Wasim Bin Habib

State lenders in Bangladesh are sometimes in the news for all the wrong reasons. But they also carry the weight of the fast-expanding economy.

With the novel coronavirus spreading to different countries across the globe early last year, there was then an obvious fear that the pandemic would hit Bangladesh’s shores soon.

In the face of depleting food stock and sluggish public procurement of foodgrains, the government has started providing cash instead of rice or wheat to implement its Test Relief and Food for Work programmes.

The coronavirus crisis has worsened education inequality between rich and poor in Bangladesh as a huge number of students from poor families are not able to access the distance learning adopted by the government, according to a World Bank working paper.

With small businesses still struggling to recover from the pandemic-induced economic slowdown, the government has rolled out two fresh stimulus packages involving Tk 2,700 crore to boost the cottage industry and SMEs and expand the social security scheme for the elderly and widows in poverty-stricken areas.

As confusion continues over the price of Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine, the government and the Beximco Pharmaceuticals Ltd have reiterated that Bangladesh will get the vaccine at the same price India is paying.

Bangladesh will seek to retain the zero duty benefit and the market access for five years after its graduation to a developing country as the pandemic took a heavy toll on the nation’s economy.

Bangladesh yesterday approved the Oxford University-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine for emergency use, paving the way for importing the vaccine from Serum Institute of India.

Bangladesh has approved the Oxford University-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine manufactured by Serum Institute of India, paving the way for bringing the vaccine for emergency use.

Abdur Rahim*, a private tutor in Dhaka, thought his life had finally stabilised after two decades of hard work. With a steady income, he could afford a place in the capital and sustain his family.

When the Covid-19 outbreak led to a closure of educational institutions in late March, students, guardians and teachers alike speculated that the disruption would last a few months.

Although Bangladesh achieved food security and improved access to food, eight percent of the households where the urban poor live still go to sleep with empty stomachs, reveals a government survey.

Bangladesh is on track to graduate to a developing country from a least developed one as a UN body estimates that the country’s scores in all three criteria would be much higher from the graduation threshold next year.

Mizanur Rahman stood still, gazing with awe from the bank of the Padma river at the specialised floating crane laying down the last span on the mega structure yesterday.

At precisely 12:02pm came the glorious moment. The final span of the Padma bridge was in its place and a giant step was made towards the realisation of a long-cherished dream.

After the government announced 21 stimulus packages involving more than Tk 1,21,000 crore to tackle the pandemic fallout, 39.23 percent of the total amount or Tk 47,615 crore was disbursed till October 31, according to a report of the finance ministry.

The temperature drop over the last few days means that the season of cold and flu is around the corner.

With Bangladesh securing nearly 100 million doses of Covid vaccine from two sources by next year, the most pertinent question now is who will be vaccinated first.

Bangladesh is going to compete in the second review of a UN panel next year for graduation to a developing country from a least developed one as it met all the three criteria for getting out of the LDC bloc.

In the face of criticisms, the government is going to evaluate its economic rescue scheme announced six months ago to tackle the fallout of the pandemic.