Rejaul Karim Byron

Strange times are these in which we live when record subsidy allocation may still come short of what is needed.

The government finally raised its guard against the dwindling dollar reserves, putting its employees’ foreign tours on hold and deferring projects that require much imports.

There are bright sparks in all corners of the economy, according to the provisional GDP figures for fiscal 2021-22, which do not show a hint of a pandemic hangover when others are still plodding along.

It appears normal service will resume with fiscal 2022-23’s budget, which will see the return of double-digit growth in size -- a practice introduced by former finance minister AMA Muhith.

Every year, the budget gets bigger, and like clockwork, gets revised down -- much. But not this year.

When Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina defiantly announced in 2012 that the Padma bridge would be built after the World Bank pulled out of the project, her gumption was not irrational.

At least 100 agriculture ministry officials will participate in phases in a six-month international horticulture exhibition in the Netherlands, even though the government had asked to abandon all routine tours except those involving emergencies.

Bangladesh Bank is set to give Sri Lanka another year to repay the $200 million loan as it looks to lend a helping hand to the island nation, which is going through its worst debt and economic crises.

A Chinese company is set to implement a Tk 3,975 crore digital connectivity project that will equip Bangladesh with the latest ICT infrastructure, digitise government services and increase ICT usage at the field level.

The International Monetary Fund has revised down its economic growth projection for Bangladesh to 6.4 percent for the current fiscal year largely because of Russia-Ukraine war and supply chain disruptions.

Inflation in Bangladesh rocketed to a 17-month high in March driven by higher food costs as global uncertainties stemming from the Russia-Ukraine war and supply chain disruptions show no sign of abating, official figures showed yesterday.

Over the last two years, the government has been able to utilise only around 15 percent of Tk 8,150 crore allocated for two Covid-19 emergency response projects.

The Finance Division has recommended that the government avoid hard-term loans and discourage import of luxury goods to cope with macroeconomic pressures arising from the Russia-Ukraine war.

The government has set an ambitious economic growth target of 7.5 per cent for the next fiscal year although the country faces new headwinds owing to higher prices of commodities globally and is still recovering from the shocks of the coronavirus pandemic.

The World Bank yesterday advised the government to reconsider its decision to dip into the foreign exchange reserves for development projects given the elevated balance of payment deficit and the need for exchange rate flexibility.

Bangladesh is not at risk of the crisis that Sri Lanka is currently facing, but the country needs to be cautious and learn from the experiences of the island nation, said Hans Timmer, chief economist of the World Bank for South Asia.

Bangladesh’s debt service to revenue ratio rocketed to 81.2 per cent in the last fiscal year amid lower tax collection and higher borrowing, according to the International Monetary Fund.

When Bangladesh agreed to provide $250 million to Sri Lanka last year, little did it think that it would become a side character in the horror show that is unfolding in the island nation.

Bangladesh’s Covid-19 vaccination campaign has so far turned out to be quite a triumph.

The current account deficit in Bangladesh is expected to widen to 2.7 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in the current fiscal year from 0.9 per cent a year ago because of escalating imports and a decline in remittance.