Business leaders, economists and professionals have emphasised that an elected government is essential for restoring confidence in the business community, stabilising law and order, and revitalising the business and investment climate.
Motaher Hossain Masum was frustrated last September when Confidence Cement announced a mere 10 percent dividend for the last fiscal year despite making a handsome profit.
Motijheel, once the pulsing heart of Dhaka’s trade and commerce, has become a shadow of its former self. Empty office floors now whisper tales of abandoned ambitions.
Sonali Bank has decided to sell the assets of Alltex Industries through auction in a bid to recover unpaid loans of the listed textile producer.
Bangladesh ranks among the countries with the highest income disparities globally, but there is another problem way worse than that: wealth inequality, which means a minuscule portion of the population owns a disproportionate amount of wealth compared to the majority.
The Bangladesh Bank (BB) has backtracked on its decision to refrain from injecting fresh funds into crisis-hit banks in its efforts to curb persistent inflation.
Aminur Rahman was excited after hearing that the company he had invested in had recently been upgraded to A-category. Anticipating price gains, he rushed to his brokerage house, only to be met with disappointing news: he was unable to trade.
Ailing lender Islami Bank recently announced that it planned to raise a total of Tk 20,000 crore using two methods: Tk 10,000 crore would be realised by selling the stake that S Alam Group holds in the lender and the rest would be made up through the issuance of new shares.
On the back of the credits from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, Bangladesh may meet for the first time the condition on net foreign exchange reserves attached to the $4.7 billion loan from the IMF and secure the next instalment.
The Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries (BIO) has provided a $15 million loan to Mutual Trust Bank (MTB) to expand its portfolio dedicated for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) alongside sustainable financing initiatives.
Stocks in Bangladesh climbed 1.6 percent yesterday, driven by a surge in the prices of some blue-chip companies such as Renata PLC and Linde Bangladesh.
India may offer Bangladesh fresh loans under a new framework, as implementation of the projects under the existing loan programme is proving difficult due to some strict loan conditions.
However, the move could have little effect on revitalising the market in the past as it was seen that black money holders do not prefer parking funds in stocks when the amnesty was in place.
The highest loss, at Tk 6,118 crore, was incurred by the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) in July-April of the fiscal year. Its provisional loss was Tk 11,163 crore in the full year of 2022-23.
The new budget for the upcoming fiscal year is unlikely to provide respite from one of the longest spells of sustained inflation in Bangladesh as the government’s measures appear to be missing the impetus required to contain the price spiral.
In yet another blow to stock market investors, the government plans to impose a capital gains tax on them from next fiscal year.
The overall revenue generation target will be Tk 537,000 crore in the new fiscal year that begins on July 1, which is 7.4 percent higher than that of the goal of the outgoing financial year.
The net foreign portfolio investment in Bangladesh continued to fall in the July-March period of fiscal year 2023-24 due to the negative economic outlook, repeated devaluation of the local currency against the US dollar, and policy instability.
