Sukanta Halder

The USA has 5 lakh Bangladeshi migrant workers and Saudi Arabia 20 lakh

A three-day jewellery fair that opened in Dhaka yesterday witnessed, as per the organisers, a good turnout of visitors, a number of whom cited that they were looking for new designs, discounts and potential wedding gifts. 

Bangladesh has to rely on imports to meet about 15 per cent of the demand of the spice market, which highlighted the foreign currencies the country has to spend to bring in the items as well as the potential for local production.  

Scrap vessel imports by Bangladesh hit a four-year low in 2022 as banks in the country have become reluctant to open letters of credit amid the ongoing US dollar shortage, according to industry people.

The 27th edition of the Dhaka International Trade Fair (DITF), which ends today at its new venue in Dhaka’s Purbachal, may have seen a higher turnout but overall sales were lower compared to when the monthlong event was held in Agargaon, according to participants.

Tea production in Bangladesh has decreased by nearly 3 per cent year-on-year in 2022.

Tea production in Bangladesh decreased by nearly 3 per cent year-on-year in 2022.

Sugar prices edged up in the wholesale market of Bangladesh within days after refiners declared that they would sell the sweetener at higher prices from the first day of February.    

The price of the most-consumed items during Ramadan such as chickpeas, dried peas and dates has increased in the wholesale markets in Dhaka and Chattogram due to a supply shortage, two months before the fasting month begins.

Publishers are gearing up for the upcoming Ekushey book fair despite multipronged challenges as a sense of festivity surrounding the monthlong book fair has returned for the first time in three years.

Exports of light engineering equipment, including stainless-steel and iron ware, from Bangladesh have decreased in the first six months of the current fiscal year compared to the same period the year before.

The latest hike of gas prices undoubtedly spells trouble for industries as they will try to shift the burden onto consumers by raising product prices, which will boomerang onto them by eating away at their competitiveness in international markets. 

The Bangladesh Bank is yet to take any visible measure in line with a commerce ministry directive aimed at asking banks to earmark a portion of their foreign currency holdings to open letters of credit to import essentials ahead of Ramadan. 

The latest gas price hike will increase the cost of production in the country, Khondaker Golam Moazzem, research director of the Centre for Policy Dialogue, told The Daily Star.

Transactions through mobile financial services (MFS) have decreased slightly in November last year compared to that in the preceding month, showed the latest data of Bangladesh Bank (BB). 

Mohammad Sohel was dusting off the shelves in his shop at the Muktijoddha Supermarket in Mirpur 1 on Wednesday afternoon as no shopper was present. In fact, he did not record any sales on the day although some shoppers did turn out.    

Bangladesh’s export of paper and paper products have risen 123.35 per cent year-on-year in the first half of the current fiscal year thanks to the post-pandemic recovery and manufacturers’ focus on finding new export destinations.

Consumers in Bangladesh are increasingly switching to comforters, quilts and blankets from traditional duvets in order to stay warm throughout the chillier winter nights and amid a change in lifestyle, drawing a substantial investments and big companies to the segment.

The import of essentials such as edible oil, chickpeas, dried peas and sugar fell in July-November as traders face difficulties in opening letters of credit (LCs) to purchase the items from international markets amid the US dollar shortage.

Although the inflation rate in Bangladesh has maintained a downward trend for the past four months, it is still high enough to affect those living in the middle-income category and below, experts say.