh must become more knowledge-based and technically stronger to help the country access global climate financing more effectively, said Sharmind Neelormi, professor in the Department of Economics at Jahangirnagar University.

The government’s ambition to build a trillion-dollar economy by 2034 will remain out of reach without urgent reforms in banking, taxation, and business costs, as the country’s current economic structure is too weak to sustain the level of growth required, a leading economist said.

The move follows years of debate over the future of closed-end funds