Search results for: IS

Rationalising tariff structure

Dr. Zaidi Sattar 2016-05-10 18:57:34

To be fair, there has been a lot of progress in rationalization of the tariff structure in Bangladesh, since the early 1990s, such as (a) reducing the number of tariff slabs from 23 in fiscal year...

Why do countries differ in total factor productivity?

Selim Raihan 2016-05-09 17:58:52

Theoretical and empirical literatures on sources of economic growth emphasise on factor accumulation and factor productivity as two major sources of growth. Though factor accumulation can explain a...

Macro analysis: Growth number eclipses reality

Sharjil Haque 2016-05-08 17:49:21

The annual ritual of GDP-growth debate has resumed with an all too familiar flavour: the government swatting away less optimistic growth figures coming from every direction. That the economy report...

PNG - a land of diversity

Mehdi Mahbub 2016-05-07 19:25:18

With a population of around 7.5 million and land area of 462,840 square kilometers, Papua New Guinea Undoubtedly, Papua New Guinea is world's one of the most linguistically, culturally and soci...

Budget implementation in a quagmire: Message for FY 17

Mirza Azizul Islam 2016-05-05 19:59:36

Media reports indicate that the Finance Minister is once again going to propose an ambitious budget for the Fiscal Year 2016-17 (FY 17). I have genuine sympathy for the Finance Minister's desir...

The relation between export orientation and productivity

Selim Raihan, Nafiz Ifteakhar and Mir Tanzim Nur Angkur 2016-05-04 20:00:58

For long, empirical studies on the role of exports in promoting growth in general, and productivity in particular, used data at the country or industry level to test whether exports promote product...

Remittance inflow through private banks

Rokshana Alam 2016-05-03 18:33:05

Remittance, one of the main drivers of the country's foreign currency reserve, showed a splendid performance in last decade. Foreign remittance sent by the Bangladeshi expatriates has positive...

Where flows the water of the Teesta?

M. Serajul Islam 2016-05-02 17:49:51

The news of an exclusive meeting in parliament between the Prime Minister and Begum Raushan Ershad was covered in the media as one held at the request of the latter. It has raised some eyebrows in...

Education sector: The smartest investments

Bjorn Lomborg 2016-04-30 19:55:39

It seems like a great idea: to improve education in Bangladesh, we should equip classrooms with computers, moving the next generation to the cutting edge of knowledge. But while such an idea is all...

Encouraging the use of LPG by households

Mehrin Karim 2016-04-28 01:11:10

Bangladesh is one of the few countries that provide natural gas connections to its residential areas at a fixed monthly charge without regards to actual consumption. Partly owing to this and more g...

Traversing asymmetric markets: The case of NTMs in Bangladesh-India trade

Rumana Islam 2016-04-28 01:09:37

In an age of ever globalizing markets with value chains linking regions to form production lines across countries, Bangladesh stands to reap the benefits from South Asian intra-regional market conn...

WTO negotiations: Trade restrictive measures or policy tools?

Asjadul Kibria 2016-04-27 20:28:18

The debate over identifying any trade-related measure as trade restrictive or valid trade policy tool is not a new phenomenon. In mid-April, members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) engaged in...

The Fed\'s gamble on surplus labour

Larry Hatheway in London 2016-04-24 21:45:25

In recent weeks, the US Federal Reserve has buoyed markets by adopting a more gradual approach to policy normalisation. Fed Chair Janet Yellen's most recent public remarks, in late March, were...

Bangladesh capital markets: An overview

Sajid Amit 2016-04-23 19:02:41

Over the last 12 years, the Bangladesh economy has sustained an average GDP (gross domestic product) growth of around 6.0 per cent per year, accompanied by significant shifts in the sectoral output...

Banking in the Digital Age: It is technology plus….

B K Mukhopadhyay 2016-04-20 18:09:15

In this age of 'innovention' (innovation plus invention) and fast changing techno-savvy world, the buzzword is there -- strengthen the marketing team so that the market share is broadened o...

LDCs concerned over slow global trade

Asjadul Kibria 2016-04-19 17:54:35

Last week, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) came up with a gloomy projection of global economic growth. Prior to the annual spring meeting of the Fund and its twin, The World Bank, the project...

Improved technologies to combat air pollution

-- 2016-04-17 19:22:18

Air pollution is a major issue around the world. It kills seven million people annually-one in every eight people that die around the world. And, of course, air pollution is a well-known and much-c...

The risks of China\'s failure - and success

Arvind Subramanian in New Delhi 2016-04-16 19:49:08

As the world’s financial leaders gather in Washington, D.C., for the annual spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), their hopes - and fears - centre on China. After all, China is t...

Tax havens exposed: Implications for SDGs

Asjadul Kibria 2016-04-13 19:01:37

Several international organisations are working to unveil the secrecy of so-called tax havens or offshore jurisdictions across the world. Their efforts enhanced significantly in the last few years...

Legalising black money- theory and practice

Mabroor Mahmood 2016-04-12 17:31:20

When anybody hides his/her income from the government and does not report the actual income to evade taxes, the hidden income then becomes "black money". There are many other softer terms to de...

Legitimate competition in telecommunication sector

M. Shamsul Alam 2016-04-10 17:22:14

Telecommunication (Telco) services are no longer a luxury; they have now become a necessity. According to the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), 83 per cent of the total pop...

Integration with East and Southeast Asia will boost the economy

Selim Raihan and Sunera Saba Khan 2016-04-09 17:03:20

The Bangladesh economy over the past two and half decades has been experiencing a steady rise in economic growth rate which has been accompanied by the country's increasing trade-GDP (gross dom...

Close industry-academia links key to R&D

Ferdaus Ara Begum 2016-04-08 17:17:04

Successful developing countries, at the very beginning of their journey, recognised industry-academia collaboration in research and development as one of the main vehicles to transform their econom...

Smart ways to fight poverty and provide economic opportunity

Bjorn Lomborg 2016-04-05 18:01:15

Bangladesh has made spectacular progress over the recent years. The country has halved poverty and the economy has grown by about 6.0 per cent a year. But many challenges continue to frustrate its...

Latin liaisons: Here today, gone tomorrow?

Imtiaz A. Hussain 2016-04-04 18:20:28

If handled pragmatically, three converging developments open enormous Latin windows for Bangladesh.   The first is the elevation of some of the original post-World War II low-wage countries...

Budget fatigue

M A Taslim 2016-04-03 00:33:09

If and when Mr. A M A Muhith presents the next budget, he would be doing so for the eighth consecutive year, an unmatched record in the history of this country, and will most likely remain unmat...

Bangladesh\'s real exchange rate appreciation: A source of competitiveness erosion?

Muhammad Shafiullah and Zarif Iftekhar Rasul 2016-03-28 21:49:05

For a small open economy, exchange rate stability is vital for promoting trade and welfare. In Bangladesh, sustained stability of its exchange rate has been a cornerstone of the government's pr...

Erin Callan puts nail in Lehman coffin

-- 2016-03-26 13:55:16

A legion of reasons, guesses and conspiracy theories keep circulating about why Lehman Brothers failed in 2008. This week, previously unreported incidents emerged that should forever keep the blame...

Jihadists gain nothing but outrage

-- 2016-03-23 22:02:11

The Brussels carnage of 34 innocent civilians committed apparently by the jihadists has triggered global outrage. Millions of people belonging to different religious faiths have joined hands in con...

The new geopolynomics of AIIB

Zaidi Sattar 2016-03-21 00:04:01

For the first time Bangladesh is a founding member of a multilateral development bank (MDB), Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), whose majority shareholders are developing countries. AIIB,...