Rejaul Karim Byron

Default loans recovery in Bangladesh fell to at least a five-year low of Tk 6,922 crore in the last fiscal year as borrowers struggled to pay back amid the economic slowdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The government has cut the interest rate on savings certificates and wage-earner bonds by 1 to 3 percentage points – a move that may help the authorities save but hurt the middle-income group dependent on the returns to make a living.

Write-off loans rose slightly in the second quarter of 2021, although they remain at the lower level thanks to the eases of rules because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The profits of state-owned enterprises plummeted in the last fiscal year as their incomes took a beating from the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) is going to publish the gross domestic product (GDP) growth data every quarter from the next fiscal year.

Although  the overall implementation of the annual development programme (ADP)  marked a rise in the first two months of the new fiscal year compared to  the corresponding period a year before, the ADP  implementation in the health service sector is still lagging.

The government, following a study, has primarily estimated that it will need at least $90 million to implement a recovery plan for an education sector hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Padma Bridge, Payra Port and Dhaka Metro Rail-6 are among the fast-track projects nearing completion, whereas several others are witnessing a slower than expected implementation rate, according to a progress report.  

Implementation of the Annual Development Programme (ADP) in July was 17.22 per cent lower compared to the corresponding month of last fiscal year due to the economic impact of a recent countrywide lockdown.

The already low incomes of skilled and unskilled workers have been squeezed further for last month’s countrywide lockdown, making it more difficult for them to stay afloat amid the Covid-19 fallout.

The government has saved about Tk 12,000 crore by embracing austerity in purchasing cars for its officials since the pandemic struck Bangladesh, a development that offers the scope to look into how to cut costs.   

The central bank will lend $50 million to under-pressure Sri Lanka this week as part of Bangladesh’s efforts to support the Island nation suffering from a foreign exchange crisis.

The unavailability of doses is once again posing as the sole reason behind the slow disbursement of the Tk 14,200 crore fund allocated for Covid-19 vaccine procurement in the budget for the current fiscal year.

The government is going to buy digital contents containing interactive and communicative lessons to help secondary students tap the potentials of distance learning.

The government is undertaking a project involving about Tk 200 crore to roll out fifth-generation or 5G mobile network on a limited scale in Dhaka by the end of this year.

The government is going to set up the country’s biggest solar power plant in Madarganj upazila of Jamalpur, in a move to raise the share of renewable energy in total power generation to 10 per cent by 2025.

The government is set to give a lifeline to Teletalk as the loss-making mobile phone operator looks to make a turnaround by winning customers through modernisation, network expansion and the launch of 5G technology.

Bangladesh’s economy may continue to suffer under the Covid-19 pandemic throughout the current fiscal year due to vaccine shortages and the government’s incapability to enforce a strict lockdown, said a recently released Fitch Solutions report.

Private investment in Bangladesh fell to its lowest level in 14 years in the last fiscal year owing to the lingering uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic and continuing structural weaknesses.

The economy grew 3.51 per cent in the fiscal year 2019-20, the slowest pace of expansion in three decades, as the pandemic wreaked havoc across the country, according to the final figure of state-run Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).