Gains in financial and industrial stocks lifted European shares on Wednesday, though the main equity index held off record highs on nervousness that the US Federal Reserve could flag later in the day when it plans to start unwinding its stimulus.

Like many other twenty-somethings in India, Beverly Coutinho kept postponing buying a life insurance policy, until a surge in Covid-19 cases and deaths made her confront her own mortality.

US retail sales dropped more than expected in May, with spending rotating back to services from goods as vaccinations allow Americans to travel and engage in other activities that had been restricted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The European Union (EU) has offered to help Bangladesh diversify its export basket, promote decent work, and upskill workers amid the ongoing global economic downturn caused by Covid-19.

The government should prepare a two years’ survival plan for businesses, outlining different recovery guidelines, to safeguard the country’s trade and economy amidst the pandemic, said businesses yesterday.

Bangladesh Bank has instructed banks to keep their doors open from 10:00am to 3.30pm for customers until July 15.

Profit of BSRM Ltd soared 197 per cent year-on-year to Tk 273 crore in the first nine months of the 2020-21 fiscal year powered by higher sales, lower finance and operating costs.

Bangladesh can save $500 million a year by recycling the cotton waste as garment factories and textile millers produce a huge volume of leftovers of the key raw material, according to a study.

The provision base of the banks in Bangladesh deteriorated heavily in the first quarter of 2021 because of the surging bad loans, highlighting the worsening health of the banking industry.

The second wave of coronavirus infections and subsequent lockdowns have derailed Bangladesh’s economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, said the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) yesterday.

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal yesterday said it would be possible to check money laundering by enacting new laws, creating investment-friendly environment and bringing the culprits into book by resolving pending money laundering cases.

Profits of BSRM Ltd soared 197 per cent year-on-year to Tk 273 crore in the nine months of the current financial year of 2020-21 powered by higher sales, lower finance and operating cost.

Recruiting agencies will have to pay higher advance income tax (AIT) on service charges or fees they earn from migrant workers going abroad, according to tax measures proposed by the National Board of Revenue (NBR) for the next fiscal year of 2021-22.

Bangladesh is hurtling to become an aged society, a worrying sign as it will pose challenges to its development aspiration since there will be more elderlies and the days of cheap workers will be over.

Abu Zafore Md Saleh, managing director of Islamic Finance and Investment, has resigned over allegations of breaching rules and regulations in recruiting employees and enjoying financial benefits.

As feared, default loans went up substantially in the first quarter of 2021 after the government partially withdrew the loan moratorium facility, which had prevented downgrading borrowers even if they failed to pay instalments regularly.

Federal Reserve officials meet this week faced with ongoing tension between their two main goals, as inflation rises faster than expected even with millions of Americans still unemployed more than a year after the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

India’s antitrust watchdog plans to expedite a restarted probe into allegations of anti-competitive behaviour at Amazon.com Inc and Walmart Inc’s Flipkart, as it intensifies scrutiny of big-tech firms, two people close to the matter said.

The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) recently implemented a host-to-host connectivity with LafargeHolcim Bangladesh by integrating their enterprise resource planning system with HSBC connect.

Four years ago, there was a lot of buzz around cryptocurrencies, primarily due to the enormous success of bitcoin. The peak value of bitcoin was staggeringly high at that time—several times the per capita economic output of Bangladesh.