Nazneen Ahmed

Exchange rate management has become a frontline issue in Bangladesh in recent times. The sharp rise in the price of the dollar and the significant decline in the foreign exchange reserves within a short span of time have sent shock waves across the economy.

In a recent report, The Daily Star presented the success story of several small-scale entrepreneurs producing and marketing improved cook stoves (ICS), commonly known as Bondhu Chula (Friend Stove).

The government has taken a firm decision to enforce the ceiling on lending interest rate from April 1, 2020. The 9 percent maximum lending rate will apply across the board to all types of lending except those provided through credit cards.

Excessive volume of non-performing loan (NPL) in the banking sector is a major weakness of the Bangladesh economy.

Onion price hike has been one of the most discussed issues for the last couple of months. As onion is an essential daily food ingredient, the issue of price hike has extended hue and cry among all types of households, rich or poor.

UN agencies leading the Rohingya crisis response appealed for USD 951 million for humanitarian assistance covering the period from March to December 2018.

As with global warming, Bangladesh has not contributed to the rise of global terrorism anymore than it has contributed to formulating or debating over the definition of “terrorism” itself. Nonetheless, the country is saddled with the spill-over consequences of this crisis, one being the rise of “posh” militants as apparent from the backgrounds of the Gulshan attackers who broke our traditional belief that the root of terrorism lies in poverty, poor education, and madrasas.

The bedtime of weekends turns out to be the most intimate moment of exchange between us, mother and daughter. That is the time when my mother opens her heart to me and reveals her darkest fears, her deepest pains and disappointments from the past.