Bangladesh Economy: News & Updates

[Bilal9]

Yeah I am Bangladeshi

Good. Now tell us something in Dhakaiya Bengali. Let's hear you talk

 

[bongbang]

Prime minister opens nine bridges, hopes infrastructure upgrade will help people prosper

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said her government is emphasising upgrading Bangladesh’s infrastructure to quicken the pace of progress on social and economic fronts.

She inaugurated nine bridges at various districts through videoconferencing from Ganabhaban on Thursday.

Hasina also spoke to local officials and public representatives during the inauguration.

“We’re building up a communication network across Bangladesh so that the people can travel with ease,” she said.

The prime minister said better communication network would increase economic activities and enhance chances of getting education.

That’s why, she said, the government was working to improve roads, railways, waterways as well as airports.

“My goal is to build a poverty-free Bangladesh... My aim is to change the fate of the people of Bangladesh whom my father used to care about a lot,” she said.


Bangladesh’s founding father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman along with most of his family was assassinated barely four years after independence.

Of the nine bridges inaugurated on Wednesday, six are major bridges and three are small.

They are Chandarpur-Sunampur Bridge over the Kushiara River on Golapganj-Bianibazar Road in Sylhet, Achmat Ali Khan Bridge on Madaripur-Shariatpur-Chandpur Highway in Madaripur, Sheikh Russell Bridge on Patuakhali-Kuakata Highway, Batakhali Bridge on Chakoria-Badarkhali-Maheshkhali road in Cox's Bazar, Abduz Zahur Bridge over the Surma River in Sunamganj and Barohdaha Bridge over the Karatoa River on Gaibandha-Nakaihat-Gobindaganj road in Gaibandha.

The rest are Tekerhat, Chumchar, Angaria bridges in Madaripur.

Hasina criticised the BNP-led 2001-06 government for suspending several development projects undertaken by her government in 1996.

The Awami League-led government resumed construction works of 48 such bridges after returning to power in 2009.

Hasina said several of the bridges had been completed.

“We’re trying our best,” she said.

“We want to turn Bangladesh into a developed and prosperous country so that the Bengali nation can hold its head high.”

Prime minister opens nine bridges, hopes infrastructure upgrade will help people prosper -
bdnews24.com

 

[bongbang]

Four in five households have access to financial services

Four in five households in Bangladesh have access to financial services, thanks to improvements in the networks of banks and microfinance institutions as well as a booming mobile banking segment, according to a new study.

Access to financial services, including insurance, stood at over 79 percent in 2014, compared to 77 percent in 2010, the study by Institute of Microfinance (InM), a microcredit think-tank, showed.

Barisal division, at 89.74 percent, has the highest percentage of households with access to finance, followed by Khulna with 85.44 percent, Rangpur 84.19 percent, Rajshahi 83.63 percent, Chittagong 75.62 percent, Dhaka 74.02 percent and Sylhet 73.87 percent.

The InM conducted the study between 2010 and 2014 to measure financial inclusion in Bangladesh, covering all seven divisions except Rangamati.

The paper was presented at a seminar at the national convention on 'Inclusive Finance in Bangladesh' at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in Dhaka yesterday.

Prof MA Baqui Khalily, executive director of InM, presented the study at the seminar. He co-authored the study along with InM researchers Mehadi Hasan, Nahid Akhter, Farah Muneer and Pablo Miah.

Bangladesh is one of the leading countries in South Asia where households have higher access to financial services.

In 2010, the formal financial market consisted mainly of bank services such as savings, credit and insurance, according to the study. However, with the emergence of mobile banking, it now includes households that have mobile banking accounts.

The study revealed that more households can now access the formal financial market, as it went up 5 percentage points between 2010 and 2014.

More than 40 percent of households in rural regions can access formal financial services, which was 32.8 percent four years ago. In urban areas, 49.76 percent households have access to formal financial services, against 53.53 percent in 2010.

Access to formal financial services by poor households that are constrained by service charges, collateral and a lack of financial literacy, stood at 24.19 percent in 2014, up from 19.53 percent in 2010.

In 2014, 47 percent of households were able to access microfinance, which was 43.23 percent four years ago.

The study shows that fewer households are accessing the informal financial market for credit, as it fell below 20 percent in 2014.

There are still many households that do not have access to financial services. Day labour-led households are one of them, as almost a quarter of them do not have access to any financial market. Less than 24 percent of day labour-led households have access to formal finance and almost 57 percent are capable of accessing the microfinance market.

However, 46 percent of households do not have access to credit in any market. In the banking sector, 59 percent of households are credit constrained. It is 35 percent in the case of microcredit. The study said it is essential to innovate and improvise financial products to broaden the outreach of financial services offered by institutions.

For financial inclusion, it recommendations expanding financial services in unbanked areas; reducing transaction cost of borrowing; improving financial literacy; mobilising financial resources; initiating targeted programmes for women-headed households; strengthening insurance sector; and protecting customers against abuses.

Four in five households have access to financial services | The Daily Star

 

[Bilal9]

Bangladesh is one of the leading countries in South Asia where households have higher access to financial services.

This is true. I think the rate of development in the villages now (as I have witnessed) is ample proof of this. Development in Bangladesh is not simply limited to cities.

A very large portion of villagers now have refrigerators, TV's, microwaves and commode-equipped bathrooms. Which most people would consider trivial now but it was unthinkable even fifteen years ago.

 

[bongbang]

This is true. I think the rate of development in the villages now (as I have witnessed) is ample proof of this. Development in Bangladesh is not simply limited to cities.

A very large portion of villagers now have refrigerators, TV's, microwaves and commode-equipped bathrooms. Which most people would consider trivial now but it was unthinkable even fifteen years ago.

I didnt visit Barisal area for long times so cant say their situation now. But can say about our Khulna area. I was really stunned that there is very little poverty. Areas are really clean. Roads Bridges and electricity reached far deep in the villages. No chaos. People look good and happy.

 

[Bilal9]

I didnt visit Barisal area for long times so cant say their situation now. But can say about our Khulna area. I was really stunned that there is very little poverty. Areas are really clean. Roads Bridges and electricity reached far deep in the villages. No chaos. People look good and happy.

True. Unlike other larger countries, a smaller country like Bangladesh should be easier to manage and improve on.

Industrialization and logistics are easier too. We should model our road network and logistics on South Korea and Japan. The settlement pattern, industrialization and population density in those countries (about two decades ago for S. Korea) have massive similarities to our situation. But Govt. in both these countries were very proactive in facilitating changes at a large scale for industrialization.

IMHO - govt. should immediately reduce duty and tariff for all labor-intensive thrust sector industrial inputs to zero. List should include (among others),

1. Steel plate for shipbuilding
2. Kaolin, feldspar and other inputs for ceramics / porcelain industry
3. Specialized inputs (specialized machinery and backward linkage items) for Footwear industry
4. Specialized inputs and imported wood for Furniture industry

 

[mehedi44]

How the Cox's Bazar airport will look like AFTER UPGRADE???

 

[Nabil365]

Ami ekjon Bangladeshi@Bilal9

 

[Bilal9]

How the Cox's Bazar airport will look like AFTER UPGRADE???

 

[Rokto14]

Any updates on Cox's Bazar airport's upgrading work to an international airport and HSIA's Terminal 3?

 

[masud]

 

[Homo Sapiens]

I didnt visit Barisal area for long times so cant say their situation now. But can say about our Khulna area. I was really stunned that there is very little poverty. Areas are really clean. Roads Bridges and electricity reached far deep in the villages. No chaos. People look good and happy.

The best thing about BD is that development work is fairly well distributed to the whole country rather than concentrating in and around some big cities unlike a particular neighbouring country. From my personal observation, our village road infrastructure is better then the road condition in Dhaka specially the by-lanes. In Sylhet city where I am currently residing, one can rarely find pot-holed road while in Dhaka it is numerous.

So those who are mocking Dhaka, Chittagong for not having metro rail and other city centric costly infrastructure project should look at the mirror and start pondering about the massive discrimination towards village peoples, poorer states and other disadvantaged groups in their country.

 

[Nabil365]

The best thing about BD is that development work is fairly well distributed to the whole country rather than concentrating in and around some big cities unlike a particular neighbouring country. From my personal observation, our village road infrastructure is better then the road condition in Dhaka specially the by-lanes. In Sylhet city where I am currently residing, one can rarely find pot-holed road while in Dhaka it is numerous.

So those who are mocking Dhaka, Chittagong for not having metro rail and other city centric costly infrastructure project should look at the mirror and start pondering about the massive discrimination towards village peoples, poorer states and other disadvantaged groups in their country.

Those who build roads in dhaka use poor quality material and they bribe government official to continues this illegal activity,so that they can make profit.

 

[bdslph]

This is true. I think the rate of development in the villages now (as I have witnessed) is ample proof of this. Development in Bangladesh is not simply limited to cities.

A very large portion of villagers now have refrigerators, TV's, microwaves and commode-equipped bathrooms. Which most people would consider trivial now but it was unthinkable even fifteen years ago.

now all countries have like that even in slam areas so it is nothing specials

 

[TopCat]

Those who build roads in dhaka use poor quality material and they bribe government official to continues this illegal activity,so that they can make profit.

Dont just blame corruption. Its about design criteria when most roads are for 5 ton capacity when the trucks witb 30 tons roam over them. Prime examples are streets in the residential areas.