Rejaul Karim Byron

The government is set to transfer Tk 2,000 in cash to each of about 40 lakh families whose breadwinners have lost jobs because of lockdown, as part of its efforts to keep the most vulnerable segment of the society at home to tackle the deadly virus.

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal yesterday said it was premature to project what will be the country’s economic growth in the current fiscal.

Bangladesh’s tremendous growth momentum in recent years is set to come to a crashing halt for the coronavirus outbreak in the country, with the poor and informal sector bearing the most brunt, said the World Bank yesterday.

The government is set to unveil its third stimulus package soon, offering cash aid to poor families that have been hit hard by the ongoing shutdown amid coronavirus scare.

Bangladesh has thus far announced a $8.56 billion stimulus package that is nearly three times the initial projected economic losses from the coronavirus pandemic.

The owners of export-oriented companies and factories can pay wages to their workers for up to three months from the Tk 5,000 crore stimulus package unveiled by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

The government is going to launch a special open market sale (OMS) of coarse rice at Tk 10 a kg in all city corporation areas to ensure food for the urban poor amid the countrywide shutdown.

Bangladesh has announced one of the lowest stimulus packages among South Asian and Asian peers in terms of gross domestic product (GDP) to counteract the impact of the coronavirus pandemic that is on course to bringing about an economic recession.

The government will disburse interest-free soft loans for two years among the export-oriented sectors from the Tk 5,000 crore stimulus package the prime minister unveiled to cope with the fallout from COVID-19.

The government has started work on devising a method to allocate its Tk 5,000 crore stimulus package for the export-oriented sectors announced by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on March 25.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved $300,000 in emergency grant for Bangladesh in its first of the planned support that the lender is preparing to help the country’s fight against the novel coronavirus pandemic.

crore in the first eight months of the fiscal year aided by healthy income tax generation but the shortfall against the government target has kept widening.

Anwara Begum was seeking alms sitting in front of her shanty at the capital’s Bhashantek slum with the summer sun dipping towards the horizon yesterday.

Bangladesh yesterday sought $1 billion in support from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank as the country looks to support its people, businesses and industries reeling from the coronavirus pandemic.

A US court has rejected an appeal that challenged a Bangladesh Bank case against a Filipino bank and others over $81 million reserve heist from its account with the New York Federal Reserve.

The government is set to roll out a massive rescue package for the low-income group, businesses and industries, all of whom are bearing the brunt of the near-collapse economic activities brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.

The Asian Development Bank may provide $500 million to Bangladesh initially as budget support in order to help the country improve its health system and assist the vulnerable groups as coronavirus is fast transmitting across the country.

The government is seeking funds from development partners to help the health ministry combat the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The government is putting its best foot forward to help farmers buy agricultural machinery with subsidy ahead of the next boro season so that the growers can bring down their production costs, said officials of the agriculture ministry.

Technology can change the world, it is often said. And the lives of the country’s 1.5 crore farm families, who are often shorn of fair prices, are about to change with the government move to purchase paddy from them by way of a mobile application.