Rejaul Karim Byron

Bangladesh is yet again set to register weak economic growth of 3.4 percent in the current fiscal year, according to the World Bank, marking a fourth straight year of slowing growth amid a deepening energy crisis, financial sector vulnerabilities and global uncertainties.

Escalating conflict in the Middle East has exacerbated pre-existing domestic vulnerabilities

The government is set to construct a 442MW solar power plant at a cost of Tk 2,498 crore on the remaining land acquired for the coal-fired power plant in Rampal.

Surplus liquidity in the banking sector surged 45 percent over the past year to cross Tk 4 lakh crore, but the vast majority of the funds are parked in government treasury bills and bonds rather than trickling into private sector credit, according to a central bank report.

Government officers and employees will receive four months’ salary under the new pay scale, including three months’ arrears, in the last week of this month, but teachers and staff under the MPO scheme, along with judges and judicial service employees, will have to wait longer.

After an 11-year gap, the government is set to provide Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) with a Tk 4,500 crore interest-free loan to help ensure uninterrupted fuel supplies.

The government is considering issuing a sovereign bond of up to $1 billion to the international capital market to diversify its funding sources.

The government had budgeted Tk 42,000 crore for electricity and LNG subsidies in the ongoing 2026-27 fiscal year, but it has already released nearly Tk 19,000 crore in the first three months.