Employment slows down as investments sluggish
Employment in the formal sector has slowed down considerably in the past one year because of sluggish private and public investments against the backdrop of prolonged political unrest over the holding of the general elections.
‘It is obvious that the unemployment rate has increased,’ said former caretaker government adviser Mirza Azizul Islam.
One cannot expect an increase in employment without new investments, he said, adding that the main reason for the growing unemployment was the lacklustre private investments.
Current account balance maintains surplus
The country’s current account balance recorded a surplus of nearly $1.5 billion in July-November period of the fiscal year 2013-14 ending June, a central bank official said Thursday.
The Bangladesh Bank official said the current account balance showed a surplus of $1,384 million during the first five months in 2013-14 fiscal year against a surplus of $433 million during the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year (July 2012-June 2013), reported Xinhua.
He said the central bank's ...
He said the central bank's ...
Pvt oil-fired power plants seek permission to import fuel
Two dozen privately owned oil-fired power plants in Bangladesh have asked the government for permission to import petroleum products to use for electricity generation, a senior energy ministry official said Wednesday.
The plant owners have objected to the quality of fuel currently being supplied to them by state-owned Bangladesh Petroleum Corp., which imports required oil products for the privately owned power plants.
The ministry official, who asked not to be named, said the plants amounted t...
The ministry official, who asked not to be named, said the plants amounted t...
Bangladesh key economic indicators – Jan 23
DAILY INDICATORS
Wednesday Previous Taka/US $ (inter-bank) 77.75-77.75 77.75-77.75 Call money rate (inter-bank) 05.50-08.00 06.25-08.00 Dhaka Stock Exchange index 4,640.56 4,584.63 ---------------------------------------------------------------
MONTHLY
CURRENT PREVIOUS Growth in: Consumer price index (BBS) Change yr/yr (pct) Dec. 7.53 7.15
M2 supply (bln taka) (BB) Nov. 6,425.75 6,403.17 Forex reserves ($bln)(BB) Dec. 18.07 17.11
Exports(FOB) ($mln)(BB) Nov. 2,2...
Action plan for realising potential of Bali outcome
The ninth ministerial conference (MC9) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) which was held in Bali on 3-6 December has created a new benchmark for the faltering Doha Development Round (DDR). Since the launch of the DDR in 2001, the international economy has undergone significant changes.
This has happened due to volatile food and commodity prices, shocks emanating from global financial and economic crisis, proliferation of regional and bilateral free trade arrangements and weak commitment to the Aid for Trade programme, according to the editorial of the current ICCB News Bulletin (October-December 2013 issue) of International Chamber of Commerce-Bangladesh released here on Tuesday.
Despite setbacks, Bangladesh beats India in garment exports
Bangladesh has overtaken India in readymade garment exports despite the recent setbacks it received like instances of building collapses and fire at manufacturing units, says a study by Exim Bank.
Between January and October 2013, readymade shipments by Indian exporters to the US grew 6.3% to $3.2 billion, while the same by Bangladesh jumped 11.4% at $4.9 billion, the premier export finance agency said.
"In the absence of latest data, imports by the US are a very good benchmark of understanding the latest trends. Bangladesh has been aggressively pushing the garment exports and has made a slew of policy changes to facilitate those," Exim Bank chief general manager Pra...
