Today, our economy is steered by powerful bodies

Political clarity has therefore emerged as a decisive factor shaping the outlook

Bangladesh’s export engine, long powered by the ready-made garment (RMG) sector, slowed in 2025 amid overlapping domestic and external shocks.

Bangladesh operates one of the most fragmented education systems in the world

Bangladesh’s economy showed signs of consolidation in 2025. Market liquidity, especially foreign currency liquidity, improved significantly, driven by a rise in wage earners’ remittances, a moderate increase in exports, and higher foreign aid disbursement. Inflation, however, continued to remain stubbornly high.

AI does not fail loudly at first -- it fails silently, at scale

Considering the core economic indicators of Bangladesh, remittance inflow has become the strongest factor at present, driven by a historic surge. Remittances crossed $30 billion in the last fiscal year 2024-25, helping to stabilise the exchange rate and bolster foreign currency reserves.

NPLs in the banking sector surged to around 34 percent by late 2025

Payment Initiation Service (PIS) is a smarter way to make payments directly from a bank account or mobile financial service wallet using a single application.

Textbooks remind us that a bank's core functions include financial intermediation, maturity transformation, efficient credit allocation and payment facilitation

If Bangladesh suddenly bans social media for everyone under sixteen, the first shock will not shake the earth. It will shake the nation’s emotions.

Historically, governments have used construction to fight stagflation and recession

Banking is going through a rapid global transformation unlike anything seen before. Large international banks are shifting from retail banking to wealth management.

Andrew Carnegie, the American industrialist and steel tycoon who later devoted much of his wealth to social welfare, once said, “Put all your eggs in one basket and then watch that basket.”

There is an old joke in corporate circles: a burglar breaks into a house, finds nothing worth stealing, and leaves a thank-you note for wasting his time.

In principle, there is nothing wrong with cash financial transactions. The problem arises when they are used to evade tax, launder money, facilitate illegal deals or pay bribes. In such cases, the transactions become questionable.

There has long been a fear that new technologies weaken human abilities. Socrates worried that writing would erode memory.

With over three decades in Bangladesh’s banking sector, I’ve witnessed its resilience, potential, and persistent weaknesses.

The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) recently released its draft rules for initial public offerings (IPOs), which propose a strict prohibition on using IPO proceeds to repay loans. The draft also introduces several other controls over how companies may deploy funds raised from the public. These rules raise a key question about the appropriate level of flexibility companies should have when allocating capital raised from shareholders.

Bangladesh has lost one of its most enduring builders. M Matiul Islam, the country’s first finance secretary and a pioneering figure in the nation’s economic architecture, passed away on November 20 at the age of 95.