Sukanta Halder

The interim government is likely to impose a 10 percent supplementary duty on over-the-top (OTT) platform services in the upcoming budget for the fiscal year 2025-26 — a move that is expected to raise consumer costs and increase spending on paid streaming services.

Bangladesh’s agriculture sector recorded its weakest growth in over a decade this fiscal year, prompting fresh concerns about food security, rural incomes and overall economic recovery.

About 69 percent of low-income people view the value-added tax (VAT) on essential items as excessive, according to a survey, with most seeing it as a significant financial burden.

In a move to develop an effective public transport system in the country’s major cities, the interim government may reduce customs duties on the import of public buses.

In order to feed a growing population with ever-diminishing farmland, the country’s agriculture has undergone a notable transformation since independence, buoyed by high-yielding varieties, chemical fertilisers, and pesticides.

Fareast Islami Life Insurance Company Limited is selling its vehicles and slashing its workforce in a desperate effort to cut costs and counter a deepening financial crisis.

Out of the 28 varieties of tea plants developed by state-run Bangladesh Tea Research Institute (BTRI), only five are widely cultivated in the country, based on their high yield, quality, and climate resilience.

The authorities are drafting amendments to the Competition Commission Act, enacted in 2012, to establish clearer criteria for identifying dominant market players across various sectors, according to officials.

Although inflation has remained at elevated levels for over two years, the sale and distribution of essential food items by public agencies showed a year-on-year drop until May of fiscal year 2024-25, raising fears that many vulnerable people in the country could be left contending with food insecurity.

Bangladeshi farmers are receiving higher prices for freshly harvested Boro paddy this season compared to the year prior, thanks to increased demand driving up market rates.

Once considered high-priced, cold brew coffee and espresso-based drinks have become a defining feature of urban life in Bangladesh, blending community, creativity and culture in every cup.

Many potato farmers across Bangladesh are incurring losses this season despite a bumper harvest and the highest exports in three years, as a steep drop in domestic prices has left them unable to recover even their production costs.

The number of policyholders failing to pay their insurance premiums on time declined in 2024 from the previous year, but the rate of discontinued policies remains high -- reflecting fragile customer confidence in the local insurance sector.

The share of credit disbursement to the livestock and poultry subsectors of the agriculture industry slipped slightly in the first eight months of the current fiscal year (FY), according to a report by Bangladesh Bank.

Gold prices in Bangladesh continue to soar, leaving many to wonder why the precious metal costs more here than in neighbouring India or the global trading hub Dubai.

Onion prices have been increasing over the past weeks, as farmers and traders release fewer stocks to local markets in the hope of better returns amid the government’s suspension of imports.

Onion prices have been increasing over the past weeks, as farmers and traders release fewer stocks to local markets in the hope of better returns amid the government’s suspension of imports

More than a year since bancassurance was introduced in Bangladesh, the benefits have proven uneven across the insurance industry.

Supply chain experts and consumer rights activists blame the absence of consistent market monitoring, dwindling supply of winter vegetables, and the end of VAT exemptions granted during Ramadan.

A probe has found massive irregularities in the rental of shops at nine markets of the National Sports Council (NSC), including a case where the government receives as little as Tk 22,000 in monthly rent while as much as Tk 3 lakh is being collected from the tenant.