To encourage youth-led entrepreneurship and turn innovative ideas into viable businesses, the Bangladesh Bank (BB) announced a Startup Funding Facility in July this year.
More than one in four people are poor, while one in ten live in extreme poverty
Industry insiders attribute the surge primarily to the international bullion market
We have two kinds of brave people. One, the man who casually crosses a six-lane road while talking on the phone, blind to buses, rickshaws, and divine intervention.
The initiative, which received little public attention at the time due to political instability, represents a critical juncture in Bangladesh's financial infrastructure development.
Such a tax would directly eat into the amount that families receive back home, discouraging many from sending remittances via official banking channels
Bangladesh must build an ongoing feedback loop with actual global investors—those managing billions in emerging and frontier market mandates
Mr Arif, a lower-middle-class citizen, decided to visit his local market to purchase essential goods for his family. To his dismay, he discovered that the prices of almost all necessities had gone up by a staggering 30 to 50 percent. This sudden spike in prices left Mr Arif perplexed and worried about the increasing burden on his already strained budget.
In the throes of a digital renaissance, Bangladesh, steered by the government's Digital Bangladesh initiative, has achieved a remarkable technological evolution. The nation has seen an uptick in internet connectivity, digital financial services, e-education, and e-commerce, with an entrepreneur-driven surge.
In a world that is exceedingly inundated by messages, it is, perhaps, time for businesses to think about whether we are over-communicating with our customers.
Credit markets are often affected by market failures, which makes them prone to government interventions. While there are many ways in which governments can intervene in financial markets, a common method is through state-owned banks.
Fintech is a buzz word or a disruption or an innovation in this transforming world. We have always seen such debate among different types of experts or colleagues from financial industries at home and abroad. But we can’t ignore its rapid disruption towards financial inclusion and growth.
However, rising interest rates and risks in the banking sector in the United States and Europe have increased uncertainties in South Asia’s outlook, given their significant impact on balance of payments, exchange rates, and financial markets.
March, and more precisely March 8th, is a time to raise awareness about the remaining path toward equal opportunities for women and men. This is especially challenging in the current days of infoxication where algorithms on the Internet nudge us to jump the discussion from one topic to another day after day. March 8th has passed, yet many gender challenges remain.
Most countries, as they emerge from the Covid-19 crisis, are seeking economic growth from weakened fiscal positions. As health and social spending surged to help workers, families, and businesses cope, the economic shock greatly reduced revenues.
South Asia is bracing for yet another hot year. Pre-monsoon temperature records were shattered again in 2023 by the hottest February recorded in India since 1901, along with the hottest day in Dhaka, Bangladesh in 58 years in April.
The recent bank turmoil in the US has awakened ghosts of past financial crises. While the likelihood of a fully-fledged crisis seems limited, it cannot be ruled out. Policymakers in the region must act now to shield their economies from possible negative spillovers.
In February 2022, news of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine dominated headlines around the world.
