Business

After soaring for nearly two years, cocoa prices dropped sharply in 2025. However, chocolate, in demand ahead of the festive holiday season, has seen prices rise. AFP examines the reasons for the divergence and the current state of the cocoa market. – West Africa at heart – Ivory Coast and Ghana are the world’s biggest suppliers of pods — the ...

Country’s foreign exchange reserves currently stand at US$31.89 billion, according to data released by Bangladesh Bank on Wednesday. However, when calculated under the International Monetary Fund’s BPM6 (Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual) methodology, the country’s reserves amount to $27.22 billion, the central bank said.

Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed has underscored the urgent need to curb VAT leakage. At a seminar on Wednesday, he said, “Bangladesh’s economic progress depends fundamentally on its ability to mobilise domestic resources rather than relying excessively on foreign loans and grants.” Adviser Dr Salehuddin said, “There is no doubt about the need for VAT. In many countries, VAT contributes ...

The “premium” that the UK pays to borrow money compared with its international peers may be coming to an end as markets grow more confident about the government’s plans, a thinktank has suggested. The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) said that the chancellor Rachel Reeves’s announcement in the autumn budget that she would be more than doubling the UK’s ...

Bangladesh Bank (BB) on Tuesday bought $202 million from 13 commercial banks to stabilise the foreign exchange market and support remittance and export inflows, the central bank said. With this transaction, total dollar purchases through multiple auctions in the current fiscal year have reached $2.51 billion. The purchase was conducted via a Multiple Price Auction, with the exchange rate ranging ...

Distinguished Fellow of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Prof Mustafizur Rahman on Monday said Bangladesh must urgently strengthen revenue mobilisation, improve governance and address deep-rooted structural challenges to ensure inclusive growth and avoid the risk of falling into a debt trap. He also warned that the country is gradually moving towards a ‘dangerous and obligatory dependency’, largely due to ...

Young unemployed people will be offered training or job opportunities in construction, care and hospitality as part of a UK government scheme, but could have their benefits cut if they do not take up offers. Pat McFadden, the work and pensions secretary, announced on Sunday that 350,000 new training or workplace opportunities would be offered to young people on universal ...

After discussions with the government, traders have decided to raise the prices of edible oils in the domestic market, following the cancellation of an earlier plan to increase soybean oil by Tk 9 per litre. According to a media release issued on Sunday by Bangladesh Vegetable Oil Refiners and Vanaspati Manufacturers Association, the price hike will take effect from Monday. ...

Mobile phone traders have blocked the road in front of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission office in the city’s Agargaon on Sunday demanding reforms to the National Equipment Identity Register (NEIR) system and unrestricted access to mobile phone imports. Under the banner of ‘Mobile Business Community Bangladesh,’ the traders were taking position on the road adjacent to BTRC building around ...

Global payment gateway PayPal is preparing to begin operations in the country soon, a development that will significantly ease international transactions for the country’s freelancers and small entrepreneurs, Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Ahsan H Mansur said on Tuesday. Speaking as the chief guest at Agro Award 2025 event at Dhaka’s InterContinental Hotel, the governor said PayPal has expressed formal interest ...