Rejaul Karim Byron

The government is set to launch the pilot phase of its family card programme on March 10 with the ultimate aim of gradually bringing two crore families under monthly cash support.

Bangladesh is set to spend over $30 billion this fiscal year to service its debts, covering both principal repayments and interest on domestic and foreign loans, according to projections by the International Monetary Fund.

The list includes managing high inflation, weak tax collection, rising debt

The government, on its first full day in office, formally sought a three-year deferral of Bangladesh’s graduation from the least developed country (LDC) category.

The new finance minister, Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, may have arrived in office with a long list of priorities -- fiscal reform, banking stability, and negotiations with international lenders.

The new government must apply to the United Nations Committee for Development Policy (UN CDP) by February 23 if it intends to defer Bangladesh’s graduation from the least-developed country (LDC) category to developing nation status.

Ahsan Mansur’s planned ordinance gets stuck

One of the dangers, the IMF said, is the possibility of delayed banking reforms -- or, more seriously, “reversals of exchange rate reform and fiscal discipline”.