Sohel Parvez

In 2021, some 2.25 percent of the population used SHSs. The number declined to 1.81 percent in 2023, according to a recent survey report of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).

A provision in the Income Tax Act 2023 created the discrimination

The dependency ratio of the people who are over 65-plus years rose to 9.4 percent in 2023 from 8.6 percent in 2022.

Here, the steady growth of Bangladesh’s economy -- around 6 percent annually -- for the last two decades, and subsequent increases in overall buying capacity, played a big role. Another factor is the increasing domestic assembly of these items by local companies.

The use of the document verification system (DVS) has increased in Bangladesh in the last couple of years, plugging the scope for unruly firms to submit forged audit reports. The number of audit reports signed by accountants by securing codes from the DVS rose by nearly 2 percent year-on-year to 38,316 in 2021-22 compared to a year prior, data from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB) showed.

Banks in Bangladesh witnessed a sharp decline in deposits in rural areas in the last quarter of 2023, the first fall in five years, data from the central bank showed.

The International Monetary Fund has suggested the National Board of Revenue (NBR) restructure the personal income tax slabs and increase the tax-free income limit to Tk 5 lakh from the existing Tk 3.5 lakh.

For the past two and a half years, entrepreneurs in Bangladesh have been facing numerous hurdles, beginning from a dollar shortage and a sharp rise in import costs for their escalated rates in global markets and the depreciation of the taka.

More women are joining the agriculture sector in Bangladesh as their job opportunities in industries, especially garment factories, have stagnated and men switch to non-farm sectors amid increased mechanisation of farming activities

Farmers are registering reduced profitability from paddy cultivation due to tightening of the rural labour market and declining real prices for the cereal grain, according to a joint study by two international research organisations.

Bangladesh’s wheat imports recovered and hit a two-year high in the first seven months of the fiscal year as prices of the grain cooled and demand from local industries soared.

Bangladesh's annual average inflation crept up to 9.59% last month, way above the central bank's revised target of 7.5% for the financial year ending in June

People made Tk 4,100 crore MFS transactions in 2023's December

Bangladesh registered at least $2.5 billion in funding from investors for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) of firms since 2005, according to a recent study, which says there is room for growth in terms of M&A in Bangladesh although the volume is modest in comparison with regional counterparts.

Turkish beverage company Coca-Cola Icecek (CCI) has signed a deal to acquire Coca-Cola Bangladesh Beverages Ltd (CCBB) for $130 million.   

Turkish beverage company Coca-Cola Icecek (CCI) has signed a deal to acquire Coca-Cola Bangladesh Beverages Ltd (CCBB) for $130 million.

Exports from Bangladesh to South Korea nearly tripled over the past five years thanks to duty-free benefits and a push by exporters to explore the world’s 13th largest economy and thereby diversify their export destinations.

In December last year, the yield of 364-day treasury bills (T-bills) stood at 11.28 percent, the highest in 11 years

Automated teller machines (ATMs) were once a symbol of modern electronic banking for facilitating quick and easy cash withdrawals alongside other banking solutions, including credit card payments and balance confirmation

Dollar crisis along with LC opening difficulties is giving small and medium firms no respite