Zahid Hussain

Dr Zahid Hussain is a former lead economist of the World Bank’s Dhaka office

Global trade dynamics amidst US–China tariff war

The bilateral trade in goods between the US and China faces the risk of being severed due to the imposition of steep tariffs

2w ago

US tariff war: Implications and strategies for Bangladesh

On April 2, 2025, US President Trump introduced sweeping reciprocal tariffs, effectively reversing nearly all US tariff liberalisation since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

3w ago

Implications and strategies for Bangladesh

The average US tariff surged from 2.5 percent to 20 percent with a single executive action

3w ago

The headless industry dilemma: Navigating the fallout of crony capitalism

The golden rule of crony capitalism, in which profits are private but losses are social, has led to blatant injustice, as is generally recognised. The extra-market connections of crony capitalists facilitated transactional benefits while leading to entrenched market power, distorted competition, and depressed productivity growth, all contributing to growing inequalities. Yet, attempts to change the crony business model are facing their own dilemmas.

1m ago

The headless industry dilemma: navigating the fallout of crony capitalism

The golden rule of crony capitalism, in which profits are private but losses are social, has led to blatant injustice, as is generally recognised.

1m ago

Reforms on the move

The Bangladesh Bank has embarked on a series of banking reforms with quiet determination. Most recently, it has tightened regulations regarding dividend payouts by scheduled banks, exemplifying the strategy of seizing low-hanging fruit in the pursuit of structural reforms.

1m ago

Banking reforms on the move

The Bangladesh Bank has embarked on a series of banking reforms with quiet determination. Most recently, it has tightened regulations regarding dividend payouts by scheduled banks, exemplifying the strategy of seizing low-hanging fruit in the pursuit of structural reforms.

1m ago

Macroeconomic policies amid interim incumbency

Navigating the labyrinth of macroeconomic management is particularly challenging during periods of interim leadership.

1m ago
December 6, 2024
December 6, 2024

Our inflation quagmire

Inflation refuses to budge. Part of the reason may be honest disclosure of what the data is saying.

August 17, 2024
August 17, 2024

Where are we heading?

By bringing down a despotic leviathan, the anti-discrimination student movement has earned the moral authority to be spokespersons for the whole nation

July 31, 2024
July 31, 2024

Rebooting the economy

The crackdown on the nonviolent uprise of the students and the subsequent one thing leading to another chain of events locked down the economy, only figuratively reminiscent of the pandemic in 2020

July 19, 2024
July 19, 2024

Not much beyond lip service

In their Monetary Policy Statement (MPS) for the first half of FY25, Bangladesh Bank (BB) has stuck to the policy stance already in place. 

July 18, 2024
July 18, 2024

Not much beyond lip service 

Let’s begin with the central question to gauge what more this MPS could have done to increase the potency of monetary policy in restoring macro-financial stability. 

July 7, 2024
July 7, 2024

Export data correction was long overdue

Bangladesh Bank’s latest data on the balance of payments has remarkably altered the narrative on the drivers of external stress without changing the signal on the overall stress.

July 5, 2024
July 5, 2024

Making sense of revisions in balance of payments

Bangladesh Bank's latest data on the balance of payments has remarkably altered the narrative on the drivers of external stress without changing the signal on the overall stress. The bottom line on persistent external imbalance remains pretty much the same but the composition is palpably different

June 6, 2024
June 6, 2024

Budget falls short of what was needed

The macroeconomic imperative was to tighten the budget, particularly the domestic financing component of the budget deficit.

June 5, 2024
June 5, 2024

A post-election defining moment

The economy has been in a rough patch since 2022 like never before in the past decade and a half

April 23, 2024
April 23, 2024

Fifty years of learning from rises and slips in the Bangladesh economy

We are hubristically living through our ecological implosion.