The monthly internet usage of mobile subscribers has more than doubled ever since the coronavirus pandemic began as more people are being pushed online for work and entertainment purposes.

Top officials of the government at a workshop today said the government couldn’t provide proper policy support to encash the huge prospect of the country's tourism sector.

The Directorate of National Consumers Right Protection (DNCRP) today fined 64 traders Tk 9.18 lakh across the country for their failure to protect consumers’ rights.

The Bangladesh Bank today depreciated taka by 1.25 per cent to Tk 89 per US dollar hours after banks suggested depreciating the local currency by Tk 2.

Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi today highlighted the investment opportunities in Bangladesh before the representatives of Nordic countries and said this is the high time to invest in the south Asian nation.

Banks today recommended depreciating the local currency by nearly Tk 2 against the US dollar as they submitted their proposed interbank exchange rates of the taka to the central bank.

Stocks in Bangladesh soared for the second consecutive day today after the regulator lowered the limit of the circuit breaker to stop the free fall of the index.

The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) will start taking punitive measures from June 1 against entities yet to transfer undistributed cash and stock dividends to a Capital Market Stabilisation Fund (CMSF) despite repeated time extensions to do so. 

Bangladesh may find it difficult to avoid the middle-income trap and become a high-income country if it can’t bring in the second generation of policy reforms and focus on the quality of macroeconomic management, said Mustafizur Rahman, a distinguished fellow at the Centre for Policy Dialogue.

Angura Begum, a 45-year-old farmer who hails from Mithapukur upazila of Rangpur, was seen beaming while selling her vegetables at the local farmers’ centre last Sunday.

Bangladesh’s budget as a percentage of national income has been falling consistently for the last four years although the economy has grown, reflecting its inability to generate enough revenue and spend enough on social sectors.

Local exporters are apprehending losing annual business worth $200 crore for a recent commerce ministry gazette barring rice bran oil export, for which a large number of letters of credit (LC) opened by foreign buyers have been blocked.

The country is facing its biggest macroeconomic challenge of the past decade due to a lack of reforms and the ongoing global crisis but it can be overcome with proper policy support and reforms, said economists and businesses yesterday.

The wheels of the two companies have begun turning again after remaining closed for many years while another firm is moving towards resuming operation – thanks to the restructuring of boards by the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC).

The country is facing the biggest macroeconomic challenge in the last one decade, said Selim Raihan, executive director of the South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (Sanem).

Farmers and entrepreneurs who rear cattle for meat and milk in the country’s northern districts are currently suffering from an abnormal hike in feed prices.

Bangladesh’s recent austerity and regulatory measures aimed at curbing non-essential imports, suspending the implementation of projects with high import components and cancelling the foreign tours of officials will send a positive signal to the market and the economy, according to economists.

The government is likely to keep the tax-free income limit unchanged for fiscal year 2022-23 in order to expand the tax net, said officials of the finance ministry.

I used to have a positional big boss who was new to the job and hardly had knowledge of the industry or the multinational way of working. Every time, my team put up a proposal to him, he would look at others in the meeting instead of me while knowing all too well where the right level of knowledge was to be found.

Bangladesh’s national currency may weaken further against the US dollar as the central bank has moved to restore stability in the foreign exchange market.