Thursday, April 23rd, 2009The recent announcement of stimulus package for the recession-hit economy has expected widespread applause from different quarters. Even those who were not directly benefited by the immediate stimulus found it a wise first step. A country which is usually known for its cash-strapped dilemma, the stimulus was surprising for whatever it is worth.What was most striking of the stimulus was its flexibility in nature as was evident as Finance Minister AMA Muhith yesterday said textile spinners, who were excluded from the earlier package of benefits, would also get assistance. The modalities are being developed.The package has rightly identified the sectors ...
(read more) Wednesday, June 18th, 2008Finance Adviser Mirza Azizul Islam yesterday said there are no immediate remedies to the budget implementation crisis unless long-term investment is made in the public sector."We need to import an angel if we want an immediate solution to the problem," he said at a dialogue styled "State of the Bangladesh economy and an analysis of the national budget for FY2008-09" organised by Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) at Sonargaon Hotel.Mirza Aziz made the comments following questions raised by discussants including politicians, economists, business leaders, civil society members and donors on the government's poor administrative capacity for implementing the budget.Prof Wahiduddin ...
(read more) Wednesday, August 1st, 2007As trucks lined up yesterday at Banglabandh land port to carry jute goods to Nepal for its growing carpet industry, an opposite development took place in Bangladesh. The curtain finally fell on the four state-owned jute mills marked to be closed down by the caretaker government. This latest move, sudden and widely debated, has once again brought to the fore discussions about the future of jute, globally and in Bangladesh. And at the centre of the debate lies a number of critical issues -- slow productivity in the jute industry complicated by even slower to come technological improvement, lack of ...
(read more) Monday, July 16th, 2007The government yesterday came down heavily on the Centre for Policy Dialogue's (CPD) observation on the central bank's monetary policy and said price hike of power, gas, fuel and fertiliser is essential for the economy.Finance Adviser Mirza Azizul Islam, Energy Adviser Tapan Chowdhury and Bangladesh Bank (BB) Governor Salehuddin Ahmed denied any influence of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the recently released money policy and the government's plan to hike prices of power, gas, fuel and fertiliser.On Saturday, Debapriya Bhattacharya, executive director of the CPD, said it would be a wrong to hike the prices of gas, power, ...
(read more) Friday, June 15th, 2007Finance Adviser AB Mirza Azizul Islam rejected outright the notion that the proposals in the budget for fiscal year 2007-08 are unrealistic or unattainable. The size and financing in the proposed budget are not unrealistic, he said while speaking as chief guest at a dialogue on the state of Bangladesh economy and budget responses.Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) organised the dialogue at Sonargaon hotel in the capital yesterday."I have talked to various agencies and also the people who are outside the government and become convinced that the growth target of GPD projected in the budget is not unattainable," ...
(read more) Thursday, June 14th, 2007Around half a dozen multi-billion-dollar proposals of foreign direct investment (FDI) in infrastructure, power, oil, gas and manufacturing sectors have been hanging for years due to complicated policies, government indecisions and bureaucratic tangles.The government is neither giving approval to these proposals nor refusing them, leaving the investors frustrated. This is also creating a wrong impression about the country and its investment prospects, sources said.These investment proposals include Indian conglomerate Tata's $3 billion, United Arab Emirates-based Abu Dhabi Group's $2 billion, UK-based Global Oil and Energy Ltd's $2.9 billion, Malaysian Azimat Corporation's $900 million, and Contech Ltd's $900 million.Sources said the ...
(read more) Sunday, June 10th, 2007The Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) says it does not find any radical changes in financing the big budget for fiscal 2007-08 announced by the caretaker government.This is a big budget. Success and failure of it will depend on the government's ability to finance and implement its targets, the independent think tank observed."We do not see any radical changes in financing the proposed budget as the finance adviser tried to set it on the fragile financial structure inherited from the previous political governments," CPD Executive Director Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya said at a post-budget press briefing in the city yesterday. ...
(read more) Saturday, June 9th, 2007The Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) says it does not find any radical changes in financing the big budget for fiscal 2007-08 announced by the caretaker government.This is a big budget. Success and failure of it will depend on the government's ability to finance and implement its targets, the independent think tank observed."We do not see any radical changes in financing the proposed budget as the finance adviser tried to set it on the fragile financial structure inherited from the previous political governments," CPD Executive Director Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya said at a post-budget press briefing in the city yesterday. ...
(read more) Sunday, June 3rd, 2007The spiralling price hike of essentials is currently the biggest pressure on the economy. The government should look into the matter immediately and maintain a generous import policy, particularly in food grain import for keeping the price under control.Debapriya Bhattacharya, executive director of independent think tank Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) observed this while presenting a study on the state of Bangladesh economy in fiscal 2007 and an outlook of the same for fiscal 2008 at a press briefing held at Cirdap auditorium yesterday.CPD Research Director Mustafizur Rahman responding to a question said the deployment of paramilitary, BDR, to ...
(read more) Tuesday, May 22nd, 2007Prices of daily essentials continue to rise despite the government's scramble to curb the spiral. Within the last couple of weeks prices of vegetables and rice increased by Tk 3 to Tk 4 per kilogram (kg).Aubergine, potato, bitter gourd, onion, and green papaya were being sold in different city retail markets including in Karwanbazar, Hatirpool, and Kathalbagan for Tk 20 to Tk 22 yesterday. But the prices of those vegetables had been Tk 14 to Tk 16 just about a week or two ago.Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) personnel, who are involved in the government initiative for selling essential commodities ...
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