Md Asaduz Zaman

Bangladesh’s financial sector has undergone a paradigm shift, experiencing a surge in digitization over the last one-and-a-half decades, bringing millions under banking services that have even reached the village level.

Forhad Hossain has been looking for a permanent job since earning his master’s in management degree from Abdullah Al Mahmud Degree College in Sirajganj in 2019.

The local government division (LGD) accounted for 21 percent of the total expenditure among 58 ministries and divisions in the first four months of the current fiscal year (FY) ahead of the upcoming national elections, scheduled to be held on January 7 next year.

Abdul Khaleq works in Dhaka as a carpenter under a local contractor for eight hours per day, earning Tk 500. But his regular duties are not enough to meet the living expenses of his five-member family.

More than 82 percent of the handicraft makers in Bangladesh are struggling to run their activities due to a capital shortage, according to a survey by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).

The number of unemployed people in Bangladesh declined by 1.80 lakh year-on-year in the third quarter of 2023 despite the country’s major economic indicators having slowed down.

Although an increasing number of female students are coming out of universities every year, they continue to have the highest unemployment rate among graduates, according to the Labour Force Survey (LFS) 2022 released at the end of last week.

Almost every weekend, residents in Dhaka see a common scene in front of educational institutions: youths are either waiting at the gates to go inside or coming out after taking part in the recruitment tests in their efforts to land jobs.

Ahead of the upcoming national elections, the local government division (LGD) has spent more money from the annual development programme (ADP) than other major ministries and divisions.

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) plans to undertake a Tk 532 crore project for infrastructure development outside the capital in order to safeguard taxpayers’ files and expand the tax net to collect more revenue.

House rent in different parts of Bangladesh rose by 5.93 percent in the April-June period of fiscal 2022-23

Bangladesh’s earnings from spice exports increased 25 percent year-on-year in the first three months of fiscal 2023-24 due to demand from expatriates of Bangladesh and other Asian countries.

Food inflation in Bangladesh stayed above 12 percent for the second consecutive month in September as prices showed no signs of cooling down, hitting the pockets of the consumers who spend most of their incomes to feed their families.

Construction costs in Bangladesh rose by 6.98 percent in August, making it costlier to implement both public and private construction projects, according to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).

About 3,000 kilogrammes of single-use plastic waste are dumped by tourists on the Saint Martin's Island of Cox's Bazar every day during the peak season, according to The Earth, a non-profit organisation working on community development and environment.

Bangladesh is home to the world's longest sea beach as well as the world's largest mangrove forest alongside numerous places of outstanding natural beauty. But despite its potential, the country still could not explore the global markets and attract foreign holidaymakers..Even 52 years aft

Government revenue collection in the July-August period, the first two months of the current fiscal year of 2023-24, has increased by nearly 15 percent year-on-year, thanks to a rise in VAT from multinational companies. 

State-run Chhatak Cement Company in Sunamganj might not return to production anytime soon as its modernisation project is set to miss the deadline for the second time while uncertainty over the supply of the key raw material persists.   

Utilisation of foreign assistance under the government’s Annual Development Programme (ADP) by ministries and divisions has slightly declined year-on-year in the first two months of fiscal year 2023-24. 

The number of women bankers has gone up slightly over the last three years, after it saw a drop during the Coronavirus pandemic in 2020.