Sohel Parvez

The heat wave sweeping over large parts of the country is hampering growth and flowering of vegetables, reducing supplies and leading to consumers being forced to dole out more in their purchases.  

Exports and remittances, two major sources of foreign currencies for Bangladesh, plunged in April, a bad omen for the economy as it deals with multiple challenges, including a dollar crisis, an elevated level of import costs and falling reserves. 

Riding on the reputation it has earned over the decades, Pubali Bank Ltd, one of the oldest banks in Bangladesh, is investing to build a robust digital infrastructure with a view to providing all financial services at the fingertips of customers and their doorsteps. 

Bangladesh’s exports to Asian markets are growing steadily thanks to increasing demand from several major markets but the country needs to sign trade pacts and diversify products in a continent where the consumer class is fast expanding.     

IFIC Bank Ltd, one of the oldest banks in Bangladesh, is expanding its physical presence fast across the country in its bid to bring one in every four families under its network, said its top executive.

Bangladesh’s import of capital machinery has continued its falling trend as banks have remained cautious in financing purchases amid the dollar crisis while entrepreneurs showed reluctance to expand owing to slowing domestic and export sales. 

International air traffic to and from Bangladesh hit the highest at least in four years in 2022, riding on pent-up demand for travel by migrant workers, non-resident Bangladeshis and the upper-middle-class segment.

An increasing number of female bankers are gradually securing top positions at banks thanks to their skills, competence and dedication, according to a Bangladesh Bank report released yesterday. 

For the first time in his 30 years of farming, Samaresh Mondal is growing dry-season rice, locally named Boro, along with 50 of his peers in a synchronised manner in their locality of Satibunia under Botiaghata upazila of Khulna.

Wheat imports by the private sector have continued to remain low in Bangladesh than the last fiscal year as businesses are facing persisting difficulties in opening letters of credits owing to the dollar shortage at banks. 

Shrimp exports are gradually recovering from a downturn earlier this year mainly due to increased demand and prices for freshwater prawn and partly for brackish water shrimp locally known as black tiger, two exporters said.

While passing through Nijhury Baraid Bazar, Bhaluka, around 100 kilometres north of Dhaka, anyone would spot the factory building on the side of the road.

Farmers have planted hybrid rice on the highest amount of land in the current Boro season, the source of the biggest crop output, to profit from higher production and prices of the staple grain in the market. 

Many banks in Bangladesh struggled to ensure expected profit in the last couple of years owing to the business slowdown, but The City Bank Ltd managed remarkable returns on the back of corporate governance and diversified products. 

Non-bank financial institutions in Bangladesh lost 48,637 deposit accounts in the three months to December as savers moved away from NBFIs owing to the imposition of the cap on the deposit rate and the erosion of confidence in the wake of allegations of irregularities at some banks. 

However, households are shifting to palm oil from soybean for high prices

Shwapno, the largest retail chain in Bangladesh, plans to raise the number of its stores by 10 times to 3,000 in the next three to five years to meet the growing demand for comfortable shopping among urbanites and become a profitable entity by increasing sales volume. 

Foreign banks operating in Bangladesh registered an 8.57 per cent growth in deposits in the October-December quarter of 2022, the highest since 2018, as many savers shifted their funds from local banks amid a confidence crisis. 

The observation comes from Ali Reza Iftekhar, managing director and chief executive officer of Eastern Bank Ltd.

Although the number of mobile financial service (MFS) accounts has grown in Bangladesh, the ratio of accounts held by women is falling, which, analysts say, is not desirable as increased participation of female is necessary for digital financial inclusion and gender equality.