Political mess undermines foreign aid metrics
The political unrest in Bangladesh is viewed with grave concern by donors, which fear this instability could render development programs ineffective and are slowly reducing funds — World Bank data recently revealed a significant drop in foreign aid commitments, an almost 28 percent slip from $1.6 billion in 2013 to $1.2 billion in 2014.
Weeks after the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was reelected for her second consecutive term as prime minister, the country continues to suffer from political instability which undermines the country’s development progress.
Shrimp workers routinely exploited, say campaigners
Shrimp industry in Bangladesh is plagued by hazardous conditions and excessively low wages, according to Environmental Justice Foundation report. Western governments, large retailers and consumers should put pressure on the Bangladeshi government to ensure a fair deal for the 1.2 million workers and their dependents in the lucrative shrimp industry, campaigners have said.
Bangladesh is among the top 10 exporters of farmed shrimp; it is its second largest foreign currency earner after the garment industry.
BB amends policy on single borrower exposure limit
Bangladesh Bank (BB) has amended its policy on single borrower exposure limit in order to comply with the recently incorporated Section-26 (Kha) of the Banking Companies Act (BCA), 1991 and further improve bank's credit risk management.
A circular was issued Thursday in this regard, consolidating all instructions issued so far on single borrower exposure limit, and bringing some changes, reports the Financial Express (FE).
In the policy the central bank incorporated the d...
In the policy the central bank incorporated the d...
WB predicts GDP growth slow down to 5.7pc
Bangladesh’s economic growth made in October last year remained unchanged as the GDP growth rate will slow down to 5.7 percent against 7.2 percent target in the current fiscal (2013-14) due to political turmoil, says the World Bank (WB).
The WB, an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programs, came up with the fresh but similar forecast on Wednesday in Washington, reports UNB.
In it...
In it...
Recent decline in remittances in Bangladesh
Migrant workers sent $6.77 billion home to Bangladesh in July-December, down 8.41% from the same time a year ago. For the first time in recent memory, Bangladesh has experienced a decline in remittances in the first half of the fiscal year.
There are four factors that can potentially account for the decline in remittances: the stock of Bangladeshi migrants abroad, earnings per migrant worker, their average propensity to save, and their average propensity to remit money home out of those savings.
Pvt sector fears credit crunch, wants incentive package
Different business groups have sought a large amount of incentive package worth around Tk 150 billion as a contingency measure to help overcome setbacks in businesses due to the prolonged political crisis. This creates a major challenge before the incumbent government.
Economists, however, fear that if the government allocates such a huge contingency fund it would disrupt the financial discipline of the country and would shrink the private sector growth further, reports the Financial Express (FE).
