Sohel Parvez

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.

The use of jute sacks to package 19 commodities remains a far cry 13 years past the enactment of the Mandatory Jute Packaging Act 2010. 

Bangladesh’s export earnings stood at $4.63 billion in February, the lowest in four months, although overall receipts rose 7.81 per cent year-on-year led by apparel, leather and leather goods shipments, official figures showed yesterday.  

Chowdhury believes this has been the story behind success in the recent years for LafargeHolcim Bangladesh

More than a decade has passed since the rollout of mobile financial service (MFS) in Bangladesh, but its use has largely been limited to fund transfers though it can become a major vehicle to turn the country into a cashless economy eliminating its over-dependence on fiat currencies.

Deposit flow to Islamic banks in Bangladesh registered a fall in the fourth quarter of 2022, the first such decline in eight years, in a sign of erosion of confidence among savers owing to loan irregularities.