Rejaul Karim Byron

The conditions for the possible new International Monetary Fund programme are likely to be based on raising the tax-GDP ratio, reducing subsidies, exchange rate flexibility and banking sector reforms.

Bangladesh’s economy is in crisis due to domestic and external shocks, and graduation from the category of Least Developed Countries (LDCs) this year will worsen the situation due to several risks, according to a government document.

A new International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan programme, prioritising revenue collection growth and banking sector reforms in Bangladesh, may commence next January.

The Finance Division has warned that a possible fresh surge in global oil prices driven by the Middle East war could derail Bangladesh’s inflation-control efforts, pushing average inflation above 9 percent in the current fiscal year and further squeezing household purchasing power.

IMED report cites lack of feasibility study, land acquisition delays for incomplete implementation

The report identified 68 audit objections unresolved over the last three fiscal years, of which 48 were classified as Serious Financial Irregularities.

Three years after the construction of the Dasherkandi Sewage Treatment Plant, nearly half of its treatment capacity remains unused during the dry season because Dhaka Wasa has yet to build the sewerage network needed to deliver wastewater to the facility, according to an Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED) report.

Govt scraps provision in Bank Resolution Act

The government may implement the Ninth Pay Scale in two phases, with the full increase in basic salaries likely to take effect from July and increased allowances to follow the next fiscal year, finance ministry officials have said.

Ministries instructed to review projects with less than 30% progress and scrap those no longer viable

Bangladesh has secured about $3.11 billion in emergency budget support from four development partners, including the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, this month to cushion the economic fallout from the US and Israel’s war on Iran.

Proposes draft law after banking woes identified as obstacle to $1tn economy ambition

The World Bank has warned that Bangladesh’s distressed banking sector remains the biggest obstacle to the government’s ambition of becoming a trillion-dollar economy by 2034.

The government’s external debt servicing burden is projected to almost double to $7.6 billion in FY29 from $4.11 billion in FY25 as rising interest payments, shorter loan maturities, and repayments for several mega projects begin to weigh on public finances.

Dhaka is expected to seek Beijing’s financing for three major projects during Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s upcoming visit to China

The World Bank’s board is set to approve $1.5 billion in budget support under three loan programmes for Bangladesh this month, a development that will bring much relief to the strained government finances amid the Middle East war.

Bangladeshis’ deposits in Swiss banks rose over 41 percent in 2025 to 834.16 million Swiss francs, which is about Tk 12,751 crore, the highest level in four years.

Bangladesh will need to make substantial progress on domestic reforms aimed at addressing its deep-rooted structural weaknesses if it is to get a three-year extension to the timeline of its graduation from the least-developed country category, said the UN Committee for Development Policy.

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) yesterday approved a Tk 4,189 crore project to build supporting infrastructure for the Chinese Economic and Industrial Zone (CEIZ) in Chattogram’s Anwara.

The gas subsidy has more than trebled this fiscal year, along with subsidies for electricity and fertiliser, due to costly purchases from the international spot market as a result of the Iran war.