Asifur Rahman

Bangladesh has lost around $14 billion a year on average to capital flight during the Awami League’s 15-year tenure, according to the draft report of the committee preparing a white paper on the economy.

Jatiya Nagorik Committee has included a former top leader of Islami Chhatra Shibir in its extended central committee, ignoring objections from a section of committee members.

The interim government is struggling to pay the power bill arrears that were caused largely by “unfair” contracts signed between the previous administration and power producers, and rising international fuel prices.

Coal-fired power plants are dialling down production or even shutting down due to financial, legal or technical issues, leading to power cuts across the country, especially the rural areas.

India’s Adani Power Jharkhand Limited has halved its power supply to Bangladesh, saying it has yet to receive outstanding bills.

Heat exposure had severe economic consequences for Bangladesh last year, leading to an estimated income loss of $21 billion due to reduced labour capacity, according to the latest Lancet Countdown report.

The immediate past Awami League government’s failure to settle an international arbitration claim has left Bangladesh in a legal tangle in the US, leading to a surprise judicial order against two top officials of the interim government during their official visit to Washington last week.

A retired bureaucrat, Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan has been tasked with heading three significant ministries for the economy: power, energy and mineral resources; road transport and bridges; and railways.

After the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund has now brought down Bangladesh’s growth forecast for this year as political uncertainty, industrial unrest and floods weigh heavily on economic activities.

The policy reforms being considered in Bangladesh will not only improve its business climate, but also increase foreign investment in the country, according to the top official of Excelerate Energy.

The government plans to sell some vegetables at subsidised prices for the low-income groups as part of a pilot project in the capital.

Two vessels anchored in Chattogram port last week to unload about 70,000 tonnes of liquefied petroleum gas by misreporting the country of origin of the product, said the LPG Operators Association of Bangladesh (LOAB).

The Power Division has replied to Gautam Adani’s letter to Prof Muhammad Yunus, chief adviser to the interim government, saying the government will clear its dues within the shortest possible time. 

The power supply situation has further deteriorated across the country as another power plant has completely shut and there is no sign of increasing generation in the immediate future.

Power cuts are getting more frequent as power generation has failed to keep up with the high demand caused by the rising mercury.

India’s Adani Group has been repeatedly requesting the interim government to immediately clear dues of around $800 million on their electricity sales, according to officials of Bangladesh Power Development Board (PDB). 

India’s plan to extend a cross-border diesel pipeline from Dinajpur’s Parbatipur upazila to Natore will apparently see delayed implementation for the ongoing political crisis, according to the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) and an Indian media outlet. 

At least Tk 127 crore owed by e-commerce companies to customers as refunds has been stuck in payment gateways since 2021, according to the commerce ministry documents.

The country, especially the rural areas, is experiencing frequent power cuts over the last couple of days due to insufficient electricity production from coal-based power plants, alongside the prolonged delay in increasing LNG regasification facilities.

A 1,320-megawatt (MW) coal-based thermal power plant located in Kalapara upazila of Patuakhali is ready to begin commercial operations by the end of this year, officials said..The first of the plant’s two units, which can generate 660 MWs daily, will commence production in October while th