Rejaul Karim Byron

The National Pension Authority (NPA) yesterday decided to extend the age limit for a spouse to receive a pension after the pensioner’s death to 80 years from 75 and introduce an Islamic version of the Universal Pension Scheme.

The government yesterday approved the construction of three metro rail lines for Dhaka at an estimated cost of nearly Tk 2.5 lakh crore.

The estimated cost of the direct dual-gauge railway line project connecting Bogura and Sirajganj has jumped nearly 89 percent to Tk 10,391 crore, with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) set to fund 71 percent of the total project costs.

The revised estimated cost of the Japan-funded Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Line-1 and Line-5 projects has been set at Tk 2,03,800 crore, down 4.75 percent from an earlier proposal.

The government is set to introduce electric trains for the first time in Bangladesh on the 52km Narayanganj-Dhaka-Joydebpur route.

When war in the Middle East sent fuel prices climbing, Bangladesh looked like an obvious casualty. An import-dependent economy with a thin reserve cushion and a recent history of dollar shortages had every reason to buckle. It has not.

After approving a long-term deal to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) from a US-based firm, the government yesterday decided to import at least 18 LNG cargoes from France’s TotalEnergies over the next nine months under a direct purchase arrangement.

The MRT-5 southern route is finally getting a move on, with the project set to be placed before the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) next week for approval.

Sharmin Begum, who lives in Barguna’s Patharghata upazila, may have done little to contribute to global warming, but she is suffering severely from its adverse impacts.

The escalating conflict in the Middle East threatens to nearly triple Bangladesh’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) subsidy bill to Tk 40,000 crore ($3.3 billion) this fiscal year, forcing the government to turn to multilateral lenders for additional assistance.

Bangladesh is paying its highest spot price for liquefied natural gas (LNG) since the onset of the US-Israeli attacks on Iran, approving a cargo at over $28 per unit as geopolitical supply shocks and domestic infrastructure failures converge to create a severe energy crisis.

The government yesterday approved the largest pay hike for civil service since independence, doubling the basic salary of top officials and raising the lowest pay by a record 142 percent.

US war on Iran could cause a 30% price hike this year

The risks are mounting, warns a mid-June World Bank assessment on the proposed Contingent Emergency Response Project, which would provide budget support to the government.

The launch of the government’s flagship programmes reflects its commitment to fulfilling electoral promises, but six months is far too short to deliver the relief people expected, Finance and Planning Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury has said.

At least 196 fishermen from Patharghata upazila of Barguna have gone missing while fishing at sea or in rivers over the past 33 years. Their families are not only left without closure, but also without any government assistance.

Govt’s five-year plan sets targets for two key sectors

The government has set out a five-year plan to clean up the banking sector, with a focus on recovering bad loans, tightening supervision, improving governance and restoring depositor confidence.

The government has announced a five-year strategic framework outlining reforms and infrastructure projects.

The government is set to introduce an advanced Structural Health Monitoring System (SHMS) on a pilot basis for four major bridges to improve structural safety, enable real-time monitoring, and extend the lifespan of key transport infrastructure across the country.