Sohel Parvez

Redwanur Rahman Jewel’s dreams had come true when he opened his bookstore in May last year as it soon turned into a veritable hub for readers and writers alike.

The customs authority has relaxed its rules in regards to the submission of Certificates of Origin (CoO), a declaration of the place of manufacture for any product, for goods imported under the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) trade pact in the SAARC bloc.

The economy, it seems, is in a sort of limbo, neither fully on recess nor roaring ahead.

A deluge of missed calls greeted me as I glanced over my phone in late afternoon on Saturday. They were all from the same unknown number.

Everything was going well for the online tax return filing project until the end of 2019.

The customs authority plans to install more luggage scanners at all air and land ports in a bid to curb smuggling and free travellers of the hassle of discretion-based checks at arrival and departure gates.

Floods have already damaged crops worth nearly Tk 350 crore and are going to pile up further losses on tens of thousands of farmers, according to an official estimate.

Potato shipments have rebounded to an extent as revenue from the sector nearly doubled in the just-concluded fiscal year thanks to exporters’ efforts to exploit the gap in the international market created by reduced supply from China and Pakistan following lower crop production due to the coronavirus fallout.

The National Board of Revenue yesterday rolled out the electronic payment of value-added tax, taking a much-delayed big step forward to fully automating a system that would enable businesses to comply at reduced time and cost.

It has been two months since shops have been keeping their doors open to greet shoppers and register some sales.

Electronic invoices would now be accepted as acknowledgement receipts for value-added tax payment to the treasury, as the National Board of Revenue edges closer to ensuring online payment of the indirect tax, the biggest source of revenue for the state.

The government yesterday approved a Tk 3,020 crore project -- the biggest ever scheme for farm sector -- to provide price support to farmers in purchasing agricultural machinery.

The wait for workers of four sectors, including private jute mills and tea gardens, for new wages has gotten longer as the fixation of their minimum wages was halted following the authorities’ unwillingness to join physical meetings amid the pandemic.

Bangladesh’s rice imports fell to a nearly 40-year low in the fiscal year 2019-20 thanks to farmers’ endeavour to increase the yields of the main crop and allow the nation to be self-sufficient in the cereal production.

The much-cherished Sonali Bag scheme, which aims to make polymer containers from jute, will continue despite the closure of 25 state-run jute and non-jute mills on the first day of the current month.

Private millers are looking to utilise much of their capacity to increase the production of jute goods to cash in on the void created in the domestic and international markets for the closure of all the 22 state-run jute mills.

Diamond World has made history as the leading jewellery house has become the first company from Bangladesh to import gold bars through a legal channel to cater for both local and foreign markets.

Farmers are set to start harvesting jute by the end of this month and for the first time since Bangladesh’s independence, none of the natural fibre will be bought by the world’s largest state-owned jute goods maker and exporter, the Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC).

With the Covid-19 pandemic wrecking lives and livelihoods, the government has renewed its focus and stepped up thrust on boosting production of Aus and Aman rice to ensure adequate availability of staple food in the country and slash dependence on the global market.

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