Rejaul Karim Byron

Around 21,000 farmers in 11 upazilas across the country will receive “Farmers’ Cards” through Sonali Bank in the pre-pilot phase of the new government scheme, according to finance ministry sources.

Economists have urged the government to adopt a conservative approach in preparing the upcoming budget for the next fiscal year, taking into consideration the impact of the US-Israel war on Iran, implementing electoral pledges, and boosting investment.

Bangladesh lost an estimated $68 billion in illicit financial outflows over a decade between 2013 and 2022, placing it among the top 10 developing Asian countries for discrepancies in their trade with advanced economies.

An opportunity has emerged for Bangladesh to tap as much as $1.6 billion in Asian Development Bank (ADB) financing through a mix of new and ongoing support programmes.

Bangladesh will import two liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes from the spot market at prices lower than its recent purchases, as global fuel rates ease amid diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the US-Israel war on Iran.

Unemployed youth are finding an unlikely ally in the soil -- turning, once more, to agriculture for survival.

In a bid to secure supply, the government has confirmed the purchase of seven LNG cargoes from the spot market since the beginning of the US-Israel war on Iran

Bangladesh could receive a $1.3 billion tranche from its loan programme with the International Monetary Fund by June if the new government moves ahead with reforms to make the dollar exchange rate more market-based, strengthen revenue collection, reduce subsidies, and address weaknesses in the banking sector.

The government has formed a high-powered cabinet committee to draw up a crisis management plan, aiming to safeguard economic stability amid the ongoing US-Israel war on Iran.

Some Tk 39 crore has been set aside from the block allocation from this fiscal year’s revised budget, a finance ministry official told The Daily Star.

Although the authorities say the foreign exchange rate is now fully market-determined, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has described the system as “incomplete”.

The government is set to launch the pilot phase of its family card programme on March 10 with the ultimate aim of gradually bringing two crore families under monthly cash support.

Bangladesh is set to spend over $30 billion this fiscal year to service its debts, covering both principal repayments and interest on domestic and foreign loans, according to projections by the International Monetary Fund.

The list includes managing high inflation, weak tax collection, rising debt

The government, on its first full day in office, formally sought a three-year deferral of Bangladesh’s graduation from the least developed country (LDC) category.

The new finance minister, Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, may have arrived in office with a long list of priorities -- fiscal reform, banking stability, and negotiations with international lenders.

The new government must apply to the United Nations Committee for Development Policy (UN CDP) by February 23 if it intends to defer Bangladesh’s graduation from the least-developed country (LDC) category to developing nation status.

Ahsan Mansur’s planned ordinance gets stuck

One of the dangers, the IMF said, is the possibility of delayed banking reforms -- or, more seriously, “reversals of exchange rate reform and fiscal discipline”.

Foreign debt servicing by the government and its guaranteed loans rose 17 percent to $7.09 billion at the end of June in the last fiscal year.