The stock market has almost closed the books on the fiscal year (FY) 2024-25 without a single company getting listed through an initial public offering (IPO), a rare event not seen in decades.
Most listed companies saw their profits shrink in the January-March period of the current year as stubbornly high inflation pushed up business costs while weak consumer demand held back sales growth.
If a company gets listed, it will enjoy tax benefits, and this is one of the major incentives for them to go public.
The government must prioritise boosting the competitiveness of all industries if it wants to create more jobs, capture a bigger share of global markets, and strengthen the economy.
The finance ministry has identified seven major challenges including tight monetary and fiscal policies, taken to tame elevated inflation levels for more than three years, in next fiscal year that may increase unemployment.
The government expects the country’s economy to cross the $500 billion mark in the fiscal year (FY) 2026-27, buoyed by stabilising policies and sectoral improvements.
The interim government proposed a new framework for social safety net programmes, under which 7.68 crore poor people would receive Tk 37,076 crore next fiscal year to help them cushion the blow from high inflation over the last three years.
The government’s target to provide subsidies and incentives amounting to Tk 125,741 crore in fiscal year 2025-26 is creating high pressure on fund mobilisation amid a challenging macroeconomic situation.
Bangladesh is set to graduate from the least-developed country (LDC) club next year, which will bring several challenges in international trade.
The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) has sent a letter to the government requesting the appointment of 19 officials with degrees in economics, finance, commerce, accounting, statistics, mathematics, law, and information technology.
Mixed reactions came from different quarters
The chaos surrounding certain demands by a section of Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) officials and employees in early March was aimed at protecting stock looters and manipulators exposed in an ongoing investigation, according to initial BSEC findings.
It is a positive sign for investors that directors of several well-known listed firms are purchasing their own shares, believing them to be undervalued amid a lack of buyers.
Most listed multinational companies (MNCs) saw a year-on-year erosion of profits in the October to December period of FY25, mainly due to higher financing costs and macroeconomic challenges amid political uncertainty.
The Anti-Corruption Commission and the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) have initially unearthed anomalies amounting to around Tk 28 crore in implementing the Regulatory Information System (RIS) project.
The ongoing standoff at the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) that kicked off on Wednesday last week could be described as a battle on thin ice.
Remittances have become a much-anticipated relief for the economy reeling under macroeconomic stress, growing steadily since August last year and providing the interim government with a breather amid a rapid erosion of foreign exchange reserves.
At the end of 2024, one-fifth of the total loans in the banking sector turned sour, mainly as the true extent of embezzlement by willful defaulters is now coming to light.
