Rejaul Karim Byron

A high-level government committee yesterday suggested 11 proposals for amending the procurement rules, including making it mandatory for foreign firms to form joint ventures with local bidders when it comes to fulfilling government procurement rules.

That project revisions have become a government ailment is well established by now.

The government is going to introduce smart cards for farmers with an aim to provide area-based and demand-based agricultural services.

Bangladesh has disbursed 59 per cent of the total credit support unveiled by the government to protect businesses, the economy and the poor since the coronavirus pandemic hit the country more than one-and-a-half years ago.

People can brace themselves for yet another round of living expense hike as the government is mulling over raising the prices of electricity, gas and fertiliser by March to bring its subsidy burden down to a tolerable limit.

Bangladesh’s external debt repayment has increased gradually in recent times aided by an inflow of a huge amount of foreign loans from multilateral and bilateral partners in the forms of project aid and budget support.

AMA Muhith might have retired from public service but he could not stop working towards the welfare of people.

Though overall annual development programme (ADP) implementation slightly rose year-on-year in the current fiscal year’s first half, government spending for development projects is still below that of the pre-pandemic period.

The government plans to use the country’s foreign currency reserves to implement a $370.96 million power transmission project, ignoring warning from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The government should reprioritise spending, take steps to reduce corruption and initiate financial sector reforms for better use of public money with a view to overcoming challenges brought on by the pandemic, suggests the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Although the pressure to become a doctor or an engineer is gradually dissipating, the two professions still rank on the top among the youths, found a first-of-its-kind study by the government.

Bangladesh is expected to become the 24th largest economy in the world by 2030 despite a rise in poverty, unemployment and income losses because of the severe impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a government report.

The government is set to extend more policy and fiscal support, rationalise corporate tax, offer bonded warehouse facility and explore new markets and products as it looks to give a much-needed boost to export earnings.

The government plans to keep its foreign aid use target unchanged in the next fiscal year compared to the current fiscal year owing to lower utilisation of development allocations and projected reduced spending related to the pandemic, especially for vaccination.

As many as 1.6 million youths lost their jobs and about 20 million faced income loss for the pandemic, found a government study -- signifying the global public health crisis’s outsize economic consequences for Bangladesh’s younger population.

Wages have ticked up in Bangladesh in recent months, but rising inflation, fueled by internal and external factors, has eroded the gains for the workers in various sectors.

 Non-food inflation has been unbridled since the government hiked diesel and kerosene prices two months ago, touching 7 per cent in December, a six-year high, pounding consumers.

Old problems greet the Prime Minister-led Executive Committee of the National Economic Council when it convenes today for its first meeting for 2022: applications for project revisions.

Most operators are back behind the machines, so are the small traders, private service holders, vendors and domestic helps.

Bangladesh is gunning to become a half-a-trillion-dollar economy next fiscal year buoyed by a successful vaccination campaign and a steady growth in agriculture and industry.