Rising wages squeeze RMG makers in Bangladesh
Garment factory owners in Bangladesh are suffering from rising costs primarily due to the increased wages of labourers amid international calls for better working conditions after the RanaPlaza disaster.
The owners nearly doubled wages and have less money for safety improvements at factories, as their profits are squeezed. In addition, a number of global retailers who source from those factories are not willing to share the rising costs, report agencies.
The cost concerns come as Bangladesh’s garment export industry is facing stiff competition from other low-cost Asian countries such as India, Vietnam, Indonesia and Cambodia.
February money supply rises 15.85 pc yr/yr
Bangladesh's broad money supply in February rose 15.85 percent 6,623.11 billion taka ($85 billion) from a year earlier, marginally up from 6,537.65 billion taka a month ago, the central bank said on Thursday.
Below is table of broad money supply.
Feb. 2014 Jan. 2014 Feb. 2013
(bln taka) (bln taka) (bln taka)
Broad money supply 6,623.11 6,537.65 5,716.82
Below is table of broad money supply.
Feb. 2014 Jan. 2014 Feb. 2013
(bln taka) (bln taka) (bln taka)
Broad money supply 6,623.11 6,537.65 5,716.82
WB finalising plans to lend $2.7b to Bangladesh
The World Bank (WB) is finalising plans to lend Bangladesh a sum of $2.7 billion for investment purpose, its president Jim Young Kim said.
“...through the (proposed) $2.7 billion of new lending, we hope to again, just engage very directly with the government and with all of the other players to take Bangladesh to even lower levels of poverty,” Kim said.
“We had many other projects going with the government at the same time. We are now just finalising plans to sign agre...
“We had many other projects going with the government at the same time. We are now just finalising plans to sign agre...
Japan supports affordable crop insurance for farmers
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of Bangladesh signed a grant agreement of $2 million to develop innovative new crop insurance products that will give small-holder farmers in Bangladesh income protection from increasingly severe storms and natural disasters.
The Government of Japan is providing the grant through the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction. ADB will administer the fund, and provide technical support for implementing the Weather Index-Based Crop Insurance Project. The Government of Bangladesh is providing in-kind support of $420,000.
Inflation quickens again in March on food prices
Rising food prices helped push Bangladesh's annual inflation to 7.48 percent in March, ending a brief slowdown, the statistics bureau said on Sunday.
Supplies of basic foodstuffs were affected by frequent transport blockades and other unrest in the run-up to elections in January. Food prices in March were 8.96 percent higher than a year earlier, up from February's 8.84 percent increase, the national bureau said. That helped push annual inflation up from February's 7.44 percen...
Supplies of basic foodstuffs were affected by frequent transport blockades and other unrest in the run-up to elections in January. Food prices in March were 8.96 percent higher than a year earlier, up from February's 8.84 percent increase, the national bureau said. That helped push annual inflation up from February's 7.44 percen...
Storm over central bank’s ‘autonomy’
Is the Bangladesh Bank (BB) independent? The answer is both 'yes' and 'no'. The incumbent finance minister feels that the BB enjoys enough autonomy. But the central bank's honchos seem to be not that satisfied with their current level of autonomy.
Late last week, Finance Minister AMA Muhith, while talking to the reporters on conclusion of his meeting with an International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission in Dhaka, vented his anger over a central bank proposal for acquiring greater autonomy.
