The benchmark index of Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) staged a comeback yesterday, snapping a two-day losing streak.

NRBC Bank PLC has sent a rejoinder in response to our story “Capital Flight Covered Up”, published on March 22, 2024, and a follow-up rejoinder in response to our story titled “Gun in Boardroom”, published on March 21, 2024.

Bangladesh's financial account deficit is still widening, signaling that the pressure on the foreign exchange regime will continue in the upcoming days.

The government yesterday decided to buy edible oil and lentils worth Tk 350 crore from five local firms in order to sell them among the poor and low-income people at subsidised rates.

The unit will identify whether defaulting borrowers (individuals and institutions) are willful defaulters, as per the central bank notice issued on the day.

Around 5 lakh people in Bangladesh likely fell into extreme poverty between the fiscal years 2022-23 and 2023-2024 due to the erosion of purchasing power, said the World Bank

The WB measured VAT losses based on an analysis of the VAT gap -- an estimate of the overall difference between theoretical VAT revenue and the amount actually collected.

The multilateral lender said the economy would grow at 5.6 percent in 2023-24, lower than the South Asian average of 6 percent for 2024. Annual GDP growth averaged 6.6 percent in the decade before the pandemic struck the world in 2020.

Overall exports posted a 4.39 percent growth to $43.55 billion in the July-March period of the current financial year.

The Real Estate and Housing Association of Bangladesh (REHAB) has demanded the formation of a "monitoring cell" to determine the prices of construction materials and ensure the quality of products.

There were also positive changes in the market capitalisation of food and allied, engineering, and telecommunication scrips, it said.

With tax exemptions for the information technology (IT) and IT-enabled services sector ending after this fiscal year, ICT entrepreneurs are demanding the continuation of such incentives for seven more years to help build a ‘Smart Bangladesh’.

Reforms need to be brought about over revenue generation, currency exchange rate, banking and public expenditure, the four areas vital to the country’s economic performance, through the upcoming national budget, suggested an economist yesterday.

The government should come up with a clear guideline complying with the global best practices before compelling banks to merge, the World Bank has said.

BRAC Bank PLC registered a 35 percent increase in profit to Tk 827.50 crore last year thanks to its focus on small and medium enterprises (SME) and technology-based customer services, which added over 3.60 lakh new customers.

Traffic congestion inflicted by unplanned urbanisation and expansion reduces the country's overall GDP by 2.9 percent.

Nasir announced that three organisations of the lighter vessel owners would start giving serials and allocating vessels from a single platform from March 23.

If chemical traders refuse to relocate from Old Dhaka to Shyampur immediately, the Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) will initiate a combing operation after Eid-ul-Fitr, said Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh, the mayor of DSCC

The WB said before initiating any merger processes, detailed guidelines on mergers and acquisitions need to be issued, allowing banks a clear idea about the process involved

The central bank of Bangladesh has tightened the monetary policy but its transmission has been hindered by the SMART lending rate cap since it slows pass-through to lending rates due to the use of a moving average, the World Bank said in a report today.