Rejaul Karim Byron

In a bid to secure supply, the government has confirmed the purchase of seven LNG cargoes from the spot market since the beginning of the US-Israel war on Iran

Bangladesh could receive a $1.3 billion tranche from its loan programme with the International Monetary Fund by June if the new government moves ahead with reforms to make the dollar exchange rate more market-based, strengthen revenue collection, reduce subsidies, and address weaknesses in the banking sector.

The government has formed a high-powered cabinet committee to draw up a crisis management plan, aiming to safeguard economic stability amid the ongoing US-Israel war on Iran.

Some Tk 39 crore has been set aside from the block allocation from this fiscal year’s revised budget, a finance ministry official told The Daily Star.

Although the authorities say the foreign exchange rate is now fully market-determined, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has described the system as “incomplete”.

The government is set to launch the pilot phase of its family card programme on March 10 with the ultimate aim of gradually bringing two crore families under monthly cash support.

Bangladesh is set to spend over $30 billion this fiscal year to service its debts, covering both principal repayments and interest on domestic and foreign loans, according to projections by the International Monetary Fund.

The list includes managing high inflation, weak tax collection, rising debt

The government, on its first full day in office, formally sought a three-year deferral of Bangladesh’s graduation from the least developed country (LDC) category.

The new finance minister, Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, may have arrived in office with a long list of priorities -- fiscal reform, banking stability, and negotiations with international lenders.

The new government must apply to the United Nations Committee for Development Policy (UN CDP) by February 23 if it intends to defer Bangladesh’s graduation from the least-developed country (LDC) category to developing nation status.

Ahsan Mansur’s planned ordinance gets stuck

One of the dangers, the IMF said, is the possibility of delayed banking reforms -- or, more seriously, “reversals of exchange rate reform and fiscal discipline”.

Foreign debt servicing by the government and its guaranteed loans rose 17 percent to $7.09 billion at the end of June in the last fiscal year.

Tax reform panel also calls for dropping the excise duty on bank deposits

Just 17 days before the national election, the interim administration yesterday cleared a massive wave of infrastructure and social spending, authorising 25 new and revised projects with a combined price tag of Tk 45,191 crore.

The Ninth National Pay Commission yesterday proposed a new salary structure for government employees, recommending increases ranging from 100 percent to 142 percent, alongside substantial rises in other benefits.

Tk 20,000cr kept as additional allocation in revised budget to cover salaries, allowances of govt employees

Bangladesh’s economy rebounded in the first quarter of the current fiscal year of 2025-26 due mainly to stronger agricultural and industrial production.

The government is set to slash allocations for development spending by 12.5 percent in the current fiscal year 2025-26 (FY26), as the originally allocated fund remains largely unspent in the first five months.