Dwaipayan Barua

It may surprise many that a lot of empty containers are lying idle at the private inland container depots (ICDs) in Bangladesh when the ICDs are choked with export cargoes for failing to ship them on time due to an acute shortage of empty boxes.

Bangladesh's export is facing unprecedented delays because of the deepening container crisis globally and squeezed capacity in vessels, fuelled by the rebounding demand in the Western economies. 

Every cloud has a silver lining and so has the Covid-19 pandemic. It saved the government and taxpayers around Tk 2,500 crore since March last year.

Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, Chattogram port clocked 3.1 per cent year-on-year growth in container handling in the just-concluded fiscal year, which highlighted the growing foreign trade of Bangladesh, official data showed.

Hapag-Lloyd, a German container shipping company, has decided to suspend its booking of import containers bound for Bangladesh via Singapore for a month.

Implementation of government development projects by ministries and divisions suffers years of delays as they, in most cases, are formulated without proper feasibility studies and technical designs.

The government is working to take necessary measures to provide cash assistance and food, including rice, edible oil and other commodities to poor who are affected during the countrywide “strict lockdown” to be imposed from Thursday.

The amnesty to legalise undisclosed income without any question and on payment of 10 per cent tax is likely to continue in the upcoming fiscal year for individuals who will make a new investment to set up factories, officials said.

Bangladesh is now playing a part in Qatar’s initiative of turning deserts into greenery, thanks to local firm which is exporting saplings.

The opportunity to whiten black money without any question from authorities regarding its source, which was offered by the government in the current fiscal year, is not going to continue the next fiscal year 2021-22.

The cottage, micro, small and medium enterprises, who were among the worst hit for the pandemic, appears to have started seeing the stimulus funds of late after initial reluctance from banks in disbursing credit to the sector.

The government will continue to offer the scope for legalising undisclosed money in the upcoming budget, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal said yesterday.

It may take four to 12 years to complete 1,426 ongoing development projects because of slow implementation and meagre allocation, highlighting the need for the government to prioritise works and accelerate execution to avoid cost and time overruns.

The government will allocate Tk 47,283 crore to 12 mega projects, including those on the fast-track list, from the development budget for the upcoming fiscal year.

Mahbubul Alam has been re-elected president of the Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) in an election that saw all director hopefuls emerging victorious without any votes.

The budgetary allocation meant for the poor and vulnerable is set to go past Tk 1 lakh crore mark for the first time as the government sets aside additional funds to support the needy during the coronavirus-induced income collapse.

The government may allocate Tk 225,324 crore to implement development projects in the next fiscal year, which is 14 per cent higher than that in the revised budget.

The government may keep its tax collection target unchanged for the National Board of Revenue in the next fiscal year because of the devastating effect of the coronavirus pandemic on the economy.

Undisclosed assets worth a staggering Tk 14,295 crore have been legalised in the first nine months of this fiscal year.

The government may increase its allocation for incentive expenses for remittance in the next fiscal year as it looks to retain the surge of the flow of the cheapest source of foreign currencies for Bangladesh.