Ahsan Habib

The government’s net borrowing from the banking sector in the first nine months of the current fiscal year has crossed the full-year target by more than Tk 22,000 crore, due mainly to weak revenue collection.

FY26 debt servicing to cost $30.59b, says IMF

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) seeks at least 10 percent higher value-added tax (VAT) collection from businesses each year, regardless of whether their sales grow, according to Riad Mahmud, president of the Bangladesh Association of Publicly Listed Companies (BAPLC). He said the practice has created a “double whammy” for manufacturers already strained by years of overlapping economic shocks.

New BB rules leave BRAC Bank as the only listed lender effectively eligible

The government’s ambition to build a trillion-dollar economy by 2034 will remain out of reach without urgent reforms in banking, taxation, and business costs, as the country’s current economic structure is too weak to sustain the level of growth required, a leading economist said.

Climate budgeting in Bangladesh must become more knowledge-based and technically stronger to help the country access global climate financing more effectively, said Sharmind Neelormi, professor in the Department of Economics at Jahangirnagar University.

Bangladesh’s next national budget should focus on strengthening economic resilience rather than increasing spending, said Zahid Hussain, former lead economist at the World Bank’s Dhaka office.

Ahead of the fiscal year 2026-27 (FY27) national budget, the government faces mounting fiscal pressure amid high inflation and low investment at a time when the global geopolitical situation remains volatile, said Prof Mustafizur Rahman, distinguished fellow at the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD).