The government has brought some major changes to the incentive structure for exports in order to achieve a higher overseas sales target set for the current fiscal year. Bangladesh Bank on Thursday released an incentive structure for 2017-18, granting stimulus to five sectors for the first time and increasing existing rates for four. With the […]

The haats become money spinners ahead of Eid, but city corporations lose out An Eid cattle market in the capital is a massively profitable business. Put up Tk1 crore at any of the two city corporations to lease a haat, and you can make Tk10-12 crore in three days. The 22 temporary cattle markets that […]

The trade deficit at the end of fiscal 2016-17 stood close to $9.5 billion, the largest in seven years, according to data released by Bangladesh Bank on Wednesday. The deficit widened near the end of the year as import spending increased faster than export earnings, said Zaid Bakht, a leading economist. Bangladesh spent $43.49 billion […]

The telecom regulator stuck to its original recommendation for minimum voice call rates even though the government sought for downward revision. The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission, after holding proper consultations with stakeholders, yesterday fixed the minimum on-net (calls between the same operator) call rate at Tk 0.35 per minute, up from existing Tk 0.25. The […]

A file photo shows a partial view of a kitchen market in the capital, Dhaka. The prices of daily essential commodities including rice and vegetables have gone up in the city markets as the current spate of floods disrupted the supply chain as well as the agricultural production across the country. — New Age photo […]

Cold storage operators said between 15 and 20 lakh tonnes of potato will remain unsold by the end of the year because of sluggish demand for the vegetable. Farmers and traders have preserved 53 lakh tonnes of the tuber in the cold storages this year, up 32 percent year-on-year. Only 10 percent of the tuber […]

Export earnings in July soared 26.54 percent to $3.2 billion, marking a strong rebound after lacklustre performance in the fiscal year that concluded in June. July’s receipts, however, narrowly missed the monthly target of $3.23 billion, according to data from the Export Promotion Bureau. The surge in exports was led by garment, whose shipments soared […]

Ethical leadership, real empowerment of employees and treating them with due respect are crucial to business success, said Latifur Rahman, chairman and CEO of Transcom Group. “Every individual has a need to perform and be recognised. Therefore, empowerment should be real and meaningful and not at a cosmetic level.” The award-winning entrepreneur made the comments […]

The government may amend the electoral rules of microcredit lender Grameen Bank so that it can pick nine directors from the borrowers by itself — like it has done since its inception. Now the finance ministry will take opinions of the attorney general on how to amend the Grameen Bank (Election of Directors) Rules 2014, […]

The finance ministry has moved to make changes to the Banking Companies Act 1991 that would strengthen the grip of families on private banks. The amendment proposed to increase the tenure of the board of directors of a private bank from six years to nine years and accommodate four members of a family instead of […]

Generating adequate funds for implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will be a major challenge for Bangladesh as it may require around $ 928.48 billion worth of additional resources for implementing the 2030 development agenda. This was revealed in a recent report of the General Economics Division (GED) of the Planning Commission titled ‘SDGs Needs […]

With the Chittagong port grappling with huge vessel congestion, the country’s second sea port in Mongla remains underutilised mainly because of inadequate facilities and low draft, said stakeholders. The port at the southwest coastal belt has the capacity to handle 70,000 TEUs (twenty foot equivalent units) of containers a year. It handled 26,952 TEUs containers […]