Manifesto Expectations / Next govt must tackle poverty, wage freeze
Two years ago, Mahbubur Rahman, a resident of Savar, worked in a garment factory on the outskirts of Dhaka.
20 January 2026, 03:51 AM
20 January 2026, 03:51 AM
BSEC rejects Tk 2,100cr bank bonds cleared by BB
The stock market regulator has rejected bond issuance proposals worth Tk 2,100 crore from several banks that had earlier received no-objection certificates from the Bangladesh Bank (BB).
20 January 2026, 00:00 AM
20 January 2026, 00:00 AM
The dangerous illusion of bank bonds
At its core, banking is about pricing and managing risk. Trouble begins when risk is quietly recycled within the system rather than reduced or spread adequately across the board. In trading bonds, that is increasingly what is happening in the country’s banking sector.
18 January 2026, 00:00 AM
18 January 2026, 00:00 AM
GDP growth accelerates, led by industrial expansion
Bangladesh’s economy rebounded in the first quarter of the current fiscal year of 2025-26 due mainly to stronger agricultural and industrial production.
14 January 2026, 00:00 AM
14 January 2026, 00:00 AM
DSEX reshuffle lays bare market irrationality
It drops Unilever, adds mostly junk stocks
13 January 2026, 00:33 AM
13 January 2026, 00:33 AM
Business Plus / The Gini is out of the bottle
Economic growth has created a class of wealthy Bangladeshis, but the poor are waiting for the trickle-down
10 January 2026, 00:00 AM
10 January 2026, 00:00 AM
Microcredit bank plan stirs debate over profit vs social goals
Sector leaders question capital rules, dual regulation and investor influence, while authorities say review is underway for clarity
6 January 2026, 18:00 PM
6 January 2026, 18:00 PM
TCB’s income deficit rises 460% amid expanded food support
TCB's deficit reached Tk 7,876 crore on a revised basis at the end of FY2024-25
6 January 2026, 18:00 PM
6 January 2026, 18:00 PM
21 banks bucked rising bad loan trend in 2024
Twenty-one banks managed to keep their bad loan ratios under 5 percent of their total lending, even amid turbulence last year that rattled the sector and eventually pushed up the industry average of bad loans to 16.8 percent.
3 July 2025, 19:51 PM
Citizens Bank targets rural unbanked in growth push
Says its chairman in interview with The Daily Star
2 July 2025, 18:00 PM
Depositors leave troubled banks for stronger rivals
Ten banks lost Tk 23,700cr in deposits last year as peers saw growth of up to 32%
1 July 2025, 18:00 PM
Few banks thrived, others bled in 2024
For three banks, 2024 brought cause for celebration as they crossed the milestone of Tk 1,000 crore in annual profits for the first time. But for nine others, it was a year of reckoning, marked by mounting losses and a desperate fight for survival.
30 June 2025, 18:00 PM
Bond boom contributes half of bank income
The 50 banks collectively earned Tk 39,958 crore from treasury bonds in 2024, up from Tk 27,626 crore in the previous year, according to an analysis of their audited financial statements.
29 June 2025, 18:00 PM
UCB eyes sustainable profitability within two years
United Commercial Bank (UCB), one of the oldest private banks in Bangladesh, looks to return to sustainable profitability within around two years as it takes steps to improve governance, recover loans, and enhance asset quality.
26 June 2025, 18:00 PM
One lakh stock accounts closed amid IPO drought in FY25
The stock market has almost closed the books on the fiscal year (FY) 2024-25 without a single company getting listed through an initial public offering (IPO), a rare event not seen in decades.
24 June 2025, 18:00 PM
Most listed firms saw profits fall in Jan-Mar
Most listed companies saw their profits shrink in the January-March period of the current year as stubbornly high inflation pushed up business costs while weak consumer demand held back sales growth.
18 June 2025, 18:00 PM
Budget falls short on raising industrial competitiveness
The government must prioritise boosting the competitiveness of all industries if it wants to create more jobs, capture a bigger share of global markets, and strengthen the economy.
14 June 2025, 18:00 PM
How frequent policy shifts deter firms from going public
If a company gets listed, it will enjoy tax benefits, and this is one of the major incentives for them to go public.
14 June 2025, 18:00 PM
Economy to face 7 challenges in FY26
The finance ministry has identified seven major challenges including tight monetary and fiscal policies, taken to tame elevated inflation levels for more than three years, in next fiscal year that may increase unemployment.
12 June 2025, 18:16 PM
Bangladesh to become half a trillion-dollar economy in FY27
The government expects the country’s economy to cross the $500 billion mark in the fiscal year (FY) 2026-27, buoyed by stabilising policies and sectoral improvements.
12 June 2025, 18:00 PM
The poor to get Tk 37,076cr next fiscal year
The interim government proposed a new framework for social safety net programmes, under which 7.68 crore poor people would receive Tk 37,076 crore next fiscal year to help them cushion the blow from high inflation over the last three years.
11 June 2025, 18:26 PM
Subsidy load swells despite weak revenue
The government’s target to provide subsidies and incentives amounting to Tk 125,741 crore in fiscal year 2025-26 is creating high pressure on fund mobilisation amid a challenging macroeconomic situation.
11 June 2025, 18:00 PM
Few steps to cut inflation-induced poverty
High inflation has become the bane of low-income people’s existence for the better part of the past two years as spiralling prices have dramatically eaten away at their purchasing power.
2 June 2025, 18:00 PM
Govt spending in Bangladesh lowest among LDC graduating peers
Bangladesh’s public spending as a share of gross domestic product (GDP) is the lowest among nations on course to graduate from the least developed country (LDC) club.
1 June 2025, 18:00 PM
Budget spending rises 17.5% in July-March
Budgetary spending increased by 17.5 percent year-on-year in the first nine-month period of the current fiscal year of 2024-25, mainly due to a rise in spending on interest payments and subsidies.
31 May 2025, 18:00 PM
Stock brokers, merchant bankers may get tax cuts
The interim government may widen the gap in the corporate tax paid by listed and non-listed firms from 5 percentage points to 7.50 percentage points in order to attract companies with good performance records into going public.
31 May 2025, 18:00 PM
Budget being built on inflated data
Debapriya Bhattacharya tells The Daily Star
30 May 2025, 18:00 PM
Trump’s remittance tax plan poses threat to Bangladesh
The US House Budget Committee voted late on Sunday to move forward with President Donald Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill Act", a proposal that could make sending money back home more expensive for three lakh Bangladeshis currently living in the United States.
20 May 2025, 18:05 PM