Shrimp exporter Apex Foods Limited reported that its profit in the 2025-26 fiscal year jumped more than 121% year-on-year, driven by higher revenue compared with the previous fiscal year.

At the end of June 2026, Apex Foods' earnings per share (EPS) rose to Tk14.21, while its net profit stood at Tk8.10 crore, up significantly from Tk3.61 crore in FY25. The board of Apex Foods recommended a 20% cash dividend for shareholders, amounting to Tk2 per share.

Despite the sharp increase in profitability, the company kept its dividend payout unchanged from FY25, when it also paid a 20% cash dividend.

Following the annual corporate declaration, Apex Foods' share price soared 19% to Tk311.50 per share on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) today (5 October).

According to regulatory orders, the daily circuit breaker limit for listed securities priced below Tk200 is usually 10%, while for those priced between Tk200 and Tk500, it is 8.75%.

As circuit breaker limits are relaxed on the day of an annual corporate declaration, Apex Foods traded without price restrictions, allowing its share price to jump more than 19%, or Tk51 per share.

According to its financial reports, Apex Foods reported an EPS of Tk4.45 in the first nine months of FY26, up to March, while revenue reached Tk237 crore – a 40% increase from the same period of the previous fiscal year.

Based on the published data, the company earned an EPS of Tk9.76 in the final three months of FY26 alone.

Regarding the significant increase in profitability and EPS, the company said the growth in FY26 was primarily driven by higher revenue.

However, as the company has not yet published its full annual report, the exact growth in annual revenue remains unconfirmed.

In addition to the rise in EPS, the company recorded a significant rebound in net operating cash flow per share (NOCFPS).

According to price-sensitive information released by the company, its NOCFPS surged to Tk64.89 at the end of FY26, recovering from a negative Tk59.16 in FY25.

The company said the improvement in cash flow was mainly due to higher revenue collections during FY26 compared with the previous year, although cash flow conditions may vary over time depending on external factors.

Its net asset value (NAV) per share also increased significantly to Tk241.97 as of June 2026, driven by an appreciation in the share prices of its investments.

The Annual General Meeting (AGM) is scheduled for 26 November via a digital platform, while the record date for identifying eligible shareholders has been fixed for 27 October.

Middle East oil exports, excluding Iran, surpassed their pre-war levels last week, despite attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz, according to data from the maritime tracking firm Kpler.

For the first time since the US and Israel launched their offensive against Iran at the end of February, the weekly average of shipments rose for several days above the pre-conflict average of 18 million barrels per day.

Crude oil exports reached pre-war levels in September, with at least 16.5 million barrels leaving the region excluding Iran, Kpler said on Wednesday.

"Forty percent now bypass Hormuz, and most crude crossing the strait changes tankers offshore," Kpler said, adding that most of the oil flowed through Saudi and United Arab Emirates pipelines.

These figures include flows via the Red Sea, a route increasingly used to bypass the blockade Iran is attempting to impose on Hormuz -- where around a fifth of the world's petroleum supplies crossed before the conflict.

Iran still claims control over the strait, and ships without its authorisation risk coming under attack, but more and more are making it out, and alternative routes meant to bypass the waterway are operating at full capacity.

Despite the rebound, experts stressed that the situation was far from normal, and Iran remains deprived of a large share of its own exports by a US counterblockade of its ports.

Saudi Arabia is benefiting from the reactivation of its East–West pipeline, which links the kingdom's main oil fields in the east to its Yanbu terminal on the Red Sea, allowing it to bypass Hormuz.

Shut down on September 11 after being hit by strikes launched from Iraq, the pipeline resumed operations on September 22, Amena Bakr, an analyst at Kpler said last week.

The United Arab Emirates is also able to bypass Hormuz thanks to its pipeline linking Abu Dhabi's fields to Fujairah, a terminal just outside the strait on the Gulf of Oman.

Around 0310 GMT on Monday, Brent North Sea crude for December delivery fell 0.79 percent to $101.44 a barrel.

Its US counterpart, West Texas Intermediate for November delivery, dropped 1.20 percent to $90.02.

Stocks on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) plunged today (5 October) as risk-averse investors dumped holdings across the board, extending the broad market's losing streak to a third consecutive session amid macroeconomic concerns and caution ahead of dividend declarations.

The benchmark DSEX index fell 37 points to settle at 5,445, its lowest level of the day. The blue-chip DS30 index, comprising financially sound companies, also dropped 3 points to close at 2,081. Daily turnover on the exchange declined slightly to Tk537 crore.

Market participants attributed the persistent weakness to anxiety surrounding the upcoming earnings and dividend announcements of June-ending listed firms, alongside broader macroeconomic uncertainties that kept investors firmly on the defensive.

In its daily market review, EBL Securities said the ailing capital market witnessed another session of heavy selling pressure as investors remained cautious ahead of the corporate earnings season. Persistent domestic challenges kept investors defensive, limiting prospects for a sustainable near-term recovery.

The review added that the broad index remained on a downward trajectory from the opening bell as broad-based selling swept across the trading floor, underscoring pervasive risk aversion.

Brokerage firm Sheltech Brokerage Limited noted that market performance was weighed down by sustained selling pressure and cautious sentiment over the June-ending companies' fiscal-year disclosures, alongside concerns about a recessionary macroeconomic outlook. Heavy selling persisted throughout the session, dragging the benchmark index to its intraday low of 5,445 points, where it closed.

Market breadth remained heavily skewed towards decliners, with 284 issues falling, while 54 advanced and 48 remained unchanged on the DSE floor.

The downward movement was heavily driven by major large-cap stocks, with Islami Bank, Beximco Pharma, United Commercial Bank, Malek Spinning, and One Bank emerging as the primary index draggers for the session.

On the sectoral front, trading activity was heavily concentrated in the textile sector, which accounted for 29.5% of total daily turnover. The pharmaceuticals sector followed with a 13.1% contribution, while general insurance held 10.5%.

Most sectors posted negative returns for the day, with the ceramic sector suffering the steepest correction at 3.4%, followed by IT at 2.8% and general insurance at 2.2%.

Among individual equities, Paramount Textile, Saiham Textile, Apex Foods, Acme Pesticides, and IPDC Finance dominated the turnover table as the day's top-traded stocks.

Apex Foods led the gainers' chart with a sharp rally of 19.57%, followed by Shyampur Sugar, which jumped 8.63%, and Zeal Bangla Sugar, which gained 7.86%. ICB Sonali Bank 1st Mutual Fund rose 6.57%, while Intraco Refueling Station advanced 5.88%.

Conversely, Techno Drugs emerged as the worst performer of the session, plunging 9.82%, closely followed by Zahintex Industries, which shed 6.32%. Fareast Knitting fell 5.60%, BD Thai Food declined 5.31%, and Aman Feed dropped 5.29%.

The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also ended lower in tandem with the capital's bourse. The CSCX index surrendered 32 points to close at 8,971, while the All Share Price Index (CASPI) dropped 40 points to settle at 14,620.

India is working to emerge from China’s shadow while improving diplomatic relations, but the more the world’s most populous country pushes, the more apparent its dependence on its wealthier neighbour becomes.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in New Delhi last month, Xi's first visit to the subcontinent in seven years. The two leaders pledged to rebuild ties badly damaged by deadly hand-to-hand troop clashes in 2020 on their shared but ill-defined Himalayan border.

There are other signs of warming relations since the two Asian giants last year agreed to end the military standoff. Direct flights between Indian and Chinese cities have resumed after being suspended since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, and visa services in China have expanded. But such measures only go so far.

Long-standing trade dependence and strategic mistrust will not be addressed with handshakes and plane flights. The two Asian giants’ economic relationship remains deeply asymmetric. China's share of global value-added manufacturing stood at 28 percent in 2025, dwarfing India's 3 percent, according to the World Bank.

The export picture is just as lopsided for India. China’s 16.3 percent share of global merchandise exports in 2025 massively surpasses India’s 1.7 percent. Moreover, India imported goods worth $116 billion more from China than it exported in 2025. By August this year, the deficit had already hit $91 billion and was on track to surpass last year's record.

CAPTIVE SUPPLY CHAINS

The problem is not only that India imports more from China. It is also that many of those imports are indispensable to Indian industry. Electrical and electronic equipment, machinery, and chemicals – the three largest import categories – are largely intermediate goods used by domestic manufacturers.

The more India exports, the more it needs to import from China. Smartphones and generic medicines illustrate the dilemma. India has made progress in assembling electronics and expanding pharmaceutical production, but many of the components and inputs needed for both sectors still come from China.

This intense reliance has many broad strategic implications. For example, Beijing's imposition of export licensing requirements on seven heavy rare earths in April 2025 exposed vulnerabilities in India’s automotive and defense manufacturing sectors.

Of course, some of India’s manufacturing weakness is primarily homegrown. The country’s research and development spending stood at just 0.64 percent of gross domestic product in 2024, according to the most recent Economic Survey, sharply lower than that of Asian peers, partly because of private-sector underinvestment.

Skilled-labour shortages compound the problem. Foxconn's withdrawal of Chinese staff from its Indian iPhone factories in 2025 illustrated how dependent advanced manufacturing can be on foreign technical expertise.

INDIA’S FIXES

New Delhi is seeking to address the imbalance. India recently relaxed restrictions on foreign direct investment from Chinese companies, allowing them to take up to a 10 percent stake in Indian firms.

The government simultaneously announced fast-track clearance of investment proposals in five high-technology areas within 60 days, with the stipulation that they must be structured as joint ventures with majority Indian ownership.

On top of this, Indian exports to China rose by 40 percent between April and August. Industrial machinery, automotive components, printed circuit boards, smartphones and other electronics have driven much of that increase.

But the export surge should not be mistaken for a fundamental shift in the relationship. Much of India's electronics growth still depends on imported Chinese components.

Smartphone manufacturing — India’s biggest export success story — remains only 18-20 percent locally sourced. Northeast Asia’s AI boom appears to be generating positive spillovers for the subcontinent, with Indian firms picking up sub-component work from Chinese tech giants facing surging hardware demand.

But, again, this dynamic reinforces the centrality of Chinese supply chains.

TRUST DEFICIT PERSISTS

For India-bound Chinese FDI and technology transfer to materialise, one question needs to be answered: what does India bring to the table?

The obvious answers are access to a large market and a young, low-cost labour pool as well as New Delhi's various incentives to spur industrial growth — including tax breaks, production-linked payouts, and capital subsidies — but China doesn't appear to be taking the bait.

China’s pressure on its leading companies to withhold critical technologies illustrates how protective Beijing is about its most sophisticated capabilities — electric vehicles, batteries, solar energy and electronic equipment.

Meanwhile, the 3,800-km disputed border in the Himalayas continues to cast a shadow over the relationship. A gradual, multi-year stabilisation strategy is in place — diplomats met in Beijing in August pledging a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable settlement — but a final resolution doesn't appear imminent.

For now, both governments appear willing to give economic cooperation more room. But India's challenge is not simply to import less from China.

It is to use renewed engagement with its neighbour to build its own domestic capabilities. Until then, the relationship between Asia’s two largest economies will remain decidedly one-sided.

The depository authority has developed a mobile app that can instantly help investors become aware of any unauthorised transaction in their portfolios.

Currently, the Central Depository Bangladesh Ltd (CDBL) is conducting a test run of the app, intending to make it available and accessible through a formal inauguration shortly.

As a legal authority, the core function of the CDBL is to hold, record, transfer, and settle securities electronically, rather than rely on physical share certificates. So, an investor’s shareholding position recorded by the CDBL is the actual position of their assets.

However, brokers generate portfolio statements for their clients, using their back-office software.

According to insiders, brokers seeking undue profits sell securities from clients’ portfolios without their consent when they see a sudden upward trend in the market. Those portfolios may be adjusted when the market goes in reverse. There is a risk of brokers failing to repurchase securities to adjust portfolios. Whether brokers do adjust or not, selling clients’ assets without their permission is an unlawful act.

Several brokers, including Moshihor Securities and Tamha Securities, embezzled investors’ securities and kept them in the dark by providing them with fabricated statements that showed their assets intact. Later, regulatory scrutiny unveiled the scams committed by those brokers.

Such scams will be preventable with the help of the app that the CDBL has developed.

If a portfolio statement provided by a broker does not match with that of the CDBL app, the investor will know that unauthorised sales of his securities have taken place at the broker’s end.

Md. Abdul Mutaleb, managing director of the CDBL, said investors will be able to see his portfolio updated whenever any transaction will be made, using the app.

“After the ongoing test run, the app will be made available to investors. The app will add value to the CDBL’s services to investors,” said Mr. Mutaleb.

Another feature of the CDBL’s app will help investors know the valuation of his individual scrips and overall portfolio value as per the latest market price.

After being registered with the app, investors will see information pop up at the top of the app in their devices whenever any change happens in their portfolios.

Information regarding any corporate action linked to the disbursement of dividends will also be available through the app.

After the launch of the app, investors will be able to download it on their iPhones or android mobile sets. They will have the scope of making corrections relating to personal information, such as NID, bank accounts and addresses.

Moreover, the app will enable investors to open BO (beneficiary owner’s) accounts without the need to go to brokerage firms.

The CDBL has already applied to the Election Commission (EC), seeking an API (Application Programming Interface) connection to verify NIDs.

Once the connection is forged, CDBL officials said, investors themselves will be able to open BO accounts by verifying NID on the app.

China’s decision to suspend fuel exports for October has raised fresh fears of a further tightening in global markets. But a combination of rebounding crude oil imports and recent tax cuts on fuel exports makes India well-placed to fill the void.

India has the world’s fourth-largest refinery system, with 23 refineries capable of processing roughly 5.6 million barrels per day of crude oil, Indian state data show.

That refining footprint compares with more than 18 million bpd capacity in China and the US and roughly 6.7 million bpd of capacity in Russia, according to the Energy Institute, and traditionally makes India a key fuel supplier to a slew of Asian economies.

India is also the consistently larger fuel exporter compared to China, with India’s combined shipments of diesel, gasoline and jet fuel hitting roughly 47 million metric tons in 2025 compared with China’s 25.4 million tons, data from Kpler showed.

However, India’s combined exports of diesel, gasoline and jet fuel over the first nine months of 2026 have contracted by roughly 23 percent, or nearly 8 million metric tons, from a year earlier.

The US-Israeli war on Iran has triggered steep cuts to oil supplies from the Middle East since late February, while sparking fuel and oil rationing across most major economies – including India – for the past several months.

The Indian government also raised duties on fuel exports in the wake of the Iran war, ensuring that the country’s refiners were dissuaded from shipping too much fuel overseas while domestic supplies were at risk of depletion.

But the outlook for India’s fuel exports is starting to brighten following two consecutive cuts to fuel-export taxes, which boost the appeal of steering more fuel onto the export arena.

A steep rebound in Middle Eastern crude oil exports is likely a major driver behind the easing of India’s fuel-export taxes.

India has traditionally sourced around 45 percent to 50 percent of its crude oil from the Middle East, with around 9.4 million metric tons of Middle Eastern oil arriving in India each month in 2025, Kpler data showed.

But the war in Iran, which kicked off in late February, resulted in India’s average oil imports from the Middle East dropping to less than 6 million tons a month from March through July.

That in turn triggered a broader tightening in India’s oil reserves and prompted stepped-up oil imports from other origins, which cost more and took longer to reach India’s refineries.

Oil flows from the Middle East have now started to recover, however, with deliveries to India in September topping 11.3 million tons, Kpler data showed.

That is India’s highest monthly oil haul from the Middle East since February and has restored confidence among Indian officials that fuel exports can start to be elevated again.

The top destinations for Indian fuel exports in 2025 were the United Arab Emirates, Australia, Tanzania, Singapore and South Africa, Kpler data showed.

With tanker traffic through and around the Strait of Hormuz still impacted by the Iran conflict, Indian fuel exporters will presumably prioritize shipments to other markets which are not impacted by the war’s fallout.

Singapore and Australia are obvious candidates for stepped-up shipments from India over the near term, given their established track records of being regular and reliable buyers of Indian fuels.

But with China expected to be out of the market for the next few weeks at least, Indian fuel sellers will likely also be able to target markets such as Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines, which used to be heavily reliant on China for much of their fuel inputs.

If Indian refiners can successfully step up supplies to needy buyers just as China steps back from the export market, India could establish itself as one of the world’s most important marginal suppliers of refined fuels.

That role has traditionally belonged to China, whose vast refining system has long acted as a pressure valve for regional fuel markets.

But Beijing’s repeated willingness to curb exports in favour of domestic energy security means that fuel importers can no longer assume Chinese barrels will be available when shortages emerge.

India is increasingly offering an alternative.

Its refiners are highly export-oriented, its links with Middle Eastern crude suppliers are strengthening again and policymakers now appear more comfortable with allowing a greater share of fuel production to reach international markets.

China’s export suspension may prove temporary.

The larger significance is that global fuel markets are being forced to identify who can step in when China steps back.

With crude supplies recovering, export restrictions easing and spare refining capacity available, India looks better positioned than any other country to fill that role.

For fuel consumers across Asia, that could make India more than just a major exporter.

It could make India the new swing supplier that helps keep regional energy markets balanced during periods of disruption.

France and Germany have proposed ​that the European ‌Union toughen itself up with a new measure ​that could be ​activated rapidly to strike ⁠back against countries ​that harm the bloc ​economically in a new world where trade is increasingly ​used as a ​weapon.

The new measure would not ‌target ⁠any specific country. German officials said the EU needed a ​tool ​as ⁠powerful as the Section 301 tariffs ​imposed by the ​United ⁠States or China's restrictions on exports of ⁠critical ​minerals.

The US dollar will give up most of its recent gains over the coming year according to FX strategists polled by Reuters who made only minor revisions to long-held weak dollar views despite a rally of more than 3 percent in the greenback since early September.
But asked which was more likely in the near term, an 80 percent majority said the currency was likelier to beat their three-month forecasts than fall short, suggesting the potency of the dollar's recent rise as global bond markets convulse may be starting to sink in.

The greenback has been boosted in recent weeks by a September Federal Reserve interest-rate hike. At one point rate futures markets priced nearly four more. Treasuries also suffered their worst sell-off since 1994 last quarter with both 10- and 30-year yields climbing to near-25-year highs this week.

But FX strategists, who have underestimated the dollar's strength in their three-month forecasts for nine straight months, again held to their bearish view in the September 30-October 2 poll. Median views from nearly 70 forecasters put the euro at $1.14 in a month, up 1 percent, and $1.15 in both three and six months, up about 3 percent, before $1.16 in a year.
"The dollar can remain a little bit on the stronger side in the very near term....But beyond that in a six-month to one-year horizon, we are still in a bearish-dollar regime," said Jayati Bharadwaj, head of FX strategy at TD Securities.

FED RATE VIEW IN DRIVER'S SEAT

Much of the dollar's strength traces back to Fed Chair Kevin Warsh's focus on bringing down inflation, which has run above the Fed's 2 percent target for over five years. Oil stuck above $100 a barrel has compounded the problem as the US-Israeli war on Iran, now in its eighth month, shows no sign of ending.

But TD's Bharadwaj, like others in the survey, expects the Fed to hike less than markets are pricing. Kenneth Broux, head of corporate research for FX and rates at Societe Generale, sees the dollar sliding only once higher rates slow the US economy, which grew at a far-above-consensus 2.2 percent annualised rate in the second quarter.

YEARS OF WEAK DOLLAR BIAS

Reuters Polls data show FX forecasters have called for dollar weakness on the 6-12 month horizon for at least half a decade, getting it wrong as a group most of the time over the last two years of monthly polls.

Paul Mackel, global head of FX research at HSBC, among the few forecasters to call the stronger dollar correctly this year, sees the currency extending gains so long as markets expect the Fed to keep raising rates.

"The dollar is once again looking like the cleanest dirty shirt," he said, expecting strength at least through the first half of 2027.

Mackel rejected the consensus view of eventual weakness, saying forecasters have long carried a bias the currency must fall, relying on a framework that overlooks the side of the story tied to short-term interest rates and the resilience of the US economy.

"There's an underlying bias in the market that's gone on for decades against the dollar and it often is based on...valuation models that show it's expensive," added Shahab Jalinoos, head of G10 FX research at UBS, another to have caught on to the strong-dollar trend early.

If the US consistently sees capital inflows and has consistently strong equity markets and foreign interest in its markets, that creates demand for dollars that maybe some of these more trade-focused models miss.

The capital market regulator plans to cut the approval time for initial public offerings (IPOs) to three months from nearly 18 months, Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) Chairman Masud Khan said today (4 October).

Several quality companies, including a foreign-owned firm, are also expected to submit IPO applications soon, he said, expressing hope that the prolonged drought in new listings will end.

"We cannot allow the IPO drought to continue," Masud said, adding that the BSEC has identified complexities in the existing process and taken initiatives to reform the rules.

He was speaking at the opening of a weeklong programme organised by the BSEC in line with the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO)'s World Investor Week at the Krishibid Institution Bangladesh auditorium in Dhaka.

Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury attended the event as chief guest. Tanvir Shahriar Ghani, special assistant to the prime minister for investment and capital market affairs; Financial Institutions Division Secretary Nazma Mobarek; and Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority (IDRA) Chairman Mir Nadia Nivin also attended.

Masud said the proposed new IPO rules would streamline the process after applications are submitted. The BSEC, Dhaka Stock Exchange and Chittagong Stock Exchange would coordinate their processes to reduce approval time.

Direct listing for top-tier firms

The BSEC chairman said direct listing would also be introduced to attract large local and multinational companies to the capital market.

"Companies will have the option to come through IPOs or direct listing. We are keeping both options open," he said.

Masud also highlighted measures taken since the current commission assumed office, including withdrawing floor prices, restructuring the Beximco board, deregulation and empowering the DSE.

Focus on digitalisation, investor protection

Masud said greater use of digital technology is needed to strengthen investor protection and restore market confidence.

The commission is working to bring brokerage houses' back-office software under an integrated system with real-time connectivity. This would allow regulators to access information on brokers' accounts and funds held in their bank accounts, he said.

The BSEC is also working to introduce an order management system and replace physical slips with automated processes.

The commission is taking steps to expedite the disposal of investor complaints and cases, Masud said.

Necessary amendments to securities laws and ordinances have been finalised and sent to the ministry for approval.

Bond market, institutional investment

Masud said the BSEC has approved bonds worth nearly Tk3,000 crore since the new commission took charge, with issuers required to list on the main board of stock exchanges.

"Developing the bond market requires an effective link with the stock market," he said, adding that the commission is working to expand markets for corporate, green and other bonds.

He also said there was significant scope to increase institutional investment in Bangladesh's capital market.

Policy initiatives would be considered to allow part of the funds held by pension and gratuity funds and insurance companies to be invested in corporate bonds and equities, he said.

Masud described the insurance sector as a potentially major source of investment for the capital market and stressed the need to develop the largely inactive sector. He also called for greater focus on the mutual fund industry.

Reforms to strengthen market

Tanvir Shahriar said the BSEC had undertaken wide-ranging reforms to ensure sustainable market development, investor protection and alignment with international standards.

"The positive results of these reforms will become visible in the stock market within the next 12 months," he said.

Tanvir said the commission had been taking initiatives in line with IOSCO's mission since assuming office four months ago. It is also monitoring indicators such as market capitalisation-to-GDP and average daily turnover to assess market conditions.

Insurance sector can become major investor

IDRA Chairman Nadia said her sector could become a major source of long-term institutional investment in Bangladesh's capital market.

Greater insurer participation could create a significant source of long-term financing for bonds, equities and infrastructure, she said.

Nadia said World Investor Week aims to educate investors, as knowledge and information help build resilience and support informed decisions.

She said expanding market size alone would not be enough. Greater depth would require long-term institutional investors, a role played largely by insurance companies in developed economies.

Life insurers may face liabilities stretching 10, 15 or 20 years against policy premiums, creating a need to invest in long-term assets, she said. Such funds can support government and corporate bonds, infrastructure and equities.

Nadia said insurance-sector assets in Malaysia were equivalent to about 22% of GDP, while India's insurance sector accounted for around 3.5% of GDP. The assets of India's Life Insurance Corporation alone were about $500 billion, she said.

In Bangladesh, the insurance sector currently accounts for only 0.33% of GDP. Raising the ratio to 3% could create an investment pool of nearly $100 billion, which could provide long-term institutional capital to the bond and equity markets as well as infrastructure, she added.

The Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) has approved the transfer of a 30.01% stake in Dominage Steel Building Systems Limited outside the regular trading system, paving the way for a change in ownership, management and operational control by Akij Resources Limited and two individual investors.

According to a disclosure published on the premier bourse, the exchange approved the off-market transaction following a Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) directive issued on 27 August and subsequent instructions on 28 September.

Under the arrangement, 3.078 crore shares held by the company's sponsor-directors will be transferred to the incoming investors as a "Matched Transaction" in demat form at the closing price on 30 September 2026. The entire transaction was completed today (4 October).

Akij Resources acquired the largest portion, taking 1.20 crore shares (11.74%) each from Sponsor-Director and Chairman Muhammad Shamsul Islam and Sponsor-Director and Managing Director Mohammad Rafiqul Islam. Director Sujit Saha transferred 24.31 lakh shares (2.37%) to Akij Resources.

Director Abul Kalam Bhuyan and Director Rakibul Islam each transferred 80,055 shares (0.08%) to Akij Resources. They also transferred 20.52 lakh shares (2%) each to Sheikh Jashim Uddin and Faria Hossain, respectively.

The regulator allowed the off-market transfer under CDBL Bye-Laws as a special case, as the incoming investors will acquire the entire shareholding of the outgoing sponsor-directors and take charge of operating the steel structure manufacturer.

To maintain market stability, the regulator has also imposed a lock-in period on the transferred shares.

The Dominage Steel board initially approved the proposed share sale in April, after which the company sought regulatory clearance. The takeover comes as the company faces severe operational and financial distress.

During July-December of FY26, the company reported a 54% year-on-year decline in revenue to Tk5.75 crore and a net loss of Tk0.94 crore, with a loss per share of Tk0.09.

The company also came under regulatory scrutiny after a DSE inspection team found its main factory in Narsingdi shut during an unannounced visit in late 2025.

The entry of Akij Resources and the resulting management change is expected to help reactivate the manufacturing facility and restore shareholder value.

Stock market participation remains low in Bangladesh, with around 17 lakh beneficiary owner (BO) accounts against a population of nearly 18 crore, representing less than 1 percent.

However, the number of BO accounts does not reflect the actual number of investors, as many maintain multiple accounts to hold shares, mutual funds, bonds and other securities in electronic form.

Industry insiders estimate that the actual number of people investing in the stock market is no more than 2 lakh. If so, participation could be below 0.1 percent.

The low number of BO accounts in a country with more than 19 crore bank accounts reflects people’s limited appetite for stocks, mutual funds and bonds.

A comparison with neighbouring Asian countries highlights how far Bangladesh lags behind. Around 6 percent of India’s population participates in the stock market, while the figure is as high as 26 percent in Nepal. However, India’s 6 percent represents more than 10 times Nepal’s 26 percent in absolute numbers.

In developed countries, the proportion of people participating in securities markets is much higher. Why, then, is appetite for the stock market so low in Bangladesh?

It would be inaccurate to suggest that people are inherently reluctant to invest in stocks. In 2010, people rushed to the stock market, pushing the number of BO accounts above 33 lakh. However, the figure began to decline following the infamous market crash that year.

Profitability has always been a key driver of stock market participation. However, Bangladesh’s market lacks reliable investment opportunities, with investors losing their hard-earned money to fraudulent brokerage firms, fund managers and companies whose financial statements are riddled with irregularities.

Even financially strong firms remain conservative in paying cash dividends despite holding hundreds of crores of taka in bank deposits.

Consequently, investors have struggled to improve their financial positions, even by investing in fundamentally sound stocks.

With only 10 to 15 entities generating good returns, prices rose mainly for low-paid-up-capital companies, attracting investors to junk stocks and providing market manipulators with opportunities to profit.

Market manipulators received paltry punishments despite the severity of their wrongdoing. More concerningly, investors often found little protection from the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC).

The regulator extended the tenure of closed-end mutual funds by 10 years, delaying investors’ access to their money. It also allowed listed mutual funds to issue bonus shares and approved several companies’ fundraising plans, adding to market liabilities.

Sikder Insurance, for instance, invested around 72 percent of its life fund in junk stocks before launching its IPO (initial public offering). Such regulatory decisions further eroded investor confidence, leaving little incentive to participate in the stock market.

The Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) has recently started returning funds embezzled by a couple of brokerage firms to investors. While this is praiseworthy, it remains a modest remedy for years of mistreatment.

Following the fall of the Awami League government in 2024, the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) was reconstituted and began pursuing reforms across various areas. This is encouraging.

BSEC Chairman Masud Khan has outlined his vision for the market and made several commitments. Delivering on them by simplifying the listing process, digitising procedures and protecting investors’ interests could encourage more people to invest.

The market needs a sound equity market alongside a vibrant bond market, with other products introduced gradually. The regulator must also prevent defaults by bond issuers from undermining the bond market.

Attracting well-performing companies, curbing secondary-market manipulation and preventing intermediaries from embezzling investors’ funds should be key priorities. Above all, the regulator must consistently protect investors.

Dictating index movements or turnover is not the regulator’s role. Instead, it should focus on sound policymaking, good governance and accountability.

Delivering on these commitments would be the best gift for investors as Bangladesh prepares to celebrate World Investor Week.

Poor project planning, arbitrary cuts to initial cost estimates and delays by consultants are among the key reasons government projects in Bangladesh run over budget and fail to deliver value for money, speakers said today.

They made the remarks at a session, titled “Why Projects Fail” at the three-day international conference “Bay of Bengal Conversation 2026”, organised by the Centre for Governance Studies at Pan Pacific Sonargaon Dhaka.

Ghulam Mohammed Alomgir, founder and chairman of Max Group, said a feasibility study and initial design should form the basis of a development project proposal (DPP), accurately reflecting around 90 percent of the eventual project cost.

“But unfortunately, bureaucrats who have no idea about engineering or what is written in the DPP bluntly ask them to reduce the cost by 15 percent or 20 percent,” he said.

Such cuts, despite engineers’ and employers’ concerns, can create implementation problems, leading to revisions and higher costs, he added.

Delays by consultants are another major problem, particularly in internationally financed projects, where consultants are often paid on a man-month basis.

Some consultants deliberately delay projects to increase their contract value, Alomgir said.

Fahmida Khatun, distinguished fellow at the Centre for Policy Dialogue, said Bangladesh’s limited fiscal space was constraining resource allocation and efficient project implementation.

“The real issue is not finance only. There are several problems which reduce the effectiveness of projects,” she said.

The government faces competing spending demands for infrastructure, health, education and social protection, she added.

Fahmida also warned that Bangladesh’s LDC graduation would make external financing harder to access, forcing the country to borrow increasingly on commercial terms, with higher interest rates and shorter repayment and grace periods.

Sovereign credit ratings will become increasingly important for accessing international markets, she said.

Shamim Z Basunia, emeritus professor of civil engineering at the University of Asia Pacific, stressed the importance of independent technical scrutiny of large infrastructure projects.

Design and cost decisions need rigorous expert review because mistakes at the planning stage can have long-term consequences, he said.

Shamim recently headed a government committee reviewing proposed cost increases for MRT Line-1 and MRT Line-5, both of which are being implemented with JICA funding.

“There was a big hue and cry that the prices of these projects would increase tremendously,” he said, adding that he had submitted the committee’s report to the government within five weeks.

Tanvir Mahmud, senior governance specialist at UNDP Bangladesh, moderated the session.

Shareholders of Sea Pearl Beach Resort & Spa Limited have approved a reduced 0.50% cash dividend for general investors at the company's long-delayed 16th Annual General Meeting (AGM), half the 1% payout previously recommended by its board of directors.

According to a company filing with the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) today (4 October) the dividend was revised at the AGM held on 12 September 2026.

The AGM was convened following a High Court verdict passed on 21 June, which allowed the luxury hospitality company to hold the meeting through a hybrid platform combining physical attendance and virtual participation.

The meeting resolved a months-long delay for the company's fiscal year 2024–25 corporate disclosures. The AGM was originally scheduled for 28 December 2025, with a record date of 27 November 2025, but was abruptly postponed due to unavoidable circumstances.

Following the receipt of the certified court judgment in early August, the company's board met on 20 August to finalise the rescheduled meeting timeline.

Under the approved proposal, the payout exclusively covers general public shareholders, excluding the company's sponsors and directors. The dividend cut reflects ongoing financial strain at the Cox's Bazar-based resort operator, which had reported significant operational headwinds for the year ended 30 June 2025.

According to financial disclosures, Sea Pearl posted a net loss for FY25, reporting a negative earnings per share (EPS) of Tk2.46, compared to a positive EPS of Tk2.32 in the previous fiscal year. Net Asset Value (NAV) per share dropped to Tk15.28 from Tk18.49, while net operating cash flow per share (NOCFPS) fell to Tk2.44 from Tk9.38 in FY24.

The company's performance remained under pressure through the fiscal year FY26 as well. For the July 2025–March 2026 period, Sea Pearl reported a nine-month loss per share of Tk1.63, though slightly narrowed from Tk1.85 in the corresponding prior-year period.

Third-quarter (January–March 2026) losses stood at Tk0.48 per share. As of March 31, 2026, the company's NAV per share slid further to Tk13.66, down from Tk15.28 reported at the end of June 2025.

Market observers note that while the court-backed completion of the AGM clears regulatory backlogs, the hotel operator faces a challenging path toward profitability amid declining cash flows and persistent quarterly losses.

Bangladesh's overseas employment market remained under severe pressure in September, with the number of workers receiving country clearance falling nearly 29% year-on-year, despite a modest recovery from the previous month.

A total of 70,304 workers received country clearance for overseas employment in September, down from 99,024 in the same month last year, according to data from the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET).

The figure represents a decline of 28,720 workers, or 29%, year-on-year.

However, overseas employment increased 11.7% month-on-month in September. The number of workers receiving clearance rose by 7,380 from 62,924 in August.

The overseas employment market has been under pressure due to the closure or restriction of several labour markets, including Malaysia, Oman and Bahrain, while the UAE has not been fully recruiting less-skilled Bangladeshi workers.
The situation was further complicated by the Iran war and attacks in Saudi Arabia, which disrupted labour-market activities and contributed to uncertainty in the Middle East, according to labour recruiters.

Bangladesh sent 5,69,979 workers abroad during the first nine months of 2026, compared with 8,38,892 in the same period of 2025 – a decline of 2,68,913 workers, or around 32%, according to government data.

Saudi Arabia nevertheless remained the largest destination for Bangladeshi workers in September, with 32,915 workers receiving country clearance, up from 29,135 in August.

Singapore followed with 8,306 workers, compared with 6,944 in August. In addition, 6,282 workers received clearance for Qatar, and 5,015 for Maldives. Kuwait and the UAE accounted for 4,538 and 4,442 workers, respectively.

There was also a notable rise in employment clearances for some European destinations. Portugal received 1,249 Bangladeshi workers in September, up from 695 in August, while Italy received 1,097, compared with 828 in August.

Former Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (Baira) joint secretary Tipu Sultan said the Middle East conflict was one of the reasons behind the decline in overseas employment this year.

"But the main problem is that we could not diversify our labour market amid shrinking job opportunities in the Gulf and Malaysia," he told The Business Standard.

He said some potential destinations remain inaccessible to most private recruiting agencies.

"Markets such as Brunei and Jordan are solely controlled by government agency BOESL, while Singapore is handled by a limited number of agencies," he said.

"If the private sector cannot work, you cannot create opportunities for jobs. BOESL does not have that capacity," Tipu said, adding that all labour markets should be opened to eligible recruiting agencies rather than being controlled by any syndicate.

State Minister for Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Md Nurul Haque Nur said the government has set a target of creating overseas employment opportunities for one crore working-age people over the next five years as part of a special five-year plan.

"The current annual deployment of 8 to 10 lakh workers will be gradually increased," he said.

The government is also identifying labour demand in different countries and taking initiatives to train workers in the languages and technical skills required by destination countries, he added.

The state minister said the government has already started working to reopen closed labour markets and has sent memorandums of understanding proposals to several countries.

"Although a crisis has emerged around the Middle East, we hope the overseas labour market will recover soon," he said.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh received $2.77 billion in inward remittances in September, the lowest monthly inflow in 11 months, according to Bangladesh Bank data.

The previous lowest monthly inflow was $2.56 billion in October 2025.

Despite the monthly slowdown, remittance inflows during the first quarter of the current fiscal year remained significantly higher than a year earlier. Bangladesh received $8.59 billion between 1 July and 30 September, up 13.3% from $7.59 billion during the same period of the previous fiscal year.

September's remittance inflow was also 3% higher than the same month a year earlier, but fell from $2.97 billion in August.

Bankers said they were uncertain about the precise reason behind the slowdown. Some pointed to the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East as a possible factor, particularly amid frequent reports of Houthi attacks against Saudi Arabia during the final half of September.

They also raised concerns that a revival of the informal hundi market could be contributing to the decline.

The Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority (IDRA) has overseen the disbursement of Tk 26.37 crore in insurance claims to 7,641 policyholders in the third phase of a payout initiative aimed at rebuilding public trust in the insurance sector and protecting policyholders’ rights.
The payments were handed over to claimants yesterday at IDRA’s office in Motijheel, according to a press release from the authority’s public relations department.

Claims were settled directly at IDRA’s office in the first two phases as well, reflecting the regulator’s priority of settling valid claims and protecting customers’ interests, the release said.

The authority arranged funds from various sources, including the insurers’ assets and government securities, to settle long-pending claims.

In the first phase, Tk 14.51 crore was paid to 2,549 policyholders of BAIRA Life Insurance, Fareast Islami Life Insurance, Golden Life Insurance, Homeland Life Insurance, Padma Islami Life Insurance, Progressive Life Insurance and Sunflower Life Insurance.

In the second phase, Tk 23.03 crore was paid to 5,868 policyholders of Padma Islami Life Insurance, Homeland Life Insurance, Fareast Islami Life Insurance, Sunflower Life Insurance and Sunlife Insurance.

Although banks and non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) operate under the same central bank, well-managed finance companies face tighter restrictions on deposits, lending and loan restructuring, while banks have steadily expanded into areas previously served by non-banks, top NBFI executives said yesterday.
They said the problem is no longer simply weak NBFIs or poor governance. Rather, regulations introduced in response to troubled finance companies are now making it harder for well-managed institutions to compete and expand.
Regulation should clearly distinguish between weak institutions and well-governed, financially sound NBFIs. Applying the same restrictions to both can prevent good institutions from growing.
Mominul Islam Chairman, Dhaka Stock Exchange
Managing directors, CEOs and industry experts from the NBFI sector made the comments during a discussion titled “Challenges and Prospects of NBFIs” at the sixth episode of “Business and Beyond”, organised by The Daily Star at its office.
The country has 35 NBFIs, holding Tk 52,356 crore in deposits and Tk 78,114 crore in outstanding loans and advances. The sector is now facing a crisis after several finance companies failed. The central bank is liquidating four, while 16 others are in distress.

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Some NBFIs are still performing well because of their strong corporate governance. IPDC, IDLC, DBH and United Finance have strong sponsors and shareholders behind them.
Rizwan Dawood Shams MD, IPDC Finance
“The crisis is partly caused by regulatory lapses and failures by auditors and rating agencies to fulfil their roles,” said Mominul Islam, chairman of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and a former managing director and CEO of IPDC Finance, where he served for more than a decade.

Amid the financial crisis in the NBFI sector, the government and the regulator have not provided liquidity support to troubled finance companies to help them repay depositors, unlike the support provided to shariah-based banks.

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Banks and finance companies are supposed to complement each other, but a competitive environment has been created. Some things have changed, but broader issues remain.
Kanti Kumar Saha CEO, Alliance Finance
This has dented public confidence in non-banks, as depositors have seen troubled banks receive support while people who had money with failed finance companies continue to wait for repayment.

Citing the Finance Company Act 2023, Mominul said, “Rules have been framed in a way that NBFIs do not have wings to fly.”

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The regulatory relaxation during Covid delayed recognition of bad loans. When it was withdrawn, defaults surfaced, and the relaxation eventually came back as a boomerang.
Asif Saad Bin Shams AMD and chief risk officer, IDLC Finance
He said the Finance Company Act had been framed largely around failed institutions rather than creating room for stronger companies to expand.

“There was a time when the governance structure and regulatory oversight needed in the sector were absent,” the DSE chairman said. “But later, regulation and regulatory oversight became so restrictive that NBFIs no longer have the ability to grow.”

“Now the NBFI sector makes the news mostly for the wrong reasons,” he said.

Mominul said stronger enforcement, rather than more stringent rules, is needed to address problems in the sector. “What we see is that the sector is overly regulated, which is why good firms cannot function properly,” he said.

The discussants said rules on deposit collection, lending and loan rescheduling have made finance companies competitors of banks, even though they are supposed to play complementary roles.

The disparity is particularly visible in retail and long-term lending, where banks have expanded their loan limits while NBFIs remain restricted.

Mominul said a major weakness is the sector’s limited access to long-term funding. Overreliance on banks has prevented NBFIs, housing finance and the capital market from flourishing, he said.

In India, bonds are a major source of funds for finance companies, with regulatory conditions defining capital, credit ratings and borrowing limits, he said. Bond issuance can take about two months there, whereas a Bangladeshi NBFI can take up to two years because of multiple approval requirements.

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As a result, bonds account for less than 1 per cent of NBFIs’ funding in Bangladesh, Mominul said.

He added that regulators should focus on setting clear rules and enforcing them rather than becoming involved in routine operational decisions.

“If the regulator is involved at every operational level, where is the responsibility for compliance?” he asked.

He also called for greater accountability from auditors and credit-rating agencies, saying repeated failures among institutions audited or rated by the same firms should not be treated as isolated incidents.

“Enforcement should be the main focus, not more regulation,” he added.

In his speech, Kanti Kumar Saha, chief executive officer of Alliance Finance PLC, a Bangladesh-Sri Lankan joint venture, advocated for a level playing field so that non-banks can play complementary roles with banks.

Rizwan Dawood Shams, managing director of IPDC Finance, said NBFIs have been left with only part of the services that banks can offer.

Describing deposits as the raw material for business, Rizwan said finance companies cannot operate current and savings accounts (CASA), while banks can mobilise cheaper CASA deposits. NBFIs also cannot take certain government and mutual-fund deposits and have to rely heavily on relatively expensive term deposits.

He said depositors placing funds with an NBFI also generally cannot withdraw them before three months without prior approval from the Bangladesh Bank.

“That naturally makes our cost of funds higher,” Rizwan said. “Our cost of funds will decline if we are given the opportunity to collect deposits of government agencies and mutual funds.”

The funding disadvantage also makes it difficult for NBFIs to compete with banks in products such as home and auto loans. Banks now also offer home loans for longer terms, further limiting the scope for finance companies.

Rizwan said the issue is not about giving NBFIs preferential treatment.

“We are not asking for anything extra. We are urging for alignment of policies with banks where we operate at a similar level,” he said.

Asif Saad Bin Shams, additional managing director and chief risk officer of IDLC Finance, said non-performing loans at non-banks have risen to around 37 percent, with the deterioration reflecting both economic weakness and decisions taken by the authorities to tackle pandemic fallout.

Relaxations that allowed borrowers to remain labelled as regular despite missed instalments delayed recognition of bad loans, he said. When those relaxations were withdrawn, many accounts became classified as non-performing from 2023 onwards.

“The regulatory relaxation eventually came back as a boomerang,” said Asif.

He said weak economic activity has since compounded the problem, affecting corporate, SME and retail borrowers.

The discussants said depositors, at the same time, continue to perceive bank deposits as safer because of the support extended to troubled banks, while depositors of failed finance companies have not received comparable protection.

They said the issue is therefore not only about regulation but also about how the market perceives the two types of institutions. The difference is also evident when troubled borrowers seek to restructure their loans.

Kanti said that under a recent special guideline, banks can reschedule or restructure loans for up to 15 years, whereas finance companies remain subject to an eight-year maximum.

He said finance companies were originally established to provide long-term financing because banks themselves faced maturity mismatches in funding such loans. Over time, however, banks moved into many of the same businesses, helped by their access to low-cost deposits.

Finance companies now face a different funding structure while competing for many of the same customers, Kanti said.

The sector’s liquidity difficulties have also been aggravated by the underdeveloped bond market and banks’ reluctance to provide long-term funding to finance companies, he added.

Instead of relying only on foreign loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury has stressed a strategy to shift toward raising capital directly through global and domestic markets with bonds, equities, and market-driven financial architecture.

He said this on Sunday at the inaugural ceremony of the World Investor Week 2026 arranged by the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) at Krishibid Institution in the capital.

"We cannot depend on the IMF. Relying on the IMF... relying on the IMF, forget it!" the minister said as the chief guest of the programme.

He said the country's financial architecture was changing and urged the stakeholders to go for a trillion dollar economy by 2034.

Khosru spoke about his cancellation of the IMF programme, saying, "You surely saw it, right? Earlier, I cancelled the IMF programme. Your (IMF) condition is not acceptable to us."

He said the money that the IMF would give was not enough to reach a trillion dollars.

"I need 50 billion dollars every year. All of you together will give 10 billion dollars - I do not have time for that anymore," he said.

In June 2026, the government suspended the previous IMF programme as some of the conditions of the lender were no longer considered suitable for Bangladesh's current circumstances.

In his speech, the minister said they were getting a good response to the call to raise money from the local and foreign markets through bonds and equities.

He also expressed optimism that within a year, the face of the Bangladesh capital market would change.

Khosru said confidence in Bangladesh's capital market had started to improve among international investors, particularly following the government's recent engagement with Wall Street institutions during the prime minister's visit to the US.

Representatives of major global financial institutions had demonstrated a strong understanding of Bangladesh's capital market and were closely following recent developments, he said.

"They have confidence in the leadership, they have confidence in the deregulation that this government has announced, they have confidence in the clarity that is coming to this market, and they have confidence in the professionalism this market is showing right now," he said.

Many of the global institutions could become partners in Bangladesh's capital market, while a number of them were expected to visit Dhaka, he stated.

Bangladesh was also preparing to tap international capital markets, including through a proposed dollar bond issue in New York, he said.

"We have to take the plunge. We have to send the message to Wall Street," he said.

The recent engagement with global investors demonstrated that Bangladesh could no longer afford to remain isolated from international capital markets, Khosru said.

The ultimate goal was to build a credible, transparent, and professionally managed capital market capable of mobilising long-term domestic and foreign investment, while reducing the country's excessive dependence on bank financing, the minister added.

He stressed the need to reduce the cost of funds through a stronger capital market.

The minister stated the government wanted businesses to raise funds through the market rather than relying heavily on banks at high interest rates.

He further said the government could not continue financing commercial activities with taxpayers' money.

"Find your money in the market, and make money to repay the government. The government cannot run enterprises and behave like a cheque writer," the minister added.

Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury has said the government will not accept unacceptable conditions under the IMF programme and will instead raise funds from Bangladesh's own capital market as it seeks to finance the country's development.

"I have cancelled the IMF programme. You know that, you are seeing it. Their conditions are not acceptable to us. I want to raise my money from the market," he said.

The finance minister was speaking at the opening of World Investor Week 2026, jointly organised by the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission and the International Organization of Securities Commissions at the Krishibid Institution auditorium in Dhaka today (4 October).

'No time to depend on development partners'

Khosru said Bangladesh could not continue depending on the IMF, World Bank, Asian Development Bank and other development partners to meet its financing needs.

He said the government wants to build stronger links with global financial centres such as New York and Hong Kong to create opportunities for Bangladesh to raise funds directly from international markets.

The country could raise money through instruments such as dollar bonds, panda bonds, samurai bonds, local-currency bonds and Bangladesh-focused international equity funds, he said.

"We want to create opportunities to raise money from the international market. We have to connect ourselves with the international financial centres," he said.

Khosru said the government has set a target of building a $1 trillion economy by 2034 and would need substantially greater access to financing to achieve it.

"I need $50 billion a year. Even if everyone gives $10 billion each, it won't be enough. I have no time. We have to raise money from our own market," he said.

Capital market needs a major overhaul

The finance minister said strengthening the capital market and developing a deeper bond market would be crucial to meeting the country's financing requirements.

He said Bangladesh needs to introduce new financial products, including securitisation, to enable both the government and private sector to raise funds more efficiently.

Khosru said the country had already developed infrastructure for the capital market, including automation and central depository facilities, but the market had failed to develop because it lacked a comprehensive policy framework and coordination among relevant institutions.

He said Bangladesh Bank, the National Board of Revenue, insurance companies, stock exchanges, brokers and other market participants need to work as part of an integrated ecosystem.

"The capital market has no depth. We need to create the environment, bring good companies, ensure good governance and develop self-regulation," he said, stressing the need to restore credibility and investor confidence.

He said difficult and painful decisions may be necessary to rescue and strengthen the market.

Expects changes within a year

Khosru said he expected the country's stock market to undergo significant changes within the next year, provided there was no unexpected disruption.

He said international investors are showing interest in Bangladesh despite concerns about the relatively small size of the market.

Referring to recent meetings with investors on Wall Street, he said he had initially been concerned about Bangladesh's market being too small to attract major international investors.

He said the response from investors had nevertheless surprised him, claiming that they are familiar with the Bangladesh market and had confidence in the country's leadership and future prospects.

Govt should not fund commercial enterprises

The finance minister also said the government should not use taxpayers' money to finance commercial enterprises.

Referring to the aviation sector, he said commercial enterprises such as airlines should raise funds from the market rather than depend on government financing.

He also stressed the need to reduce the cost of funds so that Bangladeshi businesses can remain competitive in international markets.

Khosru said the government's broader objective is to develop a financial system capable of mobilising domestic savings and attracting international capital, reducing dependence on external development financing.

Bangladesh's illicit capital outflows reached a seven-year high of US$1.33 billion in 2022, with the associated tax loss estimated at around $410 million, according to an analysis of data compiled by the UK-based Tax Justice Network (TJN).

The data show that Bangladesh recorded a total of around $4.21 billion in estimated illicit financial outflows between 2016 and 2022, with the destinations increasingly comprising a mix of traditional offshore financial centres and major international financial hubs.

Overall, estimated illicit outflows increased more than sixfold between 2016 and 2022.

The tax loss is calculated separately from the illicit financial outflow.

It is estimated by applying Bangladesh's corporate income tax rate to the corporate component of illicit financial flows and its personal income tax rate to a standard interest rate applied to the offshore wealth component.

A review of the TJN data of illicit financial flows (IFF) by the Financial Express shows that several jurisdictions repeatedly featured among the top destinations for Bangladesh's illicit capital outflows, including the British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Hong Kong, Singapore, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Ireland and Luxembourg.

These jurisdictions have also featured prominently in international assessments of financial secrecy and corporate tax-haven activity.

Professor Mustafizur Rahman, distinguished fellow of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), said the countries appearing in the data should not necessarily be considered the ultimate destinations of the funds.

"Many of those countries are used as transit points for capital outflows to shift money to other countries," he said.

Countries with flexible tax and investment regimes and strict confidentiality of banking information can become favourable destinations or intermediaries for cross-border capital movements, he added.

Dr Mustafiz also noted that the TJN estimates differ from those of Global Financial Integrity (GFI), which has focused on illicit financial flows associated with trade misinvoicing, including under- and over-invoicing.

On March 2026, a GFI finding says Bangladesh lost an estimated $68.3 billion through trade-related illicit financial flows between 2013 and 2022 (averaging about $6.8 billion annually).

The TJN methodology covers several forms of illicit financial activity. In the case of multinational companies, it estimates profits shifted to low-tax jurisdictions by comparing reported profits with the profits that would normally be expected based on a country's economic activity.

The TJN also estimates offshore wealth, covering wealth belonging to residents that is held abroad but not properly reported. Its calculations examine unusually large cross-border bank deposits and investments against what would normally be expected from the economic relationships between countries.

Because these figures are estimates based on statistical methodologies, they may vary depending on the methodology and year used, the TJN says.

Sharp rise after 2020

Bangladesh's estimated illicit financial outflows stood at $115 million in 2016, and $197 million in 2017 before rising to $584 million in 2018 and $605 million in 2019.

The outflow declined to $327 million in 2020, coinciding with the Covid-19 pandemic, but surged to $1.05 billion in 2021 and further to $1.33 billion in 2022, the highest level recorded during the seven-year period.

The 2022 figure was around 27 per cent higher than in 2021 and more than four times the 2020 level.

Shift towards financial hubs

The destination pattern indicates that Bangladesh's illicit capital movements have been routed through a combination of traditional offshore centres and mainstream international financial and corporate hubs.

Hong Kong featured among the top 10 destinations in all seven years from 2016 to 2022, while the Cayman Islands also appeared in the top 10 throughout the period.

The British Virgin Islands featured in six of the seven years and ranked first in 2022, followed by Hong Kong and the Cayman Islands.

The Cayman Islands ranked first in 2016, 2017 and 2021, while Hong Kong topped the list in 2018, 2019 and 2020.

Singapore was another recurring destination, while the Netherlands, Ireland, Switzerland, Luxembourg and the United Kingdom repeatedly appeared among the leading jurisdictions.

The composition of the top 10, however, changed from year to year. Jersey and Bermuda featured prominently in 2021, while Mauritius, Denmark and Chile entered the top 10 in 2022. Portugal appeared in 2018, while Spain featured in 2016-17.

The changing composition suggests that illicit capital movements may increasingly be routed through a combination of traditional offshore centres, financial hubs, corporate holding jurisdictions and financial intermediaries, rather than being concentrated in a single group of offshore destinations.

Finance and Planning Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury said the days of running the country on money provided by the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Asian Development Bank are over.

The government is changing the public finance architecture of Bangladesh, the minister said at the inaugural ceremony of World Investor Week at the Krishibid Institution in Dhaka today.

The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) has organised the weeklong event, which will continue until October 12.

“We have already cancelled the IMF programme. We are going to the market to raise money. We are going to float dollar bonds in New York, and we will go for Panda bonds, Samurai bonds and local currency bonds. Bangladesh's financial architecture is changing,” the minister said.

The money that donor agencies provide will not be enough to take Bangladesh to a trillion-dollar economy, he said.

“I need $50 billion every year; you all together provide $10 billion, and I don't have time for that anymore,” Khosru said.

“If we go to buy airplanes, why should the Bangladesh government have to pay so much money?”

Referring to Biman Bangladesh's latest move to buy airplanes, he said, “It (Biman) is an enterprise. It has to go to the market and borrow. Why should the Bangladesh government provide the funds? Do you want money provided by the government to run your enterprise? It's not going to happen anymore.”

He said the stock exchanges and intermediaries had all failed over the previous decade, and their failure was so massive that the capital market had fallen into the same ditch as the economy.

“Now the government is lifting the economy and the capital market back up from the ditch.”

At the event, the minister said the Bangladesh capital market had never received proper attention in the past.

After independence, when former president Ziaur Rahman opened the Dhaka Stock Exchange and provided the opportunity to open mutual funds, it was a far-reaching idea, but that did not continue later, he said.

Subsequently, the support required for the capital market, ranging from policy support to other measures, did not come holistically, he said, adding that many things were done on a piecemeal basis.

As a result, the capital market never really took off and grew as it should have. Instead, both the government and the private sector became overly dependent on banks, and that too at high interest rates, the minister said.

“Every regulatory body was functioning like an island, working in their respective spaces, but they never coordinated. That was another weakness of our capital market. Now, all regulators are sitting together every month,” he said.

“The market is a shallow market with no depth. So, we have to create that depth, and to do so, we must create the proper environment. No good company will list in ‘a casino’. Those that are good companies, believe in good governance and practise self-regulation will not be part of ‘a casino’.”

At the event, Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority (IDRA) Chairman Mir Nadia Nivin said increasing the penetration of life insurance companies would be beneficial to the market.

“The insurers can provide long-term institutional capital to the bond market, equity market and infrastructure financing. And that is the scale of what is missing,” she said.

At the event, BSEC Chairman Masud Khan outlined the commission’s recent activities to restore investor confidence.

Tanvir Shahriar Ghani, special assistant to the prime minister on investment and capital market affairs, attended as the guest of honour.

Nazma Mobarek, secretary of the Financial Institutions Division of the Ministry of Finance, and Tanwir Habib Rahman and Hossain Sadat, commissioners of the BSEC, also spoke.