Banking & Commodity

The Bangladesh Bank on Wednesday relaxed the loan classification and provision-related rules for banks against the credit facility issued to the cottage, micro, small and medium entrepreneurs for the outgoing year 2021. The central bank issued two separate notices in this regard on the day, allowing banks to keep CMSME …

A breakthrough has apparently come about in the discord between Bangladesh Bank and the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC), with both reaching common grounds over perpetual bonds. The stock market regulator decided to honour a central bank request to lift a condition stipulating that banks cannot stop paying interests …

The purchasing power of a vast majority of the population fell substantially in 2021 as their cost of living far outstripped the income that also grew, but marginally. People, particularly from low- and lower-middle-income groups, have rued that their spending on key essentials and utility and other services increased at …

High level of default loans, failure to implement banking regulations, and limited autonomy for the Bangladesh Bank are the major challenges facing the banking sector today. This prompted a number of former central bank governors and a top businessman yesterday to call for extending greater autonomy to the central bank …

The ongoing tension between the Bangladesh Bank and the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) could deepen further following a recent stock market regulator move that curtails banks’ power to cancel payments to bondholders. The central bank has written to several banks after finding out that the BSEC’s condition on …

Urban gardening has an important role to play in improving the economy, environment and health of cities in Bangladesh, experts said at a seminar yesterday. It reduces poverty and food insecurity resulting from urbanisation, improves the health of city residents and preserves the environment, they said. Urban gardening allows low-income …

Boosting agricultural production and productivity and farming high-value crops of export quality are seen as urgent to cushion possible external shocks to Bangladesh’s export trade in the post-LDC-graduation era. To this end, researchers recommend for the government to take steps to make a diversified crop-production plan and intensify the commercialization …

Many tomato farmers in Sylhet have secured bumper yields this year by using the grafting method to grow their crops amid favourable weather conditions. Grafting is the act of placing a portion of one plant into or on a stem, root, or branch of another in such a way that …

With the increasing number of mobile financial service accounts and the amount of unused money or deposits, the stature of e-money is constantly growing in Bangladesh. The Bangladesh Bank sees this rapid growth of e-money as abnormal. The central bank is also concerned about the proper use of funds deposited …

Banks in Bangladesh have been generous in waiving loans throughout the pandemic despite their poor record in recouping funds from defaulters. They waived funds to the tune of Tk 2,383 crore between January last year and September this year, a development that will bring no good for the financial health …