Budget FY 23-24: IMF conditions, inflation, polls 3 key issues
Three issues would be dictating the upcoming fiscal year’s budget, the last of the Awami League government’s present five-year term: the International Monetary Fund’s conditions, the persistently high inflation and next year’s national election.
19 March 2023, 01:20 AM
Govt’s interest expenses jump over 22%
The government’s expenses on interest payments rose more than 22 per cent to Tk 40,792 crore in the first six months of the current fiscal year owing largely to higher expenditures on treasury bills, official figures showed.
16 March 2023, 02:30 AM
Rooppur Project: Russia proposes payment in rouble
Russia has proposed a direct payment system bypassing the global standard SWIFT to settle the dues for Rooppur nuclear power plant as the Soviet nation looks to navigate the sanctions from the West following the Ukraine war.
16 March 2023, 01:00 AM
Govt rolls back almost all austerity measures
The government yesterday rolled back most of the austerity measures it imposed at the beginning of the fiscal year to better weather the economic upheaval although statistics indicate there has hardly been any improvement on the front.
14 March 2023, 01:30 AM
Govt to form authority on public procurement
The government has prepared a draft law for ensuring transparency and accountability in public sector purchases while also improving efficiency in the sector.
13 March 2023, 02:00 AM
Transmitting Adani’s power to get costlier
The overall cost for transmitting electricity from the Adani power plant in Godda, Jharkhand is set to increase further as two projects meant for that end are eyeing cost and time revisions.
12 March 2023, 01:00 AM
Fast-track projects see better implementation
Implementation of eight fast-track projects under the Annual Development Programme (ADP) was at a good pace in the first seven months of the current fiscal year of 2022-23 while that of other projects was slower.
9 March 2023, 02:30 AM
Dollar crisis not ebbing despite ‘best efforts’
Bangladesh’s dollar crisis is just not subsiding even though imports have dropped off and both exports and remittance are staging a rally.
7 March 2023, 01:40 AM
$500m at best from WB this fiscal
The government can expect budget support of $500 million at best from the World Bank this fiscal year after it failed to implement key reforms that would have unlocked the entire $1 billion it was seeking.
5 March 2023, 01:00 AM
Dhaka, Delhi discussing de-dollarisation
Bangladesh and India are in talks about doing away with the dollar as the official currency for payments between the two countries -- a development that would bring down the cost of trade as well as the conversion rate losses for businesses and ordinary people.
3 March 2023, 01:00 AM
No more austerity
The government has officially abandoned the austerity stance it took on at the beginning of the fiscal year as it deems the economy is nearing good health.
2 March 2023, 01:10 AM
Moody’s sounds alarm bells on banking sector
Major global rating agency Moody’s yesterday downgraded its outlook of Bangladesh’s banking system from stable to negative -- a crushing development that is set to make foreign transactions trickier and costlier for businesses and banks.
2 March 2023, 01:00 AM
ADP execution rate in Jul-Jan lowest in 3 years
The first seven months of the current fiscal year of 2022-23 saw the lowest implementation rate of the annual development programme (ADP) in the last three years, with only 28.16 per cent of the total outlay being spent till January.
28 February 2023, 02:30 AM
Health, edn to get chop in ADP
Health and education are set to get the biggest chop in the revised development budget for this fiscal year, when the International Monetary Fund has stipulated more spending in the two sectors as part of its $4.7 billion loan programme.
28 February 2023, 01:10 AM
Dollar crunch raises spectre of load-shedding
Private power plants that use furnace oil risk facing severe shortage of fuel and this may result in power cuts during the hottest months of this year.
26 February 2023, 01:00 AM
Address out-of-pocket spending on healthcare
Bangladesh could explore health financing reforms that increase public financing for the health sector to reduce out-of-pocket spending, which is threatening to undermine national poverty reduction efforts, said the World Bank in a recent study.
25 February 2023, 01:50 AM
The devil is in implementation
Bangladesh’s economic crisis will not go away if the government does not strictly adhere to the conditions tagged with the International Monetary Fund’s 42-month loan programme, said the lender’s top official.
24 February 2023, 01:40 AM
Spike in funding costs to hurt banks’ profitability
Weak banks in Bangladesh with small holdings of government securities, which are used to mobilise funds either from the central bank or peers, may become more vulnerable in the days to come, Moody’s Investors Service warned yesterday.
23 February 2023, 02:00 AM
IMF getting BB ready for post-LDC world
Bangladesh’s preparation for LDC graduation would start in earnest with the International Monetary Fund’s 42-month loan programme, where one of the objectives is to overhaul the monetary and exchange rate policies to meet the needs of an open economy.
20 February 2023, 01:00 AM
IMF watching economy like a hawk
The International Monetary Fund would be watching the Bangladesh economy like a hawk, stipulating an extensive list of data reporting regularly as part of the conditions agreed upon for the $4.7 billion loan programme.
19 February 2023, 01:00 AM