Major banking scandals, market manipulation, and financial misreporting have created severe capital shortages in banks and the private sector, Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury said yesterday.

The US dollar hit a six-week high on Wednesday as investors came to terms with the possible need ‌for higher interest rates to tackle inflation resulting from the Iran war.

As Bangladesh prepares to graduate from least developed country (LDC) status, the country needs to modernise its intellectual property (IP) laws to attract more foreign investment, especially from the United States, and strengthen confidence among global businesses, a US diplomat said yesterday.

Sunshine Outdoor (BD) Co Ltd, a British Virgin Islands- and Hong Kong-based company, will invest $15 million to establish a tent and camping products manufacturing facility at the Bepza Economic Zone in Mirsharai, Chattogram.

Bangladesh and Morocco are considering a free trade agreement (FTA) to deepen bilateral trade and economic engagement.

Impaired banking intermediation has become a central part of the problem

Md Mizanur Rashid’s promotion to HR director was cancelled amid internal criticism; sources say ACC is still probing earlier allegations over software procurement

The factory will manufacture a wide range of outdoor products, including tents, canopies, backpacks, duffel bags, sleeping bags, tarpaulins, waterproof dry bags, inflatable pillows and mattresses, mosquito nets, carpets, mats, folding chairs, and storage baskets

Shilpi Jha, senior commercial specialist and IP policy advisor for South Asia at the US embassy in New Delhi, attends AmCham roundtable

Riders in the city can now book rides through the Uber app

The finance minister said economic management and related institutions in Bangladesh have grown increasingly ineffective

The German Business Council (GBC) has recently hosted a business networking dinner at The Westin Dhaka.

The Russia-Ukraine war and the US-Israeli war on Iran, along with the depreciation of the taka, have sharply raised production costs for Bangladeshi farmers, a prominent economist said yesterday, calling for agricultural subsidies to be more than doubled in the upcoming budget.

Bangladesh Bank has introduced new rules for cashing out money from card-based mobile financial service (MFS) accounts, aiming to strengthen verification and transaction security.

British American Tobacco Bangladesh recorded a 14 percent year-on-year decline in domestic cigarette sales volume in the first quarter of FY2025-26, as tax-driven affordability pressures, downtrading, and competition from illicit cigarettes weighed on sales, according to an earnings update by BRAC EPL Stock Brokerage Ltd.

Despite inflationary pressures, consumer spending during Eid-ul-Azha is holding up, driven by resilience and a retail market that continues to mature.

Bangladesh’s steel manufacturers yesterday urged the government not to raise electricity tariffs further, saying higher energy costs could deepen the sector’s crisis by triggering production cuts, financial losses and possible factory closures.

Some of the major proposed changes relate to independent directors

BB warns treasury heads as forward bookings surge

Finance minister says