Rejaul Karim Byron

The World Bank yesterday advised the government to reconsider its decision to dip into the foreign exchange reserves for development projects given the elevated balance of payment deficit and the need for exchange rate flexibility.

Bangladesh is not at risk of the crisis that Sri Lanka is currently facing, but the country needs to be cautious and learn from the experiences of the island nation, said Hans Timmer, chief economist of the World Bank for South Asia.

When Bangladesh agreed to provide $250 million to Sri Lanka last year, little did it think that it would become a side character in the horror show that is unfolding in the island nation.

Bangladesh’s debt service to revenue ratio rocketed to 81.2 per cent in the last fiscal year amid lower tax collection and higher borrowing, according to the International Monetary Fund.

Bangladesh’s Covid-19 vaccination campaign has so far turned out to be quite a triumph.

The current account deficit in Bangladesh is expected to widen to 2.7 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in the current fiscal year from 0.9 per cent a year ago because of escalating imports and a decline in remittance.

The World Bank has extended a $250 million financing to Bangladesh in budgetary support after the country has moved to bring in fiscal and financial reforms to strengthen policies to sustain growth and enhance resilience to future shocks.

The power division will receive this year’s Swadhinata Padak (Independence Award) for its outstanding job of bringing cent percent of the country under electricity coverage, said power division officials.

The government is going to repair religious establishments and build new bridges across the country following longstanding demands from lawmakers.

The Payra area in Patuakhali is going to be a major economic hub with a sea port, a special economic zone, an airport and the country’s biggest coal-fired power plant that will officially launch operation tomorrow.

Just as the economy was sailing smoothly to make a turnaround from the coronavirus pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine war has suddenly emerged as a major obstacle standing in the way of faster and full revival. And this, among other things, is likely to increase poverty and eat into growth, warned the International Monetary Fund (IMF), policymakers and experts.

Saudi Arabia has shown interest in investing more than $10 billion in 15 large- and small-scale projects in Bangladesh.

Around Tk 719 crore in taxpayer money was unused in the last fiscal year because of the cancellation of foreign trips of government officials and the delay in tender processes, both owing to the coronavirus pandemic.

Amid soaring prices of daily essentials, the government has decided to deliver 61,000 tonnes of soybean oil, sugar, chickpea and lentil to five crore people through the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh.

Bangladesh could bring down carbon dioxide emission by 12 percent by 2030 by introducing a carbon user fee on the energy sector as it strives to transition to a low-carbon economy and build climate resilience, said the International Monetary Fund.

After twice rejecting proposals to buy 3.95 lakh tablet computers for the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), the government yesterday granted approval to this end so that the statistical agency can conduct the population and housing census which was set to begin three years

The government has slashed the development allocation for the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (RNPP) by around 20 per cent in the revised budget for the current fiscal year.

The government is expected to trim the development budget by 7.88 per cent to Tk 207,550 crore for the current fiscal year because of the sluggish pace of implementation by public agencies.

Foreign assistance disbursement and commitment both increased in Bangladesh in the first seven months of the current fiscal year thanks to speedy release of funds and additional promises as support for tackling the pandemic.

Development spending in Bangladesh rose 17 per cent year-on-year in the first seven months of the current fiscal year, highlighting the momentum in the economic recovery from the pandemic-induced slowdown.