Md Asaduz Zaman

Real estate companies in Bangladesh are cautiously taking up new projects as the war in Ukraine, the strain on foreign currency reserves, the dollar shortage, runaway inflation and higher construction costs have cemented worries that sales of flats might slow in the coming months.

The government is finally moving ahead with a project to roll out fifth-generation (5G) mobile internet services through state-run network provider Teletalk, according to officials of the planning ministry.

A project undertaken by Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board (BREB) to install 2,000 solar-powered irrigation pumps has been advancing at a snail’s pace. 

On July 9 last year, a massive fire raged through a juice-making factory in Narayanganj, killing at least 52 people. And the whole nation witnessed how firefighters struggled to bring the blaze under control.  

The progress in using concrete blocks instead of bricks for all public development projects has been sluggish as government agencies have made little efforts in this regard due to lax monitoring by the relevant authorities, according to experts.

Amid rising prices of food essentials and other basic necessities, the recent hike in prices of toiletries and other homecare products has added a new burden for people. 

In 2012, when the government decided to construct the Padma Bridge using its own resources, many economists feared that Bangladesh’s foreign currency reserves would take a big hit.  

Furniture makers are passing tough times even ahead of Eid-ul-Azha, which is usually a high sales period, as people are uninterested in buying luxury items in the face of rampant inflation in recent months, according to market players.

The budget for the upcoming fiscal year has appeared to be insufficient in terms of needed measures, incomplete in terms of outlining strategies and inadequate in terms of addressing the present macroeconomic challenges, said the Centre for Policy Dialogue today.

The proposed budget has not properly addressed the pressing issues – higher inflation and the US dollar crisis -- that are causing immense macroeconomic imbalances, said economists in their immediate reaction.

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.