Ahsan Habib

While a number of banks and non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) are struggling to rein in their non-performing loans (NPL), DBH Finance PLC has continued to maintain the lowest NPL to loan ratio in the industry for years. 

Bangladesh’s gross domestic product is estimated to have grown at a slower pace in the current financial year with the biggest blow stemming from the industrial sector, official figures showed.

Most of the Shariah-compliant banks in Bangladesh clocked higher profits in 2022 despite a fall in deposits and the unprecedented fund withdrawal by customers and liquidity crunch.  

The economy is estimated to have expanded at a slower-than-expected pace in 2022-23, said the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) yesterday, a figure that analysts describe as good in view of elevated inflation, slowing exports and remittances and the ongoing pressure on the country’s foreign exchange reserves.

The earnings of foreign banks operating in Bangladesh rocketed in 2022 buoyed by their incomes from the dealings of international currencies.

Four state-run commercial banks registered 29 per cent year-on-year spike in bad loans in 2022 as the central bank’s relaxed classification rules introduced in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak ended and their inefficient lending persisted. 

Profits of all power generation companies dropped in the July-March period of fiscal year 2022-23 and some of them even incurred huge losses mainly due to a huge depreciation of the value of the taka against the US dollar that ultimately increased their costs. 

Most of the listed pharmaceutical companies in Bangladesh logged lower profits despite higher sales in July-March of the current financial year owing to a spike in the cost of production. 

Uttara Finance Ltd is yet to take any major steps against the officials allegedly involved in the Tk 5,100 crore scam unearthed by the Bangladesh Bank although four months have passed since the central bank directed it to bring the culprits to the book.

Foreign investments in the Dhaka Stock Exchange have maintained a downward trend since 2018 despite the regulator’s efforts to retain existing investors and attract new ones.  

This year’s Eid-ul-Fitr has turned out to be yet another depressing festival for many stock investors as few could sell shares to meet the vacation’s shopping expenses amidst the presence of floor price. 

Bangladesh’s largest mobile financial service company bKash returned to profit in 2022 on the back of higher net finance income, snapping a three-year losing streak.  

The MFS provider made a profit for the first time in four years

When a major festival like Eid knocks on the door, the memory of going to markets or shopping malls to buy new clothes and footwear items, eating sweets and receiving gift money from elderlies comes to mind.

The business sector in Bangladesh has been going through severe challenges for the past four years, which, for many, have been the toughest period in decades, with the coronavirus pandemic being the dominant factor in the early part before the Russia-Ukraine war broke out. Today, we are running the last report of a series and it focuses on the lessons for the businesses from the two unprecedented shocks.

The business sector in Bangladesh has been going through severe challenges for the past four years, which, for many, have been the toughest period in decades, with the coronavirus pandemic being the dominant factor in the early part before the Russia-Ukraine war broke out. Today, we are running the fifth report of a series to present how various sectors fared in the face of the two unprecedented shocks.

Colgate-Palmolive (Asia) Pte Ltd, one of the largest manufacturers and suppliers of personal care products worldwide, is going to build a factory in Bangladesh in partnership with local conglomerate ACI Ltd to cater to the fast-expanding consumer market.  

The business sector in Bangladesh has been going through severe challenges for the past four years, which, for many, have been the toughest period in decades, with the coronavirus pandemic being the dominant factor in the early part before the Russia-Ukraine war broke out.

Monthly average household income and expenditure in Bangladesh doubled in the last six years and nearly tripled in 12 years, official figures showed yesterday. 

The literacy rate in Bangladesh rose to 74 per cent in 2022, according to the Household Income and Expenditure Survey 2022 of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).