Rejaul Karim Byron

The government has slashed the development budget for the current fiscal year by 3.26 per cent, keeping the local portion of the fund almost unchanged while trimming the foreign part.

The allocation to the revised annual development programme may trim by only Tk 7 lakh although the government had decided to put low-priority projects on hold in the beginning of the fiscal year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The government is going to prepare a roadmap soon for Bangladesh’s smooth transition from a least developed country to a developing one in the next five years.

The government has set an ambitious target of earning $150 billion through remittance between July 2020 and June 2025, according to a document on the 8th Five-Year Plan.

Bangladesh has stepped into a new journey as it qualified to graduate into a developing nation from a Least Developed Country (LDC) after 45 years.

The United Nations Committee for Development Policy has recommended Bangladesh’s graduation from Least Developed Country (LDC) status along with Nepal and Lao PDR.

Bangladesh is confident that it can fend off the challenges stemming from the graduation from the grouping of least-developed countries (LDCs) as the government has taken measures.

At a time when raising voice against financial scammers is challenging given the immense influence enjoyed by the vested quarter, Khondkar Ibrahim Khaled took a bold stance against swindlers in the banking sector. He became a torchbearer by way of giving his valuable recommendations to protect financial institutions from delinquent borrowers.

The downing of bank deposit rates is pushing savers towards national savings certificates as they seek higher returns after incomes were wiped out by the coronavirus pandemic.

The government has decided to expand the size of a fresh stimulus package for small traders, entrepreneurs and farmers to Tk 10,000 crore as they were largely left out of credit support despite being hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.

The government yesterday approved two proposals to buy a total of 67.2 lakh MMBTU liquified natural gas from spot market for Tk 623.64 crore to meet the growing demand for the super-chilled fuel.

The government is going to upgrade the 209km Dhaka-Sylhet highway into six lanes, including service lanes on both the sides, under a Tk 16,918.59 crore project.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday directed Payra Port Authority (PPA) to prepare a detailed work plan amidst cost spirals and delays in project implementation involving the government’s highly-ambitious development agenda.

The cost of two projects related to the much-hyped Payra Sea Port continues to shoot up and their completion is facing delays although the port belongs to the government’s list of fast-track projects.

The government is going to expand the Internet Protocol (IP) network of the Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited (BTCL) with an aim to expand broadband network to upazila and union levels.

Just as it had been for past LDC status graduates, Bangladesh will also not face a lot of challenges afterwards for already having proven its economic resilience and potential for sustainable growth, according to a government study.

The government is going to amend procurement rules to import rice, wheat and other commodities in the fastest possible time.

At least 66,622 people would fall below the poverty line due to the decline in exports following Bangladesh’s graduation to a developing nation from the group of least-developed countries, according to a government analysis.

Development of physical infrastructure, improvement of the business climate and labour productivity and technological adoption are the key to making Bangladesh competitive in global trade by offsetting the fallouts of the LDC graduation.

Loans to the vulnerable sectors in Bangladesh such as garment, textile, cement and tanneries will face significant pressure as they are yet to see expected recovery from the shock of the coronavirus pandemic, Moody’s said.