The Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (bida), the Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (Beza), and the Public Private Partnership Authority (PPPA) are set to be unified.

To this end, the Invest Bangladesh Bill, 2026, was passed in Parliament yesterday (15 July). It will come into effect from the date determined by the government through a notification in the official gazette.

Around the same time, Invest Bangladesh is expected to be formally launched under its new identity, said a press release.

Once the law comes into effect, the Invest Bangladesh Authority will operate as the country's apex investment development agency under the Prime Minister's Office, it said.

Its objective is to make investor services simpler, faster and more coordinated while bringing investment promotion, industrial zone management and public-private partnership functions under a single institutional framework.

"We thank the government for its clear focus on initiatives that can have a real impact on private investment attraction, investor support and policy advocacy. To bring in the investment Bangladesh needs for growth and job creation, investors need a true one-stop service framework. Such a unified investment agency has long been recommended by domestic and foreign investors.

"UNCTAD has also recommended this unification following its review of Bangladesh's business climate reform progress. We believe Invest Bangladesh will be able to serve investors more effectively and present Bangladesh's value proposition more strongly in a competitive global investment landscape," said Ashik Chowdhury, executive chairman of Bida and Beza, and chief executive officer of PPPA.

The release said the passage of the Invest Bangladesh Bill is an important step in implementing the government's 180-day plan, announced in March 2026, to improve the business-enabling environment. It will strengthen the investment service framework to support higher domestic and foreign investment, faster industrialisation, expanded public-private partnerships, and job creation.

Under the new authority, investment-related approvals, registration, import-export processes, incentives, industrial zone development, and relevant government services will be coordinated more effectively, it added.

The law also creates the scope for single-window clearance, one-stop services, digitalisation of approval and licensing processes, and the integration of investment- and business-related services into a single digital platform, the release said.

Key features of the Invest Bangladesh Bill include provisions to bring declared industrial areas, economic zones, and free trade zones under an integrated framework; define procedures and timelines for licences, approvals, and service delivery; clarify the approval framework for PPP projects; enable simplified approval of small PPP projects through relevant ministries or divisions; allow unused government land, establishments, shares, and rights to be used for productive purposes; and bring all investment- and business-related services onto a single digital platform.

The release also said the bill will help reduce policy inconsistencies in investment development, avoid duplication and overlap across agencies, and strengthen coordination across related functions. It creates a pathway for an integrated investment management framework aligned with international standards and global best practices.

Once the Invest Bangladesh Bill comes into effect as law, the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority Act, 2016, the Bangladesh Economic Zones Act, 2010, the Public Private Partnership Act, 2015, and the One Stop Service Act, 2018, will be repealed, consolidating the relevant mandates under Invest Bangladesh.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected Bangladesh's GDP growth to slow to 3.5% in 2026-27, warning that it could weaken further to below 3% over the medium term unless the country undertakes decisive fiscal and banking sector reforms.

"Staff projects economic growth to slow to 3.5% in FY27 and weaken further to below 3% over the medium term in the absence of decisive reforms to strengthen revenue mobilisation and create fiscal space, and to address weaknesses in the banking sector," IMF Mission Chief for Bangladesh Ivo Krznar said in a statement today (16 July).

Krznar warned that risks to the outlook remain tilted to the downside due to the combined impact of banking sector strains, fiscal challenges and external pressures.

An IMF staff team led by Krznar visited Bangladesh from 12 to 16 July after the government requested a new IMF-supported programme. It described the mission as a "fact-finding staff visit" to review Bangladesh's economic and financial developments, and reform priorities.

During the five-day visit, the delegation held discussions with government officials and other stakeholders. The team also participated in a separate roundtable on the banking sector.

The mission described its discussions as "constructive" and said talks on the possible size of a new loan programme and its associated reform commitments would continue.

Their findings will form the basis of the IMF's internal assessment of Bangladesh, including its macroeconomic outlook and policy assumptions, before formal negotiations on a possible new loan begin. The visit will also help identify areas requiring technical assistance.

Reforms will be phased under govt's priorities, Khosru tells IMF

After a meeting with the IMF team today, Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury said the IMF had been informed that reforms under the proposed loan programme would be implemented in phases, in line with the priorities of the government.

Discussions have already taken place on the framework of the proposed programme, he told reporters after the meeting with the IMF delegation at his ministry today.

"The programme will be built on the policy directions already discussed. Reforms will be carried out with due respect to the elected government," he said.

He added that changes will be introduced in phases, depending on priorities. "Many reforms have already been implemented, while the remaining ones will be rolled out gradually."

IMF's recommendations

The IMF in its statement called for stronger revenue mobilisation and subsidy rationalisation to create fiscal space for higher social and development spending. It also stressed well-targeted social protection to shield vulnerable households from the impact of reforms.

It also urged Bangladesh to maintain tight monetary and prudent fiscal policies to curb inflation and rebuild foreign exchange reserves, while implementing the crawling peg exchange rate regime to strengthen exchange rate flexibility and external stability.

On the financial sector, the IMF said bank restructuring should be guided by a credible, comprehensive strategy, with a well-managed clean-up to preserve macro-financial stability.

The IMF said Bangladesh continues to face major challenges in revenue mobilisation, the financial sector and inflation, with the Middle East conflict driving up import costs and subsidy spending and adding to inflationary pressures amid persistent banking sector stress.

It said the medium-term outlook could improve if Bangladesh accelerated reforms to boost revenue collection and address banking sector vulnerabilities.

Fresh loan programme

Bangladesh entered a $4.7 billion IMF programme in 2023 to address a foreign exchange reserve crisis. The package was later expanded to $5.5 billion under the interim government.

After taking office, the BNP government opted not to continue the programme, arguing that several reform conditions agreed by the previous administration were no longer feasible.

On 1 June, the government asked the IMF to suspend the existing programme and begin talks on a new one. The IMF accepted the request. Bangladesh has so far received $3.595 billion under the previous arrangement.

The government is now seeking $4-4.5 billion under a new programme aligned with current economic realities. Finance officials hope formal negotiations can begin after the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings in October, subject to a positive assessment of the ongoing mission.

A World Bank-backed social- protection project has proposed tripling its budget to nearly Tk 28.14 billion, including higher consultancy costs and Tk 500 million for festival-related activities, drawing objections from the Planning Commission.

The Department of Social Services has sought up to a 33-per-cent increase in the monthly remuneration of individual consultants, officials said.

It has also proposed allocating Tk 500 million for ceremonies and festival-related activities under the project at a time when the government has tightened spending on several development programmes to ease fiscal pressures.

The proposals were included in the first revision of the "Strengthening Social Protection for Improved Resilience, Inclusion and Targeting (SSPIRIT)" project, which has been under implementation since July last year to establish a dynamic single registry of social safety net beneficiaries.

The revised project also aims to provide operational support, including a nationwide census, for implementing the government's election pledge to introduce the Family Card programme.

A Project Evaluation Committee (PEC) recently reviewed the proposal at a meeting chaired by Nasreen Jahan, Member (Secretary) of the Socio-Economic Infrastructure Division of the Planning Commission, sources said.

The PEC recommended dropping the proposed increase in consultants' remuneration and reducing allocations for several components, including festival-related expenditure.

Experts and economists questioned the rationale behind the proposed spending, saying further cost savings could be achieved through stricter scrutiny of the revised project.

An analysis of project documents shows that the consultancy allocation, originally set at Tk 21.02 million, has been proposed to increase to Tk 470.6 million under the revised project -- a more than twentyfold rise.

The increase is attributed to the appointment of additional consultants and proposed salary hikes for existing ones.

The monthly remuneration of the Procurement Specialist is proposed to rise to Tk 0.70 million in the first month from Tk 0.525 million. The average monthly remuneration over the 48-month project period is also proposed to increase to Tk 0.812 million from Tk 0.645 million.

However, consultancy fees under several other World Bank-supported projects generally range between Tk 0.4 million and Tk 0.5 million per month, raising questions over the justification for the higher rates.

The review also found that Tk 500 million had been proposed for festivals and related events under the Family Card programme.

The Department of Social Services said the funds would be used for various public engagement programmes and awareness campaigns.

The project already includes a separate allocation of Tk 250 million for promotional and advertising activities. Following discussions, the Planning Commission recommended reducing the proposed festival allocation to Tk 400 million.

The revised project also proposes Tk 800 million for training and Tk 5.5 billion for smart Family Cards and related ICT equipment.

Project Director Md Mosharraf Hossain said the proposal reviewed by the PEC was not an initial draft but a mature proposal prepared following extensive consultations and internal reviews.

"Retaining an allocation in the budget does not mean the entire amount must be spent. Since the Family Card programme is a government priority, allocations have been made based on assessed requirements," he said.

He added that assigning responsibility for the nationwide census to the Ministry of Social Welfare was a high-level policy decision and therefore beyond his authority to comment on.

Former Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) Director General Dr Mustafa K Mujeri said donor-funded projects often require consultants to meet development partners' requirements, but both the number of consultants and their remuneration should be subject to rigorous scrutiny.

He said expenditure on Family Card-related events should have clearly defined objectives.

Spending on beneficiary identification, transparency and public awareness could be justified, but expenditure merely on ceremonies or celebrations would be difficult to defend under the current economic circumstances, he added.

The original cost of the SSPIRIT project was approximately Tk 9.04 billion.

The first revision proposes increasing the cost to nearly Tk 28.14 billion by adding components such as a nationwide census, smart Family Card distribution and the development of a Dynamic Social Registry.

Planning Commission officials said such extensive changes in the project's scope and cost raised questions about revising the existing scheme.

They argued that if the scope had changed so substantially, a new project should be prepared instead.

Chinese AI startup DeepSeek is planning to launch a fresh fundraising round at a valuation of about 500 billion yuan or $74 billion ahead of a potential mainland initial public offering, two people with knowledge of the matter said.
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The plan comes just weeks after the Hangzhou-based company, which drew global attention with its low-cost AI models in 2025, raised about $7.4 billion in June at a post-money valuation of about 450 billion yuan, the people said.

Filings by two Chinese investors later suggested DeepSeek was valued at 350.88 billion yuan, or around $52 billion.

The back-to-back fundraising plans underscore strong investor appetite for one of China's most closely watched AI companies, but also point to the rising costs of competing in AI, which requires large amounts of computing power, data-centre capacity and engineering talent.

DeepSeek is looking to raise as much as 50 billion yuan in the new funding round, according to a third person briefed on the matter.

It has also started early deliberations on a potential IPO on Shanghai's Nasdaq-style STAR Market, the three sources and two other people with knowledge of the plan said.

The company has set an internal target to complete an IPO filing this year, one of them said.

All the people declined to be identified because the information is not public.

The fundraising and IPO plans are at early stages, and terms and timetable may change, they said.

DeepSeek did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A global media first reported on Tuesday that DeepSeek was preparing for a possible IPO filing, while the Financial Times reported that the company was weighing a fresh fundraising round at a valuation of at least 480 billion yuan.

DeepSeek shook global technology markets last year after releasing models that appeared to rival leading US systems at lower training and operating costs.

Soon after its maiden fundraising round in June, DeepSeek said it planned to double staff across departments, including in areas such as data centres and AI agents, systems capable of performing tasks with limited prompting.

Some of those initiatives will require significant capital expenditure.

Reuters reported earlier this month that DeepSeek was looking to develop its own AI inference chip and had discreetly increased hiring of chip-design engineers for the project.

DeepSeek had long stood out in China's AI sector for rejecting outside funding. Founder Liang Wenfeng had largely bankrolled the company using his quantitative hedge fund High-Flyer before its recent external financing, sources previously told Reuters.

But the cost of staying at the frontier of AI has risen sharply, forcing a change in strategy.

DeepSeek has in the past year faced stiff competition at home from tech giants including ByteDance and Alibaba, as well as well-funded AI startups such as Z.ai, Moonshot, and MiniMax.

In the June funding round, DeepSeek founder Liang personally committed 20 billion yuan, while Tencent Holdings and battery giant CATL chipped in 10 billion yuan and 5 billion yuan respectively, to become the largest external shareholders, Reuters reported at the time.

Other investors include China's national AI fund, gaming developer NetEase and e-commerce giant JD.com, as well as investment firms IDG Capital, Loyal Valley Capital, Monolith Management and Shixiang Capital, according to sources and media reports.

The participation of the state-backed AI fund highlighted DeepSeek's strategic importance to Beijing's efforts to build domestic AI champions and reduce reliance on foreign technology.

After rebounding strongly over two years, the non-leather footwear exports lost momentum in the last fiscal year, logging only 1.6 percent growth as manufacturers grappled with high borrowing costs, capacity constraints and lingering political uncertainty.

Exports under the “Other Footwear” category -- covering synthetic, rubber, plastic and textile footwear -- rose to $531 million in FY2025-26 from $522 million a year earlier, according to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB).

The five-year trend reflects both recovery and stagnation. Exports fell from $449 million in FY22 to $385 million in FY23 amid weak demand in the US and Europe, before rebounding to $417 million in FY24.

The slowdown in FY26 comes despite the “China Plus One” strategy, under which global brands are diversifying production beyond China.

Combined with leather footwear exports of $691 million, Bangladesh’s footwear exports totalled only $1.22 billion in FY26, far lower than regional competitors. For instance, Vietnam exports more than $25 billion worth of footwear annually and Indonesia more than $6 billion.

The sector’s modest export growth reflects weak investment rather than weak demand, said Riad Mahmud, managing director of Shoeniverse Footwear.

“Most manufacturers are already operating at or near full capacity. Without new factories or capacity expansion, export growth will inevitably remain limited,” he said.

Mahmud blamed the prolonged banking sector liquidity crunch, saying manufacturers are struggling to secure financing for expansion.

“Our factory is running at full capacity and orders remain healthy. The question is why we are not expanding,” he said. “The simple answer is that bank financing is no longer available.”

He said Shoeniverse now plans to raise funds through the capital market by listing its footwear unit, Sunipun Footwear Ltd, and is preparing its prospectus.

“We have already announced our intention to go public. If the regulatory process becomes faster, as the authorities have indicated, it could provide an alternative source of financing for manufacturers,” he said.

He added that the stagnation in capital machinery imports also reflects slowing industrial investment. “The orders are there, but production capacity is not increasing because investment has slowed. That is the real bottleneck.”

Hasanuzzaman Hassan, chairman of BLING Leather Products Ltd, said inadequate banking support cost his company a major export opportunity last year.

He said the company spent nearly two months trying to open a letter of credit (LC) for a $2.2 million export order from buyers in the United States and Europe. However, the process stalled because the bank did not provide the required support, prompting the buyers to cancel the order.

“As the LC issue remained unresolved, the buyers had already moved elsewhere,” Hassan said.

He also linked the sector’s slow growth in the last FY to economic and political uncertainty during the interim government’s tenure, which disrupted business operations and weakened buyers’ confidence.

“When buyers see uncertainty, they become cautious. Some delayed orders, while others shifted sourcing to competing countries,” he said.

Hassan expects conditions to improve under the elected government as a more stable political atmosphere is likely to boost buyers’ confidence. “If the policy environment remains stable and banks become more supportive, many of those buyers are likely to return.”

Md Nasrullah, general manager and head of international business at Apex Footwear, attributed the slowdown to rising production costs, political uncertainty and weaker buyer confidence, particularly in the European market.

“Running a factory has become much more expensive,” he said, citing higher gas and electricity tariffs, annual wage increases and lending rates of 12-13 percent.

He estimated gas-related production costs alone have risen by more than 40 percent.

Md Nasir Khan, chairman of Jennys Shoes, said the industry has already invested heavily in expanding capacity but cannot fully utilise it because of supply-side bottlenecks.

“The industry has brought in machinery worth billions of dollars and built the capacity to grow. But many factories are producing only a fraction of what they are capable of because raw materials are not reaching them on time,” he said.

Delays in importing raw materials, unreliable electricity supply and cumbersome regulations are disrupting production and raising costs, Khan said. Frequent power outages also make it harder to meet delivery schedules.

“When shipments are delayed, buyers lose confidence. Instead of expanding by 20 to 30 percent a year, the industry risks slipping into negative growth,” he warned.

Bangladesh's exporters and government officials have identified the country's fragmented halal certification system as one of the biggest obstacles to tapping the rapidly expanding global halal economy, calling for the establishment of a single national halal authority to boost competitiveness.

The global halal economy is now valued at $5.2 trillion, yet Bangladesh exported halal products worth only $943 million in the last fiscal year, according to industry leaders.

They pointed out that the country's export potential is being hampered by allegations of bribery, high certification fees, lengthy approval processes and the lack of international recognition for locally issued halal certificates.

Currently, both the Islamic Foundation and the Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI) issue halal certificates independently. Businesses argue that the dual certification system weakens Bangladesh's halal branding and creates unnecessary costs and delays.

The concerns were raised yesterday at a workshop titled "Halal for Export Diversification," organised by the Bangladesh Chamber of Industries (BCI) in Dhaka.

Speakers said Bangladesh has made progress in developing its halal industry in recent years, but institutional weaknesses and the absence of an effective regulatory framework have prevented the country from fully capitalising on the growing global market.

Exporters also said obtaining halal certification is expensive and time-consuming. Manufacturers are required to pay separate fees for individual products, undergo repeated factory inspections and submit multiple laboratory test reports, creating a significant financial burden.

Some of the required tests, including those for heavy metals and pesticide residues, cannot even be conducted domestically, they said.

Exporters allege bribery and lack of global recognition

Khurshid Ahmad Farhad, general manager for International Business and Corporate Affairs at Bombay Sweets and Company Limited, said companies face high fees and repeated inspections when seeking halal certification from the Islamic Foundation and BSTI.

He said the company initially paid Tk16-18 lakh in certification fees for several products. Although the fees were later reduced by half, the company has still not received its certificates despite paying around Tk14.5 lakh.

Farhad also alleged that companies are forced to pay bribes during the certification process.

"When applying for halal certificates, there are non-halal activities involved - you have to pay bribes," he alleged.

He further claimed that neither the Islamic Foundation nor BSTI is recognised by the Saudi Accreditation Center, forcing exporters shipping to Saudi Arabia to obtain halal certificates from accredited bodies in countries such as India, Singapore or Thailand.

As a result, Bombay Sweets removed halal logos from about 50 of its more than 200 products, spending approximately Tk62 lakh solely on redesigning packaging.
Calls for a single halal authority

During an open discussion, Zia Hayder Mithu, a BCI director and chairman of Easy Process Food, alleged that officials conducting halal certification inspections demand transportation and hospitality.

"They ask us to provide vehicles because a large inspection team will visit, and we have to arrange meals for them. After that, they charge Tk2 lakh annually for exports of 200 tonnes. If I have to pay these fees for thousands of products, I don't need such certificates," he said.

He called for halal certification to be provided free of charge.

Representatives from leading halal exporters, including Pran, Paragon, Akij, Meghna and Bengal Meat, also attended the workshop and expressed support for the exporters' concerns.

Huge untapped market

Mohammad Hasan Arif, vice chairman of the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), said Bangladesh exported halal products worth $943 million last year, most of which were agricultural and processed food products.

However, he noted that major opportunities also exist in cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, fashion, tourism, manufacturing, Islamic finance, technology and education.

"The global halal economy is now worth $5.2 trillion. It presents a significant opportunity for Bangladesh to diversify its exports, products and export destinations," he said.

Delivering the keynote presentation, Md Mominul Islam, assistant professor of marketing at IUBAT, said the global halal market is projected to reach $9.45 trillion by 2040.

He said Bangladesh needs to develop a complete halal ecosystem encompassing supply chains, education, certification and industry collaboration, citing Malaysia as a successful model.

Although Bangladesh benefits from a strong agricultural base, competitive labour costs, industrial capacity and a Muslim-majority population, policy gaps, limited academic preparedness and a lack of specialised education in halal science and supply chain management continue to hold the sector back, he added.

Prof Md Deen Islam of the University of Dhaka said the halal economy should be viewed not only from a religious perspective but also as a business opportunity centred on quality, safety and consumer confidence.

"Despite being one of the world's largest Muslim-majority countries, Bangladesh has only around 300 halal-certified manufacturers, 600-700 certified export products, and halal exports of less than $1 billion, leaving its share of the global market negligible," he said.

Responding to the allegations of bribery, SM Abu Sayeed, deputy director (Halal Certification) at the Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI), told The Business Standard that the claims were "false."

"Those who made these allegations have not even applied to us for halal certification," he said.

Abu Sayeed added that the government-prescribed fee for obtaining a BSTI halal certification licence ranges from Tk1,000 to Tk5,000.

The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) has asked the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) to submit a unified, comprehensive amendment proposal to reform the decade-old listing regulations.

The directive from the regulator comes after the premier bourse, DSE, sent three separate proposals over the last ten months seeking piecemeal changes to rules governing company inspections, direct listing, and delisting of securities.

To make change in the listing regulations, the commission needs to change some sections or provision at least four rules promulgated 2022 to 2025, and one directive promulgated in 2018, according to sources at the commission.Instead of passing isolated amendments, the capital market regulator wants a complete overhaul of the listing regulations, 2015, to align them with newer market policies enacted over the years.So, the regulator, incorporating all necessary changes to ensure listing regulation is timely updated, asked the bourse to submit comprehensive amendment proposals in the rules, according to a letter issued to the bourse this week.In the letter, the commission said subsequent promulgation of listing regulations, 2015, the commission formulated several regulatory instruments that are relevant to the listing regulations.

These rules are – securities exchange rules, 2020, prohibition of insider trading rules, 2022, mutual fund rules, public offer of equity securities rules, 2025, and corporate governance code, 2018.

The commission said these regulatory instruments contain provisions that are relevant to the amendment of the listing regulations, 2015.

According to the letter, the regulator received a proposal from the bourse almost nine months ago in September 2025, to amend section 54(1) regarding the inspection of listed companies.

As per the section, the exchange, on cause, may inspect at any time, if it is necessary to conduct an inspection for the interest of investors, the affairs of any issuer of listed securities with prior approval of the commission and shall report to the Commission within fifteen days of completion of such inspection.

Essentially, the bourse urged the commission to remove the requirement to obtain prior regulatory approval before inspecting any company, arguing that empowering the bourse in this manner would prevent time-consuming delays.

In March this year, the bourse also had sent another proposal to the commission on amending some sections for direct listing of the listing regulations.

In the listing regulations, 8 to 13 sections are mandated for the direct listing. Currently, the direct listing on the bourse is only allowed for the state-owned companies keeping a bar on applying the sections for private firms.

The present commission bats on the allowing private and multinational firms' enlisting on the bourse under direct listing. But to make it real, the commission and the bourse need to amend some rules and permission from the government.

On 22 June, the bourse sent another proposal to the commission overhauling the section 51, which dictates the delisting of securities. In the amendment proposals, as a part of launching a cleansing campaign to purge the toxic equities and protect investor interests.

Currently, the bourses have a mandate to delist any listed firm that fails to meet listing regulations. However, the existing rules lack a clear outline for the delisting process and investor protection.

The proposals include delisting companies that have remained closed for a prolonged period, failed to pay dividends or failed to hold annual general meetings.

Additionally, the proposals suggest that if directors or owners are found responsible for a company's poor financial condition through a special audit, their assets should be confiscated.

Other proposals include appointing special auditors to determine actual assets, restricting sponsors from obtaining bank loans, and barring them from serving as directors in any other listed company.

The Ministry of Commerce has issued a strong reminder to the Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission (BTTC) over an inordinate delay in submitting an updated feasibility study report required to push forward a proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with MERCOSUR, the South American trade bloc.In an official letter issued recently by the ministry's FTA-4 branch, the BTTC has been directed to submit the long-pending updated report by July 25, 2026.

Official documents show that the commerce ministry initially requested the commission to update and send the feasibility study report on February 2, 2026, to advance formal executions for the high-potential trade pact. However, the ministry received no response or report from the trade watchdog in the intervening five months, prompting the latest official reminder.

Signed by Md. Sirajul Islam, Deputy Controller at the Ministry of Commerce, the urgent notice was forwarded to the Chairman of the BTTC, alongside copies to senior ministry officials, including the Private Secretary to the Commerce Secretary and the personal officers of the Additional Secretary and Joint Secretary overseeing FTA wings.

MERCOSUR-comprising Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay-represents a massive consumer market in South America. Bangladesh has been actively exploring an FTA or a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) with the bloc to diversify its export destinations, particularly for ready-made garments (RMG), and to secure competitive access to crucial commodities like soybean oil, sugar, and corn.

Trade analysts note that bureaucratic bottlenecks and delays in conducting critical feasibility assessments often stall Bangladesh's trade integration efforts. As the country prepares for its graduation from the Least Developed Countries (LDC) status, accelerating bilateral and regional trade pacts like the MERCOSUR FTA is widely deemed essential to cushion against the loss of duty-free market access.

The commerce ministry's strict July 25 deadline underlines growing internal urgency to fast-track trade negotiations as global economic shifts demand swifter execution of international trade policies.

Bangladesh has established a strong foothold in the US and European markets, but it continues to struggle in Japan -- one of the world's largest economies.

Export earnings from Japan have remained trapped between $1 billion and $1.5 billion for the past 11 years.

Even the much-anticipated Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with Japan has yet to deliver the expected boost. Instead, exports have declined.

An analysis of the latest Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data shows Bangladesh exported goods worth $1.36 billion to Japan in the fiscal year ending Jun 30, 2026, down 3.65 percent from the previous year and 18.56 percent below the official target.

Of that total, $1.16 billion came from readymade garments.

In FY2024-25, exports to Japan stood at $1.41 billion, while the interim government had targeted $1.67 billion for FY2025-26.

Bangladesh recorded its highest-ever export earnings from Japan in FY2022-23, when shipments reached $1.45 billion, up 7.1 percent year-on-year. Garments accounted for $1.25 billion of that figure.

Despite repeated government and industry initiatives, exporters have failed to unlock Japan's vast market, where annual apparel demand alone is estimated at $25 billion. Bangladesh supplies only about 5 percent of that market.

A stronger presence in Japan, exporters say, would reinforce Bangladesh's position in global trade.

Muhammad Yunus, who led the interim government after the fall of the Awami League, discussed expanding exports during his visit to Japan in May last year.

That momentum led to Bangladesh signing its first-ever EPA with another country on Feb 6, five days before the national election.

The agreement was signed in Tokyo by then Commerce Advisor Sheikh Bashir Uddin and Japan's State Minister for Foreign Affairs Horii Iwao.

The deal grants duty-free access to 7,379 Bangladeshi products, yet exports have failed to gain momentum. Ironically, Japan remains Bangladesh's largest bilateral development partner.

Former BKMEA president Fazlul Haque told bdnews24.com, "To be honest, we focused far more on the US and European markets. Despite Japan being a huge market, we never gave it enough attention. That failure belongs to both the government and exporters. Had we acted together, exports could have reached $5 billion. Instead, we haven't even crossed $1.5 billion."

Fazlul, also managing director of Plummy Fashions and JCX Knitwears, believes the EPA alone will not transform exports because garments already enjoyed duty-free access.

"The real additional benefit is the single-stage transformation rule," he said.

"Exports won't grow if we sit idle. We must identify what went wrong and redesign our strategy."

BKMEA Executive President Fazlee Shamim Ehsan said Bangladesh must diversify its product basket.

"Japan has strong demand for sportswear. We cannot rely on the same products we sell in Europe and America. We need to supply what Japanese consumers actually want," he said, adding that Japan's quality-conscious fashion market could open new opportunities.

Trade expert Mustafizur Rahman of CPD said the EPA remains strategically important beyond tariffs, covering services, investment and technology.

He said the new single-stage rules of origin would significantly benefit garment exporters, while urging Bangladesh to expand supply capacity, diversify exports and improve competitiveness to maximise duty-free access.

Mustafizur called for a joint public-private strategy to raise exports to $5 billion within five years, including leveraging the Japanese Economic Zone in Araihazar.

RAPID Chairman MA Razzak said the EPA also protects Bangladesh after its graduation from least developed country status, preventing a 10 percent tariff on products currently enjoying duty-free access, while strengthening Bangladesh's trade credentials with other countries.

A big backing comes from the European Union (EU) and the Group of 77 and China (G77) to Bangladesh in its try for smooth, sustainable and irreversible graduation from the least- developed country (LDC) category with extended time.

According to a government news release issued Friday, the assurances came during separate meetings at the United Nations Headquarters between Commerce Minister Khandakar Abdul Muktadir and Head of the European Union Delegation to the United Nations Ambassador Stavros Lambrinidis, and Chair of the Group of 77 and China and Permanent Representative of Uruguay to the United Nations Ambassador Laura Dupuy Lasserre.

The minister was accompanied by State Minister for Planning Zonayed Saki, Economic Relations Division (ERD) Secretary Md Shahriar Kader Siddiky, Bangladesh Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ambassador Salahuddin Noman Chowdhury, Footwear, Leathergoods and Accessories Exporters' Association of Bangladesh (LFMEAB) President Syed Nasim Manzur and Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) President Mahmud Hasan Khan.

During the meetings, the commerce minister explained the rationale behind Bangladesh's request for a three-year extension of the LDC-graduation-preparatory period, citing the country's ongoing economic and political transition, global economic uncertainty, energy challenges and the need to consolidate structural reforms.

He reiterated the government's commitment to strengthening governance, reforming the financial sector, improving infrastructure, enhancing domestic resource mobilisation and creating a more investment-friendly business environment.

"The additional time would help consolidate reforms, remove infrastructure bottlenecks, strengthen industrial competitiveness and ensure that Bangladesh's graduation remains smooth, sustainable and irreversible," the minister was quoted as saying.

Ambassador Lambrinidis has welcomed the government's commitment to good governance and sustainable development and expressed the EU's continued support for Bangladesh's graduation process.

He also welcomed the launch of discussions on a Bangladesh-European Union Free-Trade Agreement (FTA) and stressed the importance of stronger public-private cooperation to facilitate the transition, according to the press release.

Meanwhile, Ambassador Lasserre acknowledged the strength of Bangladesh's case for extending the preparatory period and praised the government's pragmatic reform agenda.

She reaffirmed the G77's support for Bangladesh and proposed a dedicated briefing for G77 member- states on the country's graduation strategy, a proposal welcomed by the Bangladesh delegation.

Following the meetings, the ERD Secretary, Shahriar Kader Siddiky, described the discussions with the EU delegation as "productive", saying that the bloc reiterated its continued support for Bangladesh's smooth, sustainable and irreversible graduation from the world's poor-country club.

The European Union must have bigger banks if the 27-nation bloc wants to catch up with rivals in the United States, Brussels said Friday.

The EU published a report looking at the banking sector as part of its efforts to boost the European economy by unlocking more money for different industries.
Brussels said it wanted to ease rules for the European banking sector including lower capital requirements.In the aftermath of the financial crisis of 2007-2008, a top international banking supervisory authority -- known as the Basel Committee -- set new global standards to ensure banking system stability.But European banks have long criticised the EU’s overzealous application of the rules, which they say put them at a disadvantage compared to foreign banks since they had the rules on top of national regulations.The banks argued this hindered their ability to finance the European economy. US regulators also proposed loosening some capital rules earlier this year.

A senior European official said the EU did not want to weaken the rules, but wanted to apply them “in a way that optimises the benefits for the EU economy”.

“European banks need the opportunity to scale up in their domestic market like the US have,” the official said.

NGO Finance Watch said the EU had the “right diagnosis, wrong remedy”. “Cutting capital requirements would give banks one-time room on their balance sheets. But this does not mean more productive investment in the economy, it means undermining banks’ lending capacity in the future,” Julia Symon of Finance Watch said in a statement.

EU financial services commissioner Maria Luis Albuquerque told journalists the European banking sector was “still too fragmented across national lines”, which “prevents banks from reaching the scale needed to compete globally”.

The report appeared to criticise German objections this year to Italian lender UniCredit’s hostile takeover of Commerzbank.

“Unjustified interventions at the national level too often hinder the ability of EU banks to consolidate,” the EU said without naming any country.

“As a result, those banks are prevented from scaling up at the EU level.”

The EU executive will propose new banking rules in the first half of 2027.

Gold rose on Friday but was on track for its biggest weekly loss in six. This came as escalating US-Iran tensions drove energy prices higher. The situation fuelled inflation fears and reinforced expectations of US interest rate hikes.

Spot gold was up 1 percent at 4,011.29 dollars per ounce by 2:20 p.m. EDT. Prices touched their lowest level since June 30 earlier in the session. They were down around 2.6 percent so far for the week.

US gold futures for August delivery settled 0.7 percent higher at 4,018.80 dollars. The US dollar rose for a second straight session. This made bullion more expensive for overseas buyers.

Chris Gaffney, president of world markets at EverBank, commented on the trend. He said the main drivers of the selloff in gold have been a stronger US dollar and higher global inflation fears.

He added that these factors have sent global interest rates higher. The US escalated its renewed bombing campaign on Iran on Friday. It hit bridges and an airport.

Tehran responded with strikes on US bases across the Middle East. Brent crude oil prices were up around 16 percent for the week following the attacks. Bullion has fallen about 25 percent since the US-backed war began.

The war with Iran started in late February. It has pressured gold by raising expectations that war-driven inflation could keep interest rates higher for longer. While gold is a hedge against inflation, higher rates typically weigh on it.

The non-yielding metal faces pressure from climbing global interest rates. Gaffney said recent data decreased the probability of a rate hike at the next FOMC meeting. However, global interest rates continue to climb.

He noted the recent increase in oil prices could drive the Federal Reserve to take a more hawkish stance on US interest rate policy. Traders see about a 58 percent chance of a US interest rate hike in September.

This calculation is according to the CME FedWatch Tool. On Thursday, Fed Vice Chair Philip Jefferson suggested he would be open to raising rates. This would happen if there was no near-term improvement in inflation.

Goldman Sachs said in a note that gold’s share in private portfolios remains low. It added that recent geopolitical developments, including Iran and broader tensions, may accelerate diversification.

Boeing projected Friday a global commercial fleet of 50,000 planes in 2045, more than 90 percent of which will be more fuel-efficient “new-generation” aircraft.

That compares with today’s global fleet of 28,000 airplanes, reflecting higher long-term demand due to economic growth and additional travel routes. Plane manufacturers must build nearly 44,000 new planes over the next two decades to meet new growth and replace older planes, according to Boeing’s new annual forecast.The figures, released ahead of next week’s Farnborough Air Show in Britain, are similar to those in Boeing’s 2025 outlook, which also highlighted favorable travel demand dynamics in light of rising GDP.In 2045, an estimated 92 percent of the fleet will have the environmental benefits of the newer fleet, estimated to use about 20 percent less fuel. About 32 percent of today’s fleet is composed of new-generation aircraft.

This year “isn’t going commercially from an industry airline perspective like I think a lot of us expected coming into 2026,” Boeing Vice President of Commercial Marketing Darren Hulst said at a briefing.

“However ... the fundamentals for air travel and demand for air travel are completely intact,” he added.

Hulst now expects 2026 travel demand to be “about half or even a little bit less” than what was expected heading into the year.

Boeing was surprised at how quickly airlines rerouted traffic from the Middle East to other markets due to the conflict, Hulst said.

“We saw, for example, passengers using hubs in Europe or Asia, or in some cases even North America, to transit their long-haul travel patterns,” said Hulst.

Between 2026 and 2045, Boeing’s forecast projects four percent annual passenger traffic growth and 2.5 percent global economic growth.

As with last year, Boeing’s outlook highlights the gap between new plane production and demand in light of supply chain difficulties since the Covid-19 pandemic.

Hulst said this “deficit” will probably not clear for single-aisle planes until the end of the 2020s and will go into the early 2030s for widebody jets.

The country's premier bourse maintained its robust recovery for another week as the benchmark index successfully reclaimed the psychological 5,900-point threshold for the first time in 22 months.

Driven by high expectations of market-friendly regulatory reforms and a significant spike in liquidity, the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) saw its market capitalisation swell by Tk7,000 crore over the last five trading sessions.

The benchmark DSEX index gained 96 points, or 1.65%, to settle the week at 5,900. This marks the highest closing for the broad index since August 2024. The blue-chip DS30 index also mirrored the bullish trend, advancing by 49 points to close at 2,227.Market breadth remained in favour of the bulls, with 216 issues posting gains against 155 decliners, while 18 scrips remained unchanged.

According to the weekly market review by EBL Securities, the rally was underpinned by sustained investor confidence in a series of capital market development initiatives and a constructive near-term outlook. The week opened on a strong note, fueled by optimism over potential revisions to margin loan rules and measures to enhance market velocity through faster trade settlement cycles and the introduction of scrip netting (intraday trading) facilities. These factors pushed the daily turnover above the Tk1,600 crore mark during the peak of the week's trading.

Market participation saw a healthy rise, with the daily average turnover increasing by 6.58% to reach Tk1,474 crore, compared to Tk1,383 crore in the previous week.

Analysts at Sheltech Brokerage Limited noted that the performance was primarily dictated by investors' continued buying interest, particularly in blue-chip stocks. Although a bout of profit-taking emerged during the final session of the week, it only served to moderate the gains rather than derail the recovery momentum, as buying conviction remained resilient across the floor.

On the sectoral front, trading activity was most concentrated in the general insurance and textile sectors, each accounting for 13.3% of the total weekly turnover, followed by the pharmaceutical sector at 10.6%.

In terms of returns, the cement sector emerged as the star performer with a 7.1% gain, followed by mutual funds and the tannery sector, both rising by 5%.

Conversely, the information technology sector faced a correction of 2.0%, while the paper and travel sectors also saw marginal declines.

Individual stock performance was highlighted by Renwick Jajneswar, which led the gainers' list with a 27.3% price surge, followed by Sharp Industries and Golden Jubilee Mutual Fund.

On the liquidity front, Lovello Ice-cream, Malek Spinning, Bangladesh Shipping Corporation, BRAC Bank, and LafargeHolcim Bangladesh were the most sought-after stocks of the week.

On the losing side, Sunlife Insurance faced the steepest decline, shedding 13.5%, followed by Shurwid Industries and Sonargaon Textile.

The Middle East conflict may push 1.2 million more people into poverty in Bangladesh, according to a new report of UNICEF on Thursday. L

Up to 23.4 million additional children could fall into monetary poverty by the end of the year, as ongoing tensions in the Middle East and related shipping disruptions continue to have a damaging and potentially irreversible impact on children, it added.

"Across Bangladesh, the rising cost of staple foods such as rice, lentils, cooking oil, vegetables, fish and poultry, is putting increasing pressure on families, and an estimated 1.2 million more people could fall into poverty," said the UN agency.

The impact of the war in the Middle East on children in monetarily poor households draws on data from over 167 countries and highlights how rising food and energy prices, and broader economic shocks resulting from escalating hostilities - including disruptions linked to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz - are eroding what households can afford to buy. Children in the poorest households are disproportionately affected.

"Children are paying the price for the escalating conflict in the Middle East, including children far beyond the region," said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell.

"The longer this continues, the worse the consequences will be. Rapidly rising costs are making food and education unaffordable for many families. For children already living in poverty, these shocks deepen deprivation and can cause harm that lasts a lifetime," Russell continued.

The report examined two possible scenarios: adverse and severe poverty.

The adverse scenario reflects a moderate economic shock that could push an additional 18.3 million children into monetary poverty, while the severe scenario assumes stronger, more prolonged disruptions to prices and economic activity and projects that 23.4 million additional children could be pushed into monetary poverty if the war continues.

The analysis showed that child monetary poverty is highly sensitive to macroeconomic shocks. Increasing food and energy costs, combined with limited fiscal space in many countries, are directly reducing families' ability to meet basic needs.

The largest proportions of the global increase in monetary poverty are in Asia and Africa, with the two regions accounting for around 80 per cent of the total increase. Both continents reflect high baseline poverty rates and high vulnerability to external shocks.

UNICEF is calling on national governments, donor governments, and international financial institutions to protect children from the worst impacts of the crisis.

Shares of Al-Arafah Islami Bank and Peoples Leasing and Financial Services rose sharply today (16 July) as investors reacted positively to news of board restructurings, which many hope will restore operational efficiency and improve governance.

Defying a broader market correction, Al-Arafah gained 7.45% to close at Tk17.3, while Peoples Leasing climbed 8.33% to Tk1.3 on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE).

The rally in Al-Arafah Islami Bank shares followed a major decision by Bangladesh Bank. On Wednesday, the central bank appointed 14 new directors to the bank's board, expanding it from five to 19 members.

The move effectively allows Al-Arafah's founding shareholders to regain control after nearly a year under a board dominated by five independent directors appointed in August 2024 following a political transition and regulatory intervention.

At the same time, Peoples Leasing informed the bourses that its board had given in-principle approval to a proposal to bring back its original sponsors.

During its board meeting, the company noted it had received expressions of interest (EOIs) from certain sponsor shareholders willing to be included in the board.

The management has decided to forward the matter to the High Court Division of the Supreme Court for final consideration and appropriate orders, a step viewed by the market as a potential move toward stabilising the scam-hit institution.

Despite the gains in the two financial stocks, the broader market ended lower as the benchmark DSEX index fell 25 points to close at 5,900, snapping a five-day winning streak. The blue-chip DS30 index also dropped 15 points to finish at 2,227.

Market analysts from EBL Securities noted that the capital bourse retraced into a corrective phase as persistent intraday selling across major scrips exerted sustained downward pressure. While the market opened with some volatility, profit-taking in recently appreciated stocks gathered momentum throughout the session, dragging the majority of scrips into negative territory.

Market participation also saw a significant contraction, with daily turnover dropping by 26% to stand at Tk1,118 crore.

The market breadth remained bearish, with 240 issues declining compared to 103 that advanced, while 52 remained unchanged.

On the liquidity front, Techno Drugs emerged as the most traded stock, followed by Summit Alliance Port and Malek Spinning.

Among individual stocks, Techno Drugs and Global Heavy Chemical were also among the day's top gainers, alongside the rallying financial institutions. Usmania Glass and Zeal Bangla Sugar, meanwhile, ranked among the session's biggest losers.

The DSE brokers association of Bangladesh (DBA) has welcomed the steps of the capital market regulator to amend the margin rules, 2025, calling it a realistic and market-friendly move for the country's capital market.

In a press release today (18 July), the association said under the leadership of BSEC Chairman Masud Khan, the regulatory body is actively pursuing updates to the policy, drawing praise from capital market stakeholders.

The DBA believes that the amended margin rules will help establish a balanced, modern, and forward-looking regulatory framework, which will play a crucial role in the orderly, transparent, and sustainable development of Bangladesh's capital market.
The DBA expressed hope that the draft of the amended margin rules will soon be published for public opinion. After reviewing the draft, the DBA will submit its detailed feedback and recommendations to the Commission if necessary.DBA President Saiful Islam stated that the DBA fully supports the reform activities undertaken by the BSEC to make Bangladesh's capital market stronger, more modern, and investor-friendly.

"The DBA remains ready to work closely with the BSEC in all necessary reform activities for the development of the country's capital market in the future," he said.

In an official statement, the DBA expressed deep appreciation for a stakeholders' meeting organised by the BSEC on 13 July. The meeting brought together representatives from both the DBA and the Bangladesh Merchant Bankers Association (BMBA).

Capital market leaders praised the chairman and the BSEC commissioners for listening to their proposals, suggestions, and operational concerns regarding the draft framework.

According to the DBA, the market regulator's reassurance that stakeholder feedback will be integrated into the reform process signals a highly positive, market-friendly approach. The association believes that the upcoming revised Margin Rules will pave the way for a modern, balanced, and sustainable regulatory framework, crucial for ensuring long-term transparency and orderly development in Bangladesh's capital market.

On 14 July, the BSEC approved draft amendments to the Margin Rules, 2025, relaxing several restrictive provisions introduced last November to improve market liquidity and make margin lending more accessible.

The volume of foreign grants received by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) operating in Bangladesh hit a seven-year high of US$838.25 million in the last fiscal year (FY) 2025-26.

The amount was 5.46-percent higher than that of the previous fiscal, according to the NGO Affairs Bureau data.

Previously, NGOs operating in the country received $955.35 million worth of grant in FY2018-19, the highest annual disbursement in recent years, according to the data, which was sent to the Economic Relations Division (ERD) by the Bureau.

Meanwhile, the volume of fresh grant commitments through NGOs surged 44.62 per cent year-on-year to a record $1.15 billion in FY 2025-26, the highest ever annual commitment since the bureau began maintaining records.

In contrast, the availability of inward foreign grants for government-implemented development projects showed a downward trend in recent years, with both its disbursements and commitments showing lower than that of NGOs, the official data revealed.

The ERD secured foreign grant commitments amounting to $158.78 million during the first 11 months of FY 2025-26, reflecting a 58.32 per cent fall from that of $380.98 million in the matching period of the previous fiscal year.

Although the disbursements of grants for government projects rose 14.31 per cent year-on-year to $433.81 million during the July-May period, the amount was nearly half of the $838.25 million released in the entire fiscal year 2024-25.

The trend in the inward foreign grant reflected a major shift of channelising grants from government projects to NGO-run ones in the past decade.

Foreign grants received by the government-run projects were nearly double that of NGOs in consecutive three fiscal years starting from 2001, official figures showed.

The government projects maintained their dominance in the receipts of foreign grants until FY2013, while NGOs became the dominant channel from FY2014.

However, their gap started widening sharply in FY2018-19 and FY 2019-20 when NGO receipts were more than three times higher than that of government projects, according to the data.

Although the amounts of grants received by the government projects exceeded NGOs' receipts in FY2023-24 and FY 2024-25, the trend reversed in FY 2025-26, with the grants received by NGOs reaching $838.25 million during the first 11 months of the fiscal year.

The government projects received nearly $433.81 million worth of grants during the July-November period of last fiscal, according to the data.

Huarun Tex Co Ltd, a Chinese company, will invest $30 million to build a textile manufacturing plant at the Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (Bepza) Economic Zone in Mirsharai, Chattogram.

The factory will be built on a 36,000-square-metre site, according to a press release.

Once operational, it will produce 24,000 tonnes of yarn and 20 million metres of grey woven fabric each year, creating jobs for 580 Bangladeshi nationals.

Bepza and Huarun Tex signed a land lease agreement on July 16 at the Bepza Complex in Dhaka.

The agreement was signed by Md Tanvir Hossain, member (investment promotion) of Bepza, and Bin Wang, managing director of Huarun Tex, on behalf of their respective organisations.

Mohammad Moazzem Hossain, executive chairman of Bepza, thanked Huarun Tex for choosing Bangladesh, particularly the Bepza Economic Zone, for its investment.

He said Bepza is committed to providing a safe, modern and business-friendly environment for investors and assured the company of full support to ensure smooth operations.

Senior Bepza officials, including Abdullah Al Mamun, member (engineering), and ANM Foyzul Haque, member (finance), attended the signing ceremony along with representatives of Huarun Tex.

Bengal Biscuits Limited, listed on the SME board of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, has recommended a 10% cash dividend for all shareholders for the financial year ended 30 June 2025.

The decision was approved during a board meeting held on 15 July, where the company finalised its audited financial statements for the fiscal year 2024-2025.

According to the disclosed financial statements on the Dhaka bourse, the company's net profit after tax rose to Tk2.24 crore, up from Tk2.07 crore recorded in FY24. Concurrently, its earnings per share (EPS) increased to Tk2.83, compared to Tk2.61 in FY24.

The company's net asset value (NAV) per share also improved significantly, reaching Tk15.90 by the end of June 2025, up from Tk 4.07 in the prior year. However, its net operating cash flow per share (NOCFPS) witnessed a decline, dropping to Tk4.48 in FY25 from Tk5.94 in FY24.

Bengal Biscuits has set 6 August, as the record date for the entitlement of the recommended dividend. The company's annual general meeting (AGM) is scheduled to take place on 3 September.

The company got listed on the SME platform in 2021 from the over the counter (OTC). Its shares closed 4.63% lower at Tk82 on Thursday.

According to the shareholding report as of June, sponsors and directors hold 29.64% shares in the company, while 9.36% by the institutional investors and the remaining 61% held by public shareholders.