Bangladesh should accelerate reforms, including the removal of non-tariff barriers and improvements to the business environment, to pave the way for advancing talks on a free trade agreement (FTA) with the European Union, the economic bloc’s Ambassador Michael Miller said yesterday.

The previous commission of the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) realised only Tk 33 lakh – just 0.02 percent of the Tk 1,500 crore in fines it imposed over around two years, said Masud Khan, chairman of the commission.

The government is confident that it will meet its revenue collection target for the current fiscal year, as the National Board of Revenue (NBR) is fully prepared, Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury said yesterday.

Heavy rainfall continued to disrupt cargo handling at Chattogram port for a third consecutive day yesterday, slowing customs inspections, cargo deliveries and unloading operations at the outer anchorage.

Today, the ADB published the Asian Development Outlook (ADO) July 2025

Initiatives have been taken to allow cases to be filed directly with the Capital Market Tribunal

The disruption came as Chattogram continued to experience heavy rainfall, a day after recording its highest single-day rainfall in 42 years on Tuesday

The Asian Development Outlook July 2026 said the economy grew 3.7 percent in FY26

Bangladesh’s economy is expected to grow by 4.4 percent in the current fiscal year 2026-27, supported by easing global headwinds and domestic economic reforms, according to HSBC.

The country’s current account deficit narrowed in the first 11 months of fiscal year 2025-26, helped by record remittance inflows, although weak economic activity continued to hold back trade and investment.

Multilateral financial institutions have failed to address the economic fallout of geopolitical conflicts, leaving developing countries to bear billions of dollars in additional costs without adequate international support, said Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir, the prime minister’s adviser on finance and planning.

The government has imposed a fresh round of austerity measures for the fiscal year 2026-27, restricting spending on new vehicles, buildings, land acquisition and most foreign travel to rein in public expenditure, curb inflation and preserve macroeconomic stability.

Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Iqbal Hassan Mahmood yesterday said the government cannot cancel contracts with private power producers at will because they are backed by sovereign guarantees, making the process legally complex and time-consuming.

The government is likely to appoint Abdur Rahman Khan, the immediate past chairman of the National Board of Revenue (NBR), as Bangladesh’s next executive director at the World Bank.

Bangladesh’s Islamic banking system posted strong deposit growth in the first quarter of 2026, as more customers placed their money with Islamic banks as well as Islamic banking branches and windows operated by conventional banks.

The government has formed a high-level committee to recommend ways to make the country’s public procurement system more effective.

Bangladesh’s economy is expected to grow by 4.4 percent in the current fiscal year 2026-27, supported by easing global headwinds and domestic economic reforms, according to the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) Limited.

The European Central Bank on Tuesday pressed major European banks to come up with action plans to deal with cybersecurity risks posed by increasingly powerful artificial intelligence systems.

A draft law aims to bring Bida, Beza, BHTPA, PPPA under one roof

The country’s net international reserves (NIR), the liquid foreign assets a central bank can readily use, have risen to $27.92 billion, according to the central bank.