The country’s public spending in physical and socio-economic infrastructure has come down substantially on jump in per capita debt, share of debt in GDP and debt service payment as well.
These are also escalating intergenerational debt burden in the future. The domestic debt might reach Tk. 260,498.44 crore and Tk 318,953.08 crore in FY15 and FY16 respectively, which was Tk 202,044 crore in FY14.
The
(UO), an independent multidisciplinary think-tank, in its October issue of Bangladesh Economic Update 2014, rev...
Vision 2021, Bangladesh’s development strategy, sees the country becoming a middle-income nation by 2021, in large part by super-charging its science and technology (S&T) sector to drive economic growth.
A ‘digital Bangladesh’ revolution is already underway with the introduction of machine-readable passports; electronic voting cards; driving licences and vehicle number plates; online public services for checking exam results; registering land and tax and using mobile phones to buy train tickets.
In 2010 Parliament passed a new S&a...
Bangladesh’s history, culture and religion is symbolised by water. The Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna basin and 230 inland rivers act as lifelines for food, transport and livelihood for the majority of the population in Bangladesh.
In 2014 Bangladesh experienced the highest temperature in 54 years, which has led to an acute water shortage in rivers and low lying areas. It is not only the dry season affects the country; heavy rainfall within short periods also causes severe floods and river banks to erode and overflow. Due to the extremely flat topography, the country often has too much water flowing in its 57 transboundary rivers connected to the upper riparian country. These heavy changes - flooding in monsoon and drought in dry season – are causing a socio-economic disaster for Banglade...
Eighteen months ago the Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh collapsed, killing more than 1,100 garment workers, and prompting global shock and outrage.
Companies responded by promising to improve their act: more than 150 international retailers signed up to the Bangladesh accord on fire and building safety, a legally binding agreement designed to make factories safer for workers.
As a result of the accord, garment factories in Bangladesh are now being properly inspected for the first time, bringing key safety issues to light.
Although not everything is resolved – victims and families of people killed in the disaster are still waiting for full compensation – the accord does at least show that companies can be made to acknowledge and act upon their supply-chain responsibility.
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In the previous fiscal year ending June 2014, Bangladesh received more than $700 million in aid from its development partners.
But that could’ve been more, if donors were able to meet their $5.35 billion total planned disbursements, according to the country’s newly launched aid database, which further reveals that while grants comprised the majority of disbursements last year, loans now account for the bulk of current aid spending.
But just how accurate is this data?
A government official involved in the management of the Aid Information Management System told Devex the current information in the database actually came from donors themselves. Up to 17 of Bangladesh’s development partners have agreed to manually enter data into the system, which then automatically generates that...
The advantage enjoyed by Bangladesh in readymade garment (RMG) sector cannot be taken for granted, and the country’s competitiveness in the apparel export market may erode in the long run if working conditions do not improve, says the World Bank (WB) in its Bangladesh Development Update October 2014.
In the immediate future, stronger attention is needed to swiftly complete the transition in the Bangladesh garment industry, feel authors of the report. According to them, “much more needs to be done for effective implementation of wage increases and the new labor legislations, recruiting more factory inspectors and complete building inspections followed by swift remediation measures such as relocation of closed factories.”
(UO), an independent multidisciplinary think-tank, in its October issue of Bangladesh Economic Update 2014, rev...
