The Bangladesh Bank's (BB) latest Monetary Policy Statement (MPS) for the first half of FY2026-27 signals continuity rather than change. Faced with persistently high inflation, the central bank has decided to maintain its contractionary monetary-policy stance, keeping the policy repo rate unchanged
With as many as 64 amendments, the proposed Finance Bill was passed in parliament as the Finance Act 2026 on Monday last. If the budget is a comprehensive financial plan or a roadmap for projected income and expenditure over a specific period, the finance act is a legislative instrument that outlin
It is common knowledge that any household's general tendency is to spend less than what it earns. But when the expenditures to meet basic necessities like housing, food, transports, healthcare, taxes, etc., exceed earnings, the household in question cannot save. If the pattern of less income than e
At a time when automobiles emit roughly 3.5 to 3.8 billion metric tons of CO2 globally, the urgency of transition to electric vehicles (EVs) is quite evident. The emission accounts for nearly 10 per cent of all energy-related exhaust fumes and 7.0 per cent of greenhouse gas (GHG). In Bangladesh, th
A survey conducted by the Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) titled 'Corruption in Service Sectors: The National Household Survey 2025' has once again brought to light the alarming prevalence of corruption in the country. The survey gathered households' experiences with 18 public service s
Prime Minister Tarique Rahman is back home after a six-day trip to Malaysia and China, marking the first overseas tour of his tenure. The China leg ran from June 22 to 26 and carried him through meetings including with President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang. These meetings culminating in the rel
The closure of hundreds of industrial units over the past two years presents a deeply troubling picture for Bangladesh's economy. Beyond the immediate decline in industrial production and export performance, the phenomenon has left thousands of workers unemployed, disrupted supply chains, and weake
Almost a decade ago, Bangladesh Railway launched a 30-year master plan to expand rail coverage to all 64 districts of the country and modernise its services. The master plan included a total of 230 projects scheduled to be implemented by 2045 in six phases at a cost of Taka 5.53 trillion. As
