Reform measures aimed at improving conditions in the troubled Bangladesh garment industry face new obstacles as political upheaval takes hold in advance of national elections.
The announcement on Monday that the 10
th parliamentary election would take place on Jan. 5 set off a series of disturbances on Tuesday, including a 71-hour strike and shutdown of road, rail and sea transportation, and the expectation of more delays in shipments and other disruptions for businesses.
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The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth of Bangladesh has decelerated for the second year in a row to 6 per cent, says a World Bank (WB) report published on Thursday.
Disruptions caused by political strife, deepening political tensions relating to the impending political transition and the inadequacies of improvements in the provision of power, gas and infrastructure were the key factors in the growth slowdown.
These contributed to weakening investor confidence leading to a 1.2 percent decline in the private investment rate, the report added.
Econo...
Kalpona Akter, the executive director of the Bangladesh Centre for Worker Solidarity (BCWS), an advocacy organization for workers' rights has asked The Bay and the other Canadian firms to sign binding safety agreement.
Kalpona, who escaped a factory fire in the Bangladesh garment factory in 1990, is now in Vancouver this week to speak at a rally outside the downtown Hudson's Bay department store on Nov. 25, calling on the The Bay and other Canadian companies to sign the agreement that will, Kalpona said, save many lives.
At 12-years-old, Kalpona Akter was uncritically fond of her employers at the garment factory near her hometown, Dhaka, Bangladesh. She and her 10-year-old brother worked long, dirty shifts at the factory; the two children were the only source of income for a seven...
The expatriate Bangladeshis working in Saudi Arabia sent the highest amount of $ 944.34 million remittance during the July-October period of the current fiscal year (2013-14).
The overall remittance inflow to Bangladesh during the four-month period totalled $4,500.64 million of which $1,230.68 million came in this October, according to the latest data of the Bangladesh Bank. The overall remittance inflow in September totalled $ 1,025.69 million.
The central bank data showed that of the total $ 4,500.64 million sent in July-Oct...
DAILY INDICATORS
Tuesday Previous
Taka/US $ (inter-bank) 77.75-77.7525 77.75-77.7525 Call money rate (inter-bank) 06.15-07.75 05.50-08.00 Dhaka Stock Exchange index 4,277.55 4,354.88
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MONTHLY
CURRENT PREVIOUS Growth in: Consumer price index (BBS) Change yr/yr (pct) Oct. 7.03 7.13
M2 supply (bln taka) (BB) Sept. 6,267.23 6,199.89 Forex reserves ($bln)(BB) Oct. 17.35 16.15
Exports(FOB) ...
The shortfall in revenue collection further widened in the first four months of the current fiscal year. Officials of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) said, NBR continued to struggle in achieving its revenue collection target amid volatile political environment and economic slowdown prevailing in the country.
According to NBR data released on Thursday, the revenue board fell short of target by Tk 3,119.68 crore or 8.58 per cent in July-October of FY 2013-14.
In the period, the NBR managed to collect Tk 33,492.84 crore against the collection target of Tk 36,612.52 crore, the data showed.
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