We have some good news to cheer. According to a report published by the World Economic Forum (WEF) Bangladesh has become more competitive in 2017 as compared with 2016.

The debate over the excessive reliance on coal-based thermal power generation has very little to do with our negligible role in the exponential accumulation of atmospheric GHGs. Just to give you some context, in 2013, coal's share in power generation was about three percent. The 2016 Power Sector Master Plan proposes to raise it to 50 percent, totalling about 20,000 megawatts by 2030.

Tapping solar energy, Bangladesh has been able to provide access to electricity to over 12 percent of her population outside the grid network through the installation of more than 4.5 million solar home systems. Despite its huge potential, however, consumers of grid-connected electricity are yet to exploit the power of the sun to their advantage.

Bangladesh has endorsed elimination of poverty as a national goal, and the country can be proud of its achievements in this respect during the last 25 years.

Jobless" growth is the phenomenon when an economy experiences growth without an expansion of jobs. In recent times, South Asia is considered to be the fastest growing region in the world.

For many years now, Greece has been considered the “sick man” of the European Union (EU). The Greek economy was on the verge of collapse right after the major world economic...

One common discourse in the financial and policy arena of Bangladesh is the idea that higher rate on national savings schemes discourages investment in the stock market.

The title of this essay may raise a few eyebrows in Bangladesh. Bangladesh has already embraced the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and there is no doubt that the government and civil society are marching ahead to reach the various targets.

First things first, let's recall that a current account shows the flow of goods and services, primary and secondary income between a country and the rest of the world.

The National Social Security Strategy approved by the Cabinet in 2015 points to a strong political commitment of Bangladesh to become a welfare state.

Here is an example of an organisation that benefitted substantially from research: Courtyard by Marriott found out that business travellers needed hassle-free service, relevant information, and time to relax during their travels. They made their check-in and check-out procedures efficient; seeded their website with maps, restaurant types and locations, and promotional materials; and introduced quiet lounges which didn't have music or TV noise to cause distraction. I don't need to elaborate on Marriott's customer satisfaction ratings or their bottom line!

The 20th Anniver-sary of the Asian financial crisis and 10th Anniversary of the North Atlantic financial crisis brought back a sense of déjà vu—we have been here before.

Trade flourishes where there are high levels of education, developed financial sectors, strong governance, accountable institutions, and transparency that combats corruption.

. On one side, commentators are rightly holding the government accountable to generate enhanced youth-based human capital growth. However, on the other side, we also need to look at non-public policy factors which are preventing individuals in Bangladesh from being employed.

How should we read the SDGs as far as the priorities of the South Asian countries are concerned? In my view, SDG 7 (affordable and clean energy), SDG 8 (decent work and economic growth) and SDG 9 (industry, innovation, and infrastructure) are at the heart of priorities mainly because of the fact that South Asian countries have national priorities aligned with these SDGs, and more importantly, these SDGs have strong linkages with other SDGs.

Has the finance minister addressed these issues and is this budget adequate to meet the challenges stated above? An equally important issue is this: do the responsible agencies have the capacity and capability of implementing such a large budget?

A minister was telling me the other day that if people don't mind spending Tk. 300 on a cheese burger, why can't they afford a little more for rice?

Our finance minister has proposed a mega budget of Tk 4,00,266 crore for FY2017-18, of which Tk 1,53,331 crore is earmarked for Annual Development Programme (ADP).

Bangladesh has been making steady economic progress over the past decades. But Bangladesh will not be able to achieve eight percent GDP growth rate by 2020 unless major concerns relating to its labour force and employment are adequately addressed.

If we look at the growth pattern of Bangladesh from 1990, we discover two specific characteristics...