Md Asaduz Zaman

The volume of exports through Akhaura land port in Brahmanbaria has fallen significantly over the past six years as increased connectivity between north-eastern Indian states and other parts of the country helped them reduce imports from Bangladesh.

Foreign assistance disbursement jumped 58 per cent in the current fiscal year’s July-April period thanks to spending for vaccination, one-time budget support and implementation of mega projects, including that of the Russia-funded Rooppur nuclear power plant. 

Angura Begum, a 45-year-old farmer who hails from Mithapukur upazila of Rangpur, was seen beaming while selling her vegetables at the local farmers’ centre last Sunday.

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) and Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB) had teamed up on November 12, 2020, to curb the scope for submitting fake audited financial statements.

The government should increase per capita allowance under its social safety net programmes (SSNPs), particularly for the elderly, widows, disabled and marginalised women, considering the high-level food inflation and the rising cost of living, said an economist.

Entrepreneurs in Bangladesh have pumped billions of dollars into the shipbuilding sector in recent years to meet their own demand for vessels as well as regain the international market.

Bangladesh emerged as a shipbuilding nation in 2008 when it exported its first ocean-going vessel to a Danish company and suddenly there were talks about the sector’s immense potential and the country capturing a major share of the global shipbuilding market.

The government should unveil a roadmap in the upcoming budget to deal with the challenges that the country might face following its graduation from the group of the least-developed countries (LDCs), said Monzur Hossain, research director of the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS).

Salt production reached a 61-year high this fiscal year thanks to the conducive environment, allowing farmers to eye more profit amid good market prices.

The government should make budgetary allocation for the fiscal year of 2022-23 to deal with the impacts of the ongoing Russian-Ukraine crisis and the possibility of the emergence of another wave of coronavirus, said a noted economist.

Despite double-digit growth in manufacturing output, job growth has slowed down in Bangladesh alarmingly, which may raise unemployment and prevent the economy from benefitting from the abundance of working age population, official figures showed.

Excluded from the government’s social safety net, middle-income families are struggling to cope with the rising prices of basic goods and services.

The government has framed a fresh policy to increase domestic salt production through the use of modern and environmentally-friendly technologies and gradually end imports by 2026 when overall demand is projected to reach 25.30 lakh tonnes.

The government has framed a fresh policy to increase domestic salt production through the use of modern and environment-friendly technologies and gradually end imports by 2026 when overall demand is projected to reach 25.30 lakh tonnes.

Just as the economy was sailing smoothly to make a turnaround from the coronavirus pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine war has suddenly emerged as a major obstacle standing in the way of faster and full revival. And this, among other things, is likely to increase poverty and eat into growth, warned the International Monetary Fund (IMF), policymakers and experts.

The government should immediately sit with businesses to ensure smooth commodity supplies to domestic markets, thereby containing inflationary pressure on common people, said Sabbir Hasan Nasir, executive director of ACI Logistics.

Around Tk 719 crore in taxpayer money was unused in the last fiscal year because of the cancellation of foreign trips of government officials and the delay in tender processes, both owing to the coronavirus pandemic.

A crisis of edible oil, particularly soybean oil, has hit the domestic markets amid retailers and wholesalers stocking up and refiners slowing down delivery, as prices of essential commodities keep climbing in the international market.

After twice rejecting proposals to buy 3.95 lakh tablet computers for the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), the government yesterday granted approval to this end so that the statistical agency can conduct the population and housing census which was set to begin three years

The government has slashed the development allocation for the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (RNPP) by around 20 per cent in the revised budget for the current fiscal year.