N’ganj-Dhaka-Joydebpur route: Electric trains on the cards
14 September 2026
The government is set to introduce electric trains for the first time in Bangladesh on the 52km Narayanganj-Dhaka-Joydebpur route.
14 September 2026
Reserves on rise despite fuel, fertiliser shock
12 September 2026
When war in the Middle East sent fuel prices climbing, Bangladesh looked like an obvious casualty. An import-dependent economy with a thin reserve cushion and a recent history of dollar shortages had every reason to buckle. It has not.
12 September 2026
Energy: Govt okays 18 LNG cargoes from Total Energies
10 September 2026
After approving a long-term deal to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) from a US-based firm, the government yesterday decided to import at least 18 LNG cargoes from France’s TotalEnergies over the next nine months under a direct purchase arrangement.
10 September 2026
Another metro getting on track
7 September 2026
The MRT-5 southern route is finally getting a move on, with the project set to be placed before the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) next week for approval.
7 September 2026
Where access to freshwater is a daily struggle
5 September 2026
Sharmin Begum, who lives in Barguna’s Patharghata upazila, may have done little to contribute to global warming, but she is suffering severely from its adverse impacts.
5 September 2026
LNG bill to triple as war drags on
4 September 2026
The escalating conflict in the Middle East threatens to nearly triple Bangladesh’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) subsidy bill to Tk 40,000 crore ($3.3 billion) this fiscal year, forcing the government to turn to multilateral lenders for additional assistance.
4 September 2026
Bangladesh paying near-peak prices for LNG
3 September 2026
Bangladesh is paying its highest spot price for liquefied natural gas (LNG) since the onset of the US-Israeli attacks on Iran, approving a cargo at over $28 per unit as geopolitical supply shocks and domestic infrastructure failures converge to create a severe energy crisis.
3 September 2026
National pay scale: Hurrah for government employees
1 September 2026
The government yesterday approved the largest pay hike for civil service since independence, doubling the basic salary of top officials and raising the lowest pay by a record 142 percent.
1 September 2026
NBR to make all-out effort to make amnesty to black money a success this time
The government is set to make an all-out effort from next month to generate an increased amount of revenue from the legalisation of untaxed money as it needs the sum to kickstart the coronavirus-ravaged economy.
29 July 2020
Two projects for the poor see their allocations slashed
Irregularities and apathy have become a permanent feature of project implementation in Bangladesh, thanks to which no infrastructure is ever ready on time.
28 July 2020
Indian transhipped goods to pay Tk 2 a tonne in road fee
Dhaka has decided to charge Tk 2 per tonne per kilometre in road usage fees for Indian goods that would be transshipped using Bangladesh’s territory, officials said.
27 July 2020
Lifting private investment would be a tall order
The government is aiming to lift private investment to GDP ratio to a record 25.3 per cent this fiscal year although the coronavirus-induced uncertainty showed no signs of abating and structural challenges are largely unaddressed.
26 July 2020
6.53cr Bangladeshis need assistance: UN
Nearly 6.53 crore poor people in Bangladesh should receive time-bound temporary cash payments to cope with the worst impacts of Covid-19 pandemic, according to the United Nations.
24 July 2020
Budget deficit to go through the roof
Bangladesh’s budget deficit may shoot to as high as 10 per cent of the GDP in the current fiscal year as the government would have to keep spending more to tackle the brunt of the coronavirus pandemic amid a drastic fall in revenue generation, the World Bank said.
23 July 2020
Govt makes setting up single-member companies easier
The government has brought in a major amendment to the Companies Act allowing setting up of single-member companies, a move that is expected to give a boost to entrepreneurship, draw investors and support the growth of SMEs.
22 July 2020
Revenue collection did not stutter badly last fiscal year as feared
The two-and-half-month-long countrywide general shutdown was supposed to cause a massive dent to the state’s coffer as the economic locomotive was effectively chained to its track in the station.
21 July 2020
Foreign aid use hops over to a new high
Foreign aid disbursement rose more than 28 per cent to $8 billion in the just-concluded fiscal year riding on the increased flow of budget support from development lenders to help Bangladesh ride out the coronavirus pandemic.
20 July 2020
Govt cuts back on travel expenses to free up funds for priority sectors
The government has gone one step further to tighten its belt amid drying up of revenues as it suspended 50 per cent budgetary allocation for the expenses for both foreign and local tours of officials and banned all routine travels.
19 July 2020
Apparel-makers pursue another round of low-cost loans
Pandemic-hit apparel exporters have sought continuation of low-cost loans from the government for three more months to help them pay wages to workers as the sector is struggling to stay afloat.
16 July 2020
Tk 40,000cr low-priority projects to be pushed back
The government has decided to put a hold on the implementation of low-priority development projects involving Tk 40,000 crore to free up funds for the productive sectors amid widening revenue shortfall.
15 July 2020
Farm mechanisation gets a big push from govt
The government yesterday approved a Tk 3,020 crore project -- the biggest ever scheme for farm sector -- to provide price support to farmers in purchasing agricultural machinery.
14 July 2020
Decent development spending amid extenuating circumstances
Sometimes, one just needs to resign to reality.
14 July 2020
To cut costs, govt suspends buying vehicles for 2020
The government has decided not to purchase new vehicles under all operating and development expenses for the rest of 2020 as part of its austerity measures in face of falling revenues owing to the coronavirus pandemic.
9 July 2020
Two-thirds of poor families yet to receive Tk 2,500 cash support
A staggering two-thirds of the 50 lakh poor families hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic are yet to receive Tk 2,500 each in cash support because of the flawed list although they have been languishing in poverty for the last three months.
8 July 2020
Wage growth pitches to five-year low
Wage growth slowed to a five-year low in the just-concluded fiscal year driven by the income loss in the manufacturing and services sectors as the coronavirus pandemic-induced shutdown wiped out livelihoods of a major portion of the population in the last quarter.
7 July 2020
Food Aid Before Eid: Free rice for 1 crore poor
The government is set to distribute 10-kilogramme rice for free to each of over one crore “ultra-poor and destitute families” ahead of Eid-ul-Azha.
7 July 2020
Khulna-Mongla Rail Project: Sad tale of delays, cost escalation
When the government approved the Khulna-Mongla Port Rail Line project in December 2010, construction of the 64.75km rail line was supposed to be completed within December 2013.
6 July 2020
Can the massive forex reserves bankroll large projects?
The government is revisiting the idea of using currently healthy foreign currency reserves boosted by the drastic fall in imports and injection of budget support from external sources to bankroll major projects.
6 July 2020