Search results for: EC

Take bold economic and health safety measures

FE Report 2020-06-11 09:28:31

A study has suggested the government work on three objectives simultaneously--enforcing strict physical distancing, increased entitlement support, and revamping public health system--- to help prevent...

Tightrope walk for Kamal

JASIM UDDIN HAROON 2020-06-11 09:26:38

The government unveils the budget for fiscal year 2021 today (Thursday) expanding the social safety-net, but the health sector, as indications are available, is likely to get scanty attention despite...

Budget financing: Bank debt target likely at Tk 880b

Siddique Islam 2020-06-11 09:23:12

The government is likely to set its bank borrowing target at Tk 880 billion to partly finance the budget deficit for fiscal year 2020-21. A senior official familiar with the public-debt management sa...

Export to Canada grows by 14.53pc in 2019

FE Online Report 2020-06-10 20:39:43

Bangladesh’s export to Canada grew by 14.53 per cent in 2019 to 1.97 billion Canadian dollar year-on-year mainly due to the trade privilege provided by the latter. The country fetched CAN$1.72...

Budget 2020-21 expected to include measures to offset COVID-19 impact

-- 2020-06-10 19:32:18

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal is set to unveil on Thursday the proposed budget for the fiscal year 2020-21 (FY21), which is expected to contain suggestive measures to offset the impact of COVID-1...

Polish scientists design remote-controlled ventilator for COVID-19 patients

-- 2020-06-10 18:21:37

A team of Polish scientists has designed a remote-controlled ventilator they hope will allow doctors to help critically ill patients breathe, but from a distance, in a bid to make medical personnel sa...

Global economic activity likely to fall by 6.0pc this year

FE ONLINE DESK 2020-06-10 17:12:39

Global economic activity is expected to fall by 6.0 per cent in 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic, according to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). "Unemployment rate in OECD c...

Vietnam's unemployment rate stands at 2.05pc in 2019

-- 2020-06-10 16:20:21

Vietnam's unemployment rate among those aged 15 and above stood at 2.05 per cent in 2019, with the figure in its urban areas almost double that of rural areas, the country's 2019 population and housin...

Post-pandemic recovery: ADB forms high-level panel for S Asia

FE ONLINE REPORT 2020-06-10 12:44:33

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has formed a high-level panel comprising leading experts to tap into quick bounce back of the Southeast Asian economies after the coronavirus pandemic. ADB President...

JS to go into budget session this afternoon

FE Online Report 2020-06-10 12:15:51

The national budget session of the current parliament is going to be held at 5:00 pm today (Wednesday) amid the coronavirus pandemic. The Parliament session will be chaired by the Speaker Dr Shirin S...

IMF chief urges countries to guard against retreat from globalisation

-- 2020-06-10 11:14:22

International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva has urged countries to recognise the importance of global trade amid the COVID-19 pandemic and guard against a "dramatic retrea...

Fiscal measure to upset car owners

Doulot Akter Mala 2020-06-10 09:34:12

The National Board of Revenue or NBR is set to increase tax on private car owners and the import of onion in the budget for the upcoming fiscal year. It may also offer a string of tax-break facilitie...

Govt takes Tk 113b from state-run power, gas entities

M AZIZUR RAHMAN 2020-06-10 09:26:51

The government has taken around Tk 113 billion (11,300 crore) from different state-run power and gas entities over the past several months during the coronavirus pandemic. The Ministry of Finance (Mo...

Budget FY21: TIB against provision of whitening black money

-- 2020-06-09 21:34:17

Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) on Tuesday urged the government not to keep any provision of whitening of black money in the forthcoming national budget in the name of creating employment...

Remdesivir shows promise in Covid-19 study on monkeys

-- 2020-06-09 21:19:32

Gilead Sciences Inc's antiviral drug, remdesivir, prevented lung disease in macaque monkeys infected with the new coronavirus, a study published in medical journal Nature showed on Tuesday, reports Re...

Govt to develop AI-based tools, services to monitor mask use

-- 2020-06-09 16:13:55

The government has launched a two-month long lab programme to develop Artificial Intelligence (AI) based 10 products including tools to monitor mask wearing and maintain social distance during Covid-1...

It's official: US economy entered recession in February

REUTERS 2020-06-09 14:44:39

The US economy ended its longest expansion in history in February and entered recession as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, the private economics research group that acts as the arbiter for deter...

Current account deficit drops in July-April

FE ONLINE REPORT 2020-06-09 13:49:12

Despite a moderate rise in the country’s merchandise trade deficit with the rest of the world in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year (FY20), the current account deficit dropped modest...

BD growth to slow to 1.6pc in FY 20: WB

FE ONLINE DESK 2020-06-09 12:07:28

The World Bank has predicted that Bangladesh’s GDP (gross domestic product) growth will markedly slow to 1.6 per cent in the fiscal year (FY) 2019-20, which ends this June. The Washington-based...

COVID-19 to shrink 2020 global output by 5.2pc: WB

-- 2020-06-09 10:43:21

The coronavirus will cause global economic output to contract by 5.2 per cent in 2020, the World Bank said on Monday. The global lender also warned that its latest forecasts would be revised downward...

BEA proposes Tk 13.97t alternative budget

FE REPORT 2020-06-09 10:11:43

Bangladesh Economic Association (BEA), a professional body of economists, on Monday proposed an alternative budget amounting to Tk 13.97 trillion or 2.47 times higher than the existing budget. The si...

BD to get WB's $250m budgetary aid in June

FHM Humayan Kabir 2020-06-09 09:51:38

Bangladesh is likely to receive US$250 million budgetary support from the World Bank (WB), as the Washington-based lender might approve the assistance next week, officials said on Monday. The WB bo...

Budget for FY'21: Penal tax likely on fake investment, misinvoicing

Doulot Akter Mala 2020-06-09 09:24:16

The government may impose penal tax at a rate of 50 per cent on the amount involved in misinvoicing and fake investment in the upcoming budget (FY 2020-21). The penal tax in the case of misinvoicing...

‘Renewable power generation keeps getting cheaper’

FE ONLINE REPORT 2020-06-08 23:38:30

Renewable power generation increasingly costs less than the cheapest fossil fuel-based power generation options, according to a new report published by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA...

BB governor’s highest age limit to increase by two years

-- 2020-06-08 20:20:21

The highest age limit of the governor of the central bank will be increased to 67 years from existing 65 years. The cabinet approved in principle the draft of “The Bangladesh Bank (Amendment) A...

Parliament gets Tk 3.35b budget for FY21

-- 2020-06-08 17:16:34

The Parliament Secretariat Commission on Monday approved a Tk 3.35 billion budget for Parliament to spend on its development and non-development expenditures for the next fiscal year (FY21). The appr...

Indonesia's forex reserves soar to $130.5b in May

-- 2020-06-08 16:18:00

The Indonesian central bank's foreign exchange reserves (forex) drifted up further in May as relatively stable rupiah led the lender to carry out less intervention in the financial market amid huge ca...

Japan braces for worst postwar economic slump

REUTERS 2020-06-08 11:57:17

Japan’s economy braced for its worst postwar slump even as first-quarter GDP contracted less than initially thought, as the cornonavirus crisis slams the brakes on global growth and raises press...

Time to start multi-pronged initiatives to weather fallout

FE REPORT 2020-06-08 09:50:08

Speakers at a programme on Sunday suggested a host of measures to help the country's economy weather Covid-19 fallout. The measures include mid- and long-term plans to generate new employment opportu...

Budget for FY '21: Govt set to target $2,326 per-capita income

FHM Humayan Kabir 2020-06-08 09:43:48

The government is going to raise the country's per capita income target by $153 to US$2,326 in the next fiscal, despite the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, officials said on Saturday. Th...