Bangladesh needs to expand its renewable energy capacity by 21 percent annually to meet its latest green energy target by 2030, requiring nearly $1 billion in yearly investment, according to a study by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA).
The government plans to scale back its dependence on foreign loans as it seeks to mitigate threats to external debt sustainability.
The government has updated the Renewable Energy Policy after 17 years, aiming to produce at least 20 percent of the national power demand from green sources by 2030.
Target set to meet 20% of power demand from green sources by 2030
The loan utilisation period for the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant is set to be extended by three years, as about $3.38 billion of the Russian credit remains unspent after the original deadline expired in December 2024.
Bangladesh's total debt reached Tk 1,944,171 crore by December 2024, increasing debt servicing pressure
The proposal to release the third and fourth tranches of the International Monetary Fund’s $4.7 billion loan is set to be presented to the multilateral lender’s board on June 23 after the government fulfilled all prior conditions.
Demonstrators' demands include removal of REB chairman, unified service rule
It was absolute mayhem in Rampura and Badda areas yesterday.
Bangladesh is mostly relying on imports for urea as gas shortage has brought local fertiliser production to a near halt, in a development that will cost the country dearly in terms of foreign currency reserves and food inflation.
Though the electricity demand has dropped with the onset of monsoon, the Bangladesh Power Development Board (PDB) is struggling to supply adequate power due to a shortage of gas and other fuel supply and maintenance works.
A two-week-long gas crisis has been affecting homes, factories, and vehicles that run on compressed natural gas, thanks to a dip in supply following the shutdown of an LNG regasification terminal in Cox’s Bazar on May 29.
The revised gross forex reserves target for the current fiscal year ending on June 30 was $29.1 billion. It stood at $24.23 billion on June 5, according to the traditional calculation of the Bangladesh Bank. To meet the goal, another $4.87 billion will have to be added to the reserves by this month.
In Bangladesh, the power generation capacity increased to 30,277 megawatts in 2023-24 from 4,942 MW in 2009, said Finance Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali in his budget speech.
More than a third of the subsidies allocated in the new budget is for the power sector due to what experts say is the huge spending on capacity charges.
They blame govt for focusing on imported solutions rather than own resources
The government will rely more on domestic bank borrowing than foreign financing in the next fiscal year, intensifying pressure on the economy.
With an aim to restore macroeconomic stability, reduce inflation, and contain pressure on foreign currency reserves, Finance Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali is going to place a Tk 7,96,900 crore budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year tomorrow.
