Sohel Parvez

Revenue shortfall widened further as sluggish tax collection persisted in the July-October period, stoking concerns of a credit crunch amid a surge in government borrowing from the financial sector and an economic slowdown.

Bangladesh has huge growth potential in dairy and the demand for dairy products is likely to grow double-digit, buoyed by rising income and expanding middle class, said a senior executive of an international dairy company owned by farmers.

Inaccurate estimates of demand and production of onions as well as the failure of the government agencies to understand the gravity of the problem have pushed the price of the key cooking ingredient up to a record high and hurt consumers, said rights activists and analysts yesterday.

Amid the soaring cost of agricultural labour, the government is going to launch a project worth Tk 415 crore to give subsidy to the farmers for buying agricultural machinery so that they can harvest crops at a reduced cost.

Anyone following news reports is aware that various authorities and agencies here are checking food items in markets and destroying those found to be adulterated, substandard or unsafe.

If you visit a food court in Copenhagen, you will notice smiley icons at the entrance of restaurants. You see a paper with a smiley symbol posted on the door on the right top corner. Below the symbol is written the word “Elite”.

Bangladesh has to rely on foreign onions as local farmers do not want to expand its cultivation amid fears of losses due to low prices during the peak harvesting seasons, said farmers, agriculturists and traders.

After soaring prices of onions, consumers now have to deal with rice prices creeping up over the last few weeks.

The prospect of tuna fishing deep in the Bay of Bengal is hanging in the balance owing to a lack of interest of licensee firms in bringing trawlers to catch the commercially important fish, said insiders.

Except on the weekends and public holidays, Mir Arshedul Karim leaves his rented home in Mirpur for Dhaka University every morning, guided by his trusted white cane.

The National Board of Revenue is likely to cut value added tax on the import of coal for power plants to 5 percent from present 15 percent in order to facilitate electricity generation at reduced costs, said a senior official yesterday.

The National Board of Revenue yesterday asked banks to freeze all accounts of Jubo league presidium member Sheikh Fazlur Rahman Maruf and Awami Swechchasebak League President Molla Mohammad Abu Kawser.

An expansion in the cultivation of maize has created a vibrant market worth more than Tk 200 crore for its seed that is captured almost exclusively by foreign firms in the absence of adequate good quality seeds developed locally.

The food ministry plans to set up 200 paddy silos for about Tk 6,000 crore in order to buy increased amounts of grains from growers with a view to protecting them from losses in case of good harvest, said a top official.

Most of the poor people in urban areas remain deprived of the government’s social protection benefits. Only 17.84 percent of the poor people living in towns and cities receive support from social safety schemes, whereas 35.77 percent of the poor people in rural areas get the benefits, according to a World Bank report.

The hunger situation in Bangladesh continues to remain “serious”, with one in every seven persons suffering from undernourishment, according to the 2019 Global Hunger Index (GHI) released yesterday.

Paddy prices are refusing to pick up, much to the anxiety of farmers who are set to kick off aman paddy harvesting next month.

Prolonged low prices of paddy and floods have dampened the demand for agricultural machinery among farmers who are losing interest in making new investments, according to marketers.

Jute goods makers have got a shot in the arm from the National Board of Revenue, which has extended reduced tax benefit to them until fiscal 2022-23. At present, jute goods manufacturers pay 10 percent tax on their export income instead of 35 percent. But that privilege was due to

The National Board of Revenue plans to buy 14 container scanners to boost examination of export and import consignments and curb evasion of duties through false declaration.