Md Asaduz Zaman

Although wage growth in Bangladesh has been slowly climbing since July 2021, it has remained below the inflation rate for the past 18 months consecutively, according to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).

While washing machines were once considered a luxury, they have gradually evolved into a necessary home appliance for families, driven by expanding domestic market demand.

The deadline for the “Installation of Single Point Mooring (SPM) with Double Line” project will be extended for the fourth time with the cost to be raised by around Tk 1,000 crore, or 15 percent, according to the Planning Commission.

Although two years have passed since the Department of Livestock Services (DLS) supplied its field offices with modern agricultural machinery for distribution among local farmers, most of the equipment remains unused as officials and beneficiaries of the programme lack relevant training. 

When it comes to the percentage of goods and commercial services exports in gross domestic product (GDP), Bangladesh has had some of the lowest figures among 46 least developed countries (LDCs) over the years. 

Unemployment has declined in Bangladesh, and although this means more people are contributing to the economy, analysts are not too upbeat about the development as most of the growth took place in agriculture.

Bangladesh witnessed a massive growth in fish production in the last 12 years through aquaculture driven by a surge in yield of three fish varieties, namely pangas, tilapia and climbing fish (koi).

Production growth in Bangladesh slowed significantly in the July-March period of 2022-23 due to the global economic slowdown and gas and electricity shortages at home, according to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).

Calls, social networking and news consumption dominate internet usage in Bangladesh amidst a scarcity of local and Bangla content.

The government managed to spend 84.16 per cent of its development budget in the just-concluded fiscal year, way lower than its averages in recent decades, official figures showed yesterday.

Five developed nations have continued to account for more than half of Bangladesh’s export earnings, highlighting the country’s narrow market base and the vulnerability it faces.

A government project aiming to enhance food security in Bangladesh has made less than 50 per cent progress even though nearly 10 years have passed since the Tk 3,569 crore initiative began in January 2014.

Farmers in Bangladesh are struggling to make the most of a government project that aims to expand farm mechanisation as they face difficulties in availing after-sales services, among other issues, according to a report by the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED).

The cost-of-living crisis seems to have brought more woes for daily workers in Bangladesh than other groups of labourers as their average wage growth has been below the inflation rate for the past two fiscal years.  

The ongoing holiday centring Eid-ul-Azha has raised concerns among mango farmers that prices for the fruit may decline further in coming days despite the high production cost.

The government’s dependence on borrowing to finance national budgets has increased over the past decade as revenue collection has failed to keep pace with the ballooning public expenditure.

The government is set to miss its development spending target as well as the goal of raising the use of foreign loans by a large margin in the outgoing financial year, official figures showed.

The digital divide continues to exist in Bangladesh underscoring disparities in internet access between rural and urban areas, while gender digital divide also worsened.

The government has proposed a Tk 761,000 crore budget for fiscal year 2023-24 without offering any concrete roadmap or action plan for generating employment for its vast working age population, said an economist on Saturday. 

The journey of Islamic banking began with the goal of conducting banking business in Muslim countries around the world in accordance with Islamic Shariah.