Prime Minister Tarique Rahman and his Croatian counterpart, Andrej Plenković, discussed ways to strengthen bilateral relations and expand trade, investment, and cooperation in areas of mutual interest during a meeting in New York on Wednesday (23 September).

The bilateral meeting took place on the sidelines of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters, according to a Facebook post by the Prime Minister's Office.

The two leaders emphasised expanding cooperation in economic relations, trade and investment, skilled manpower, education, technology and other areas with potential for collaboration, according to the post.

They also stressed the need to strengthen cooperation between Bangladesh and Croatia at the United Nations and other multilateral forums, as well as enhance coordination on international issues of mutual interest.

Mongla Port, the country's second-largest seaport, earned a record revenue of Tk 387.95 crore in the 2025-26 fiscal year, exceeding its target by Tk 40.08 crore.

The port had set a revenue collection target of Tk 347.87 crore for the fiscal year.

Mongla Port Authority (MPA) Chairman Rear Admiral Arif Ahmed Mostafa disclosed the figures at a meeting with journalists from Bagerhat and Mongla press clubs at the port authority auditorium yesterday (22 September).

He said the port also recorded growth in vessel arrivals, cargo handling and container handling during the fiscal year.

A total of 815 vessels arrived at Mongla Port in FY2025-26.

Against a cargo-handling target of 91.50 lakh metric tonnes, the port handled 1.2251 crore metric tonnes, an increase of 18.39 lakh tonnes or 17.66 percent from the previous fiscal year.

Container handling also rose significantly. Against a target of 25,000 TEUs, the port handled 29,714 TEUs, up 8,258 TEUs or 38.49 percent year-on-year.

During the fiscal year, 12,075 reconditioned vehicles were imported through Mongla Port, 496 more than in the previous fiscal year.

The chairman said the authority was holding regular consultations with port users, stakeholders, shipping agents, C&F agents, stevedores and businesses to improve port operations. Activities are also continuing through the Internal Business Development Standing Committee to increase vessel arrivals.

According to the MPA, Mongla currently has annual handling capacities of 1,500 vessels, 15 million metric tonnes of cargo, 100,000 TEUs of containers and 20,000 vehicles.

Several projects are underway to further expand the port's capacity, including the procurement of support vessels, upgrading of port facilities and construction of container terminals and yards.

Under a support vessel procurement project, the acquisition of two tugboats, a buoy-laying vessel, a search-and-rescue vessel, a pilot mother vessel and a survey-and-research vessel is at the final stage. The project is scheduled for completion by June 2027.

Under the Upgrade of Mongla Port project, financed through India's Line of Credit-3, plans include constructing two container terminals, a container-handling yard and a delivery yard equipped with modern machinery.

The chairman said implementation of the projects would create additional employment opportunities in shipping, C&F, stevedoring and other port-related sectors.

He said a modern waste-management project for collecting waste generated by ships and industries and removing discharged oil was completed in June 2025. The initiative is expected to reduce pollution in the Pashur Channel and surrounding waterways and help protect the Sundarbans.

Maintaining navigability along the port's 144-kilometre channel remains a major challenge, he said. Other priorities include ensuring safe and pollution-free navigation, replacing ageing support vessels, procuring new vessels, developing skilled manpower and encouraging greater use of Mongla Port.

The authority is also working to establish Mongla as a direct "first calling port", increase container vessel arrivals, introduce direct feeder services to major ports including Singapore, and improve road connectivity along the Khulna-Mongla and Khulna-Bhanga routes.

Rear Admiral Arif Ahmed Mostafa said the government's broader plan is to enhance Mongla Port's capacity and accelerate trade and economic activity in the country's southwestern region.

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman and World Bank Group President Ajay Banga today (22 September) discussed Bangladesh's development priorities, economic progress and ways to further strengthen World Bank support for the country's development efforts.

During their meeting at the UN Headquarters in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, they also exchanged views on ways to explore opportunities to expand areas of partnership between Bangladesh and the World Bank in the future, according to a release issued by the Prime Minister's Office.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman attended a welcome breakfast hosted by UN Secretary-General António Guterres for heads of delegation and their spouses.

He later joined the high-level General Debate of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly at the UN Headquarters.

The prime minister is scheduled to hold a series of bilateral and high-level meetings with heads of government and senior officials of international organisations during his brief stay in New York.

He is scheduled to address the General Assembly on September 24, delivering his first speech at the world body as prime minister. He is expected to outline Bangladesh's vision for the future, its development priorities and its position on major regional and global issues.

The Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) extended its losing streak for a second consecutive session today (22 September), as concerns over potential domestic fuel price hikes and escalating geopolitical tensions in the Gulf continued to weigh on investor sentiment.

The benchmark DSEX index fell 10 points, or 0.18%, to settle at 5,540. The blue-chip DS30 index, however, edged up 0.25 points to close at 2,106.

Market breadth remained firmly negative, with 227 issues declining, compared with 103 advancing and 55 remaining unchanged. Meanwhile, daily turnover rose slightly to Tk791 crore from the previous session.

According to EBL Securities' daily market review, the capital market faltered in its recovery attempt as investors maintained a cautious stance amid persistent uncertainties.

Concerns over elevated inflationary pressures and their potential impact on corporate profitability prompted investors to reduce their equity exposure, the brokerage said.

Trading remained volatile throughout the session, with selling pressure regaining momentum after the mid-session, it added.

Sheltech Brokerage Limited noted that the session was characterised by a tug-of-war between bargain hunters and profit-takers following deteriorating market sentiment.

On the sectoral front, textile led the turnover chart by accounting for 18.3% of the total transaction value, followed by general insurance at 14.6% and pharmaceuticals at 13.9%. Most sectors posted negative returns, with services falling 1.1%, life insurance losing 1.0%, and travel dropping 0.9%. Conversely, mutual funds, ceramic, and engineering managed marginal gains of 1.1%, 0.5%, and 0.3% respectively.

Dominage Steel Building Systems emerged as the most-traded stock of the day and also topped the gainers' chart with a 9.98% surge. Other top turnover leaders included Eastern Bank, Square Pharmaceuticals, Saiham Textile, and Anwar Galvanizing. Among other top gainers, Information Services Network jumped 9.92%, First Prime Finance Mutual Fund rose 9.85%, ICB AMCL Second Mutual Fund advanced 9.09%, and Orion Infusion gained 8.74%.

Conversely, New Line Clothings led the losers' list, dropping 5.26%. It was followed by Metro Spinning, which lost 5.10%, Tung Hai Knitting down 4.87%, Mercantile Bank declining 4.54%, and Familytex sliding 4.16%.

The port city's bourse, the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE), displayed a mixed trend. The selective CSCX index managed a modest gain of 3 points to close at 9,091, while the all-share price index, CASPI, dropped 6 points to end at 14,815.

The government on Monday formed five specialised working groups to implement the National Logistics Policy 2025 and strengthen Bangladesh’s capacity for domestic and international trade.

The working groups will focus on logistics digitalisation, investment, skills development, multimodal logistics infrastructure and trade facilitation, according to notifications issued by the Prime Minister’s Office by the end of last week.
The panels have been formed in line with decisions of the National Logistics Development and Coordination Committee (NLDCC).

The interim government framed the National Logistics Policy 2025, aiming to position Bangladesh as a leading regional trade and logistics hub by 2050, after annulling the previous policy formulated in April 2024 by the ousted Awami League-led government.

Of the groups, the trade facilitation working group will be headed by the commerce secretary.

It is mandated to formulate time-bound action plans to reduce the time, operational costs and procedures involved in imports and exports, customs clearance, cargo release, and port and border management under the policy.

The group will also review progress under the World Trade Organization Trade Facilitation Agreement (WTO-TFA) and propose frameworks for pre-arrival processing, electronic declarations, automated clearance, risk management, green channels, Authorised Economic Operators and post-clearance audits, according to the notification.

Headed by the secretary of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Division, the logistics digitalisation working group will prepare a roadmap for real-time tracking and tracing of goods, containers and vehicles from source to destination. It will also integrate digital systems across customs, ports, transport, warehousing, tax and banking, and define verification metrics for a National Logistics Dashboard.

The investment working group, led by an executive member of Invest Bangladesh, will identify foreign and local investment potential in the sector and impediments to investment.

The logistics infrastructure working group will formulate short-, medium- and long-term action plans for physical infrastructure development.

The panel, led by the member for physical infrastructure at the Planning Commission, will also identify bottlenecks across transport modes, ports, inland container depots, container freight stations and logistics hubs.

It will also evaluate and prioritise public-private partnership projects in the logistics sector.

The skills development working group has been tasked with identifying skill gaps and assessing human resource requirements across the logistics sector.

The 2026 Food Systems Countdown analysis reveals that progress is too slow and insufficient to meet 2030 goals, but 2050 could still be achievable, provided actions are consistent and accelerated.

The latest study from the Food Systems Countdown Initiative (FSCI) reveals the stark reality of where global food systems transformation stands – for most indicators on health, environment, livelihoods, governance and resilience, a vast majority of countries will not meet the internationally agreed 2030 goals. And for some indicators such as greenhouse gas emissions from food systems, no country in the world is projected to meet the target.

The study, published in Nature Food, represents the most comprehensive performance assessment of food systems to date, covering 197 countries and 44 indicators across five themes: diets, nutrition and health; environment, natural resources and production; livelihoods, poverty and equity; governance; and resilience.

And for the first time, the study goes beyond tracking trends to assess progress and measure how food systems are actually performing, and how much more needs to improve to meet globally set targets.

"What makes this Countdown paper different is that it doesn't just tell countries whether they're moving in the right direction - it tells them how far they still have to go, and against a benchmark that's actually within reach. That distinction between tracking trends and measuring performance is what turns a monitoring exercise into a tool for accountability," said Dr. Bianca Carducci, lead author.

Key findings

The study finds that, of 30 indicators, only one - mobile phone subscriptions, a proxy for connectedness and resilience - has been met by most countries. For 22 indicators, fewer than one third of countries will meet their global target or benchmark by 2030.

The indicator 'greenhouse gas emissions from food systems' has one of the largest gaps, with the global average 75% away from the target. No country in the world will meet the target at its current pace.

Most regions of the world would need dramatic annual changes to achieve 2030 targets. For example, Africa will require at least a 15-20% improvement across 23 indicators every single year, and Asia will have to cut food insecurity by over 63% every year.

High-income regions are not exempt. In Europe, 19 indicators remain unattainable by 2030. The analysis also shows that some indicators are moving in the wrong direction, notably civil society participation, governmental accountability, ultra-processed food sales, agricultural water withdrawal, pesticide use and changes in emissions from food systems.

"Accountability for food systems transformation requires accelerated progress — without it, efforts risk becoming performative rather than transformative. We can no longer afford to continue at the present pace," said Dr. Mario Herrero, Professor, Ashley School of Global Development and the Environment, Cornell University.

Bright spots offer hope

Despite the sobering picture for 2030, the study is not entirely bleak. For 7 of 33 indicators, at least a third of countries are already on track to meet the 2030 target. And half the indicators have been moving in a desirable direction at the global level. The study also offers the pace at which changes are required to achieve the targets by 2050, making progress feel achievable rather than impossible.

In some cases, regional and income benchmarks provide more realistic milestones that can motivate countries. For example, on average, African countries are 58.7% away from the global benchmark for affordability of a healthy diet, but that gap narrows to 32.2% when measured against a regional benchmark set by the average of the top fifth of African countries.

"Bold global targets are vital for inspiring ambition. But they can become a source of inertia if they seem permanently out of reach. Therefore, regional and income-group benchmarks keep progress within sight and help identify the exemplar countries that can show others how it is achievable," said Dr Jessica Fanzo, James Anderson Professor of Food Policy and Climate at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies Europe.

Urgent call to accelerate action

The study highlights the urgent need for accelerated action across all indicators. Priority actions should focus on indicators where progress is most off track, like food affordability, food insecurity, government effectiveness and food systems emissions. Food systems emissions change will require annual reductions exceeding 60%, which is challenging even for 2050.

"Food systems transformation is a shared responsibility. The governance indicators, including government effectiveness, accountability and civil society participation, are not just one category among five. They are the enablers. Improving them unlocks progress across the entire system," said Dr Lawrence Haddad, Executive Director, Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition.

Improving government effectiveness and accountability are the critical leverage points that interact with the largest number of indicators. However, the urgent need for transformation involves more concerted, creative and accelerated action from the global community that must recommit to achieving these targets by 2050, especially for those most vulnerable.

"The kind of comprehensive assessment that this Countdown study provides is critical for governments and all other partners to set priorities, direct investments and resources, and draft and redraft policies. Our global food systems demand urgent, decisive action — starting now," said Dr José Rosero Moncayo, Chief Statistician and Director of the Statistics Division, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

The 2026 Food Systems Countdown analysis gives every country a mirror, as well as a signpost for what needs to be done, in which direction and at what pace. The world owes it to the billions whose livelihoods depend on food systems, and the billions more who cannot afford a healthy diet, to act now, and to act fast.

OpenAI on Monday called for the United States to lead a global effort on establishing standards for developing artificial intelligence as CEO Sam Altman prepares to brief the United Nations this week.

Concerns about AI safety have escalated over the past few months amid a series of security incidents and doomsday warnings, prompting regulators and others around the world to call for more action.
OpenAI voiced support for global cooperation to create a set of safety and security standards for AI development that could mitigate safety risks.“The United States is well positioned to lead because its AI industry is at the technical frontier,” OpenAI said in a blog post. “Leading now will determine whether the United States shapes the global AI framework or watches a fragmented, uneven, and conflict-ridden system take hold around it.”The San Francisco-based AI lab also said that recursive self improvement, or RSI, should not be pursued “unless and until it can be done safely.”

RSI is a technique where software begins to teach itself and improve autonomously, which critics fear could have catastrophic outcomes if humans are not able to intervene. In July, OpenAI’s models were involved in a security breach of Hugging Face, a site used by AI developers to store and share code.

Though the models involved were unreleased and undergoing testing, the incident sparked concerns about autonomous agents, which are software programs that can perform tasks for humans.

Anthropic and Google have reported security incidents involving their models, as well. “The Hugging Face Incident we disclosed, while not a direct result of RSI, is a preview of the kinds of risks that could become much more severe without robust safeguards and alignment.”

Altman is expected to brief the UN Security Council on Wednesday, the same week as the UN General Assembly.

The meeting is being organized by France, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the 15-member Security Council, and comes as major players in the industry have said a slowdown in AI development could be necessary out of safety concerns.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday called for coordinated international action to address AI risks as fears rise about the dangers of the fast-evolving technology.

“National action is essential. But global coordination is also indispensable,” Guterres told reporters.

The concerns about AI safety escalated further this month when workers at major AI developers said they resigned over concerns about the dangers posed by the technology.

Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei published an essay soon after urging caution and a slowdown in AI development.

Altman and tech titan Elon Musk lent their support to the idea, as did Google DeepMind’s Demis Hassabis, who himself has called for a US-led global regulatory body for the technology.

President Donald Trump has dismissed warnings against AI risks as a “hoax.”

Bangladesh received US$7.888 billion in workers’ remittances during the first 83 days of the current fiscal year, marking a 13.8 percent increase compared with US$6.930 billion received during the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year.

According to the latest Bangladesh Bank data, remittance inflow stood at US$2.063 billion during September 1-21, 2026, against US$2.031 billion during the same period last year, registering a 1.6 percent year-on-year growth, BSS reports.

On September 21 alone, expatriate Bangladeshis sent US$69 million in remittances.

The latest inflow data showed that workers’ remittances continued to maintain a positive growth trend in the current fiscal year, supporting the country’s external sector and foreign exchange position.

Bangladesh's welding electrode manufacturers have urged the National Board of Revenue (NBR) to restore a concessional duty facility on imported hot-rolled non-alloy steel wire rod, saying the current 88.51% duty assessment could make local production commercially unviable.

The Bangladesh Welding Electrodes Manufacturers Association (BWEMA) made the demand in a letter to the NBR chairman yesterday (21 September), following an NBR directive requiring wire rod imported by VAT-registered electrode and wire-drawing manufacturers to be assessed under HS Code 7213.91.10 without the existing concessional facility.

The association said the resulting duty burden would be 88.51%, compared with 52% on finished welding electrodes imported under HS Code 8311.30.00.

"This would not make it possible to import the raw material by paying the said 88.51% duty and thereafter manufacture and supply welding electrodes," BWEMA General Secretary Md Shahjahan Kabir said in the letter.

According to the association, the higher duty would put domestic manufacturers at a disadvantage while making imports of finished welding electrodes more commercially attractive.

Consignments held at Ctg Port

Several consignments of wire rod imported by BWEMA member companies are currently stuck at Chattogram Port over the dispute surrounding HS classification and duty assessment, the association said.

The affected companies are incurring more than Tk1 lakh a day in additional costs, including port and shipping demurrage, it said.

BWEMA urged the NBR to allow provisional assessment and release of the consignments under Section 93 of the Customs Act, 2023, to prevent further losses.

Wire rod is the main raw material used to manufacture welding electrodes. The association said domestic production of the raw material has increased in recent years, reducing the sector's dependence on imports.

The NBR had earlier provided a concessional facility under SRO No 151-Law/2026/06, issued on 8 June, and its amendment issued on 30 June.

Under the facility, imports under HS Code 7213.91.90 by electrode, wire-drawing and electric cable clip manufacturers were eligible for 0% regulatory duty and 0% supplementary duty, instead of 5% and 45%, respectively.

BWEMA said similar consignments had previously been assessed under concessional facilities provided through earlier SROs.

Industry seeks policy continuity

The association said the latest NBR directive has created uncertainty because the concessional facility remains applicable to HS Code 7213.91.90, while the new instruction requires wire rod to be classified under HS Code 7213.91.10.

BWEMA has requested the NBR to review and withdraw its 15 September directive and allow the consignments to be assessed under the existing concessional facility.

Alternatively, it urged the revenue board to include HS Code 7213.91.10 in Table-3 of the relevant SRO and extend the concessional facility to the code with retrospective effect.

The association warned that failure to resolve the issue could force local manufacturers to scale back or shut operations, threatening jobs and increasing dependence on imported finished welding electrodes.

BWEMA said maintaining the concessional facility would help protect domestic investment and employment while supporting local manufacturing.

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed ways to expand cooperation between Bangladesh and Türkiye in the areas of economy, trade and investment during a meeting in New York on Tuesday.

The high-level meeting was held at the Turkish House at 821 United Nations Plaza.

The two leaders exchanged views on various issues of mutual interest and discussed the scope for further expanding existing cooperation in the economic, trade and investment sectors.

They also discussed important regional and international issues and stressed the need for continued close cooperation and coordination between the two countries.

The two leaders expressed their commitment to further strengthening the long-standing friendly relations between Bangladesh and Türkiye and opening up new areas of cooperation based on mutual interests and shared priorities.

Bangladesh opts to measure economic growth and national wealth creation on UN scales to help policymakers make precise policy on accurate data, removing scepticism about traditional official statistics.

Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) is planning to measure net domestic product (NDP) as recommended by the United Nations' agency concerned, according to BBS officials.

They say this pivot seeks to provide policymakers with a more comprehensive picture of economic growth and wealth creation.

The new measure is expected to be derived from the revised national accounts, which will be prepared with 2025-26 as the new base year.

The BBS might publish the first such estimates in April-May 2028, according to people familiar with the developments.

The move would mark a significant expansion of national-accounting system, as conventional GDP largely measures the value of economic output without deducting the depletion of natural assets such as forests, minerals, fisheries and other natural resources. Under the new approach, BBS will seek to incorporate the UN System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA) into its national accounts. The framework is designed to bring environmental and economic information together, allowing assessment of how economic activity affects their natural-asset base.

"The UN statistical system is now placing greater emphasis on such measures of national wealth," a senior BBS official told the FE, adding that the international statistics division is increasingly looking to move "beyond GDP".

Bangladesh currently publishes key national income indicators such as gross domestic product or GDP and gross national income (GNI).

GDP measures the value of final goods and services produced within the country during a given period, while net domestic product deducts the consumption or depreciation of fixed capital from GDP.

In its conventional form, NDP, therefore, provides a picture of how much output remains after allowing for the wearing out or loss of productive assets such as machinery, buildings and vehicles.

The proposed approach would go a step further by recognising the economic cost of the depletion of natural resources.

This distinction is important because an economy could record strong GDP growth while simultaneously reducing the stock of natural assets on which future production and livelihoods depend.

For example, excessive extraction of minerals, depletion of forests or overuse of fisheries may generate current income while weakening the economy's productive-asset base over time.

The broader NDP would, therefore, seek to provide a clearer picture of whether economic activity is generating sustainable wealth or drawing down the country's natural capital.

The statistical bureau will need to establish methods for valuing the depletion of different natural resources--an exercise that is likely to require new datasets and coordination among government agencies responsible for natural resources and the environment, BBS people said.Bangladesh Investment Opportunities

The national statistical agency also plans to calculate net national disposable income (NNDI) as part of the broader revision of the national-accounting framework.

The planned changes are part of a wider overhaul of Bangladesh's national statistics as the BBS updates its national accounts and adopts newer international statistical standards.

The new indicators could offer a more complete basis for assessing economic progress-particularly at a time when environmental degradation, resource depletion and climate-related losses are becoming increasingly important to the country's long-term economic outlook.

The World Bank and International Monetary Fund have said on Monday that their executive boards had approved proposed reforms to their joint framework for evaluating the debt of low-income countries to reflect a more complex and riskier environment.

A joint review, the first since 2017, recommended changes in several areas, including better analysis of domestic debt and broader assessment of long-term development challenges, including climate change.

The reforms will improve analysis of risks to debt sustainability by refining how countries' debt-carrying capacity is measured and introducing new tools to assess debt sustainability.

The World Bank and IMF will also work to enhance the "realism tools" and stress tests used to ensure the consistency and accuracy of forecasts, while encouraging countries to improve debt data transparency, the World Bank said.

The IMF and World Bank use the debt sustainability framework to assess a country's ability to take on new debt without jeopardising its ability to service existing loans.

Changes were recommended as many low-income countries have seen rising debt levels and a shift in financing sources to include more domestic and external borrowing on commercial terms.

The revised framework is expected to become operational in the second half of 2027, the World Bank said.

A review completed in July confirmed that the debt sustainability framework had worked well to identify debt distress episodes ahead of time and help countries make informed borrowing and lending decisions.

But it also identified several areas where the framework could be improved to account for new challenges at a time of elevated development needs and a sharp decline in official development assistance.

The Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) has set a target of bringing at least 10 blue-chip companies to the capital market by 2027 to address the prolonged market slump and shortage of quality securities.

The target includes state-owned enterprises, multinational corporations and large local companies, according to DSE Chairman Mominul Islam.

At a press briefing, DSE chairman said the capital market had not seen any major quality initial public offering (IPO) or new listing for more than two years.

To address the shortage of new securities, the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) has prepared draft regulations to simplify and expedite both the IPO and direct-listing processes.

“We hope that through the combined efforts of the government, regulator, stock exchanges and merchant banks, we will be able to achieve the target of bringing at least 10 blue-chip companies to the market by 2027,” the DSE chairman said.

The DSE has also cut bond listing fees significantly to encourage companies to raise funds through the capital market.

“Companies applying for listing by March 2027 will be eligible for a 50 per cent waiver on listing fees,” he said.

The prime bourse has also taken a major step to compensate investors affected by five defaulting brokerage houses.

Of the 17,925 investors affected by the five firms, those whose claims are up to Tk 500,000 will receive their dues in full from the IPF. This means 17,332 investors, or about 97 per cent of the affected investors, will get their money back in full.

Disbursement will begin on September 28, with the process expected to be completed within two months, the DSE chairman informed.

For the remaining 593 investors with claims exceeding Tk 500,000, the commission will pursue legal measures to recover the money.

The measures will include selling shares and immovable properties of the defaulting brokerage firms, as well as personal assets of their directors, the DSE chairman said.

“Many people, including retired teachers, judges and bankers, had invested their life savings and were caught in the crisis. The decision to expedite repayment was taken out of a sense of humanitarian and moral responsibility,” he stated.

The move is expected to help restore confidence among small investors in the capital market, the official added.

Oil prices gained for the first time in five sessions on Tuesday as investors awaited developments on potential US-Iran talks at the United Nations General Assembly this week after more supplies emerged through the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend.

The Brent crude futures November contract rose $1.72, or 1.7 percent, to $102.06 a barrel at 0617 GMT.
The WTI October contract, which expires on Tuesday, climbed $1.62, or 1.7 percent, to $97.4 a barrel.

The more actively traded November contract was up $1.28, or 1.4 percent, at $93.65 a barrel.Tehran and Washington exchanged threats on Sunday, though US President Donald Trump said he would be open to meeting Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who is expected to be in New York this week for the UN meeting."The move higher in WTI and the stronger open in Brent have the appearance of a typical short-covering bounce after the recent decline, rather than a fundamental shift," said Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade.

"Traders who were positioned for further downside are taking some risk off the table while the diplomatic narrative plays out."

Over the weekend, Iran also conveyed its conditions to mediators for re-engaging in negotiations, Al Jazeera reported, citing Iran's security chief, Mohsen Rezaei.

Waterer said oil prices were likely to remain range-bound and sensitive to headlines until there was either clear progress or a setback in diplomatic efforts between the US and Iran.

Middle East tensions remained elevated after Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis said they attacked Riyadh and a Saudi Aramco facility in Yanbu and stepped up efforts to cut off Saudi-backed forces from the Red Sea coast.

China has privately urged Tehran to help curb attacks by the Houthis, three Iranian sources said, after Saudi Arabia appealed to Beijing following a recent surge in the group's military operations.

Saudi Aramco has increased exports through the Strait of Hormuz after attacks on its East-West Pipeline forced it to halt some shipments through Yanbu.

Around 14 million barrels of its crude oil were loaded on seven supertankers inside the Gulf on Sunday, tanker tracking data showed.

"Supply concerns are easing as shipments through the Strait of Hormuz reach a six-month high and Saudi Arabia works to restore its East-West pipeline ... Crude implied volatility eased 3.3 percent to 50.39, although it remains historically elevated," said Saxo Bank analysts in a client note.

Separately, an armed group closed valve seven on Libya's Sharara crude pipeline to Zawiya port on Monday, resulting in a significant decline in production at the Sharara oilfield, Libya's National Oil Corporation said in a statement.

Production at the field has fallen by around 200,000 barrels per day and is currently between 100,000 and 105,000 bpd, two engineers at the field told Reuters.

Gold prices fell on Tuesday as expectations of interest rates staying higher for longer weighed on sentiment, with investors awaiting comments from US Federal Reserve officials for policy clues.

Spot gold was down 0.6percent at $4,319.39 per ounce by 0652 GMT. US gold futures fell 0.6percent to $4,356.30. Bullion is traditionally viewed as a hedge against inflation and geopolitical risks, but its appeal tends to wane in a high-interest-rate environment as investors favour yield-bearing assets.
With US economic data this week, investors will focus on comments from Fed officials for signs of whether the central bank is leaning toward another rate increase in October, as well as on crude oil prices, said Chris Weston, head of research at Pepperstone.“While crude has come modestly off its recent highs, a reversal higher that builds inflation expectations would only intensify the rates story, and gold would likely continue to face headwinds,” said Weston.

The Fed raised its policy rate by a quarter of a percentage point last week and flagged more hikes in the coming months.

The US central bank will likely need to hike rates further to lower inflation resulting from strong demand as well as a commodity price shock that has moved beyond oil, St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem said, adding that it would be better for the Fed to act sooner than wait.

On the geopolitical front, Houthi fighters pushed to seize strategic heights in Yemen to cut off the Red Sea coast from remaining areas held by Saudi-backed forces, after a report that US President Donald Trump had called off American strikes on the group at the last minute.

Oil prices gained for the first time in five sessions as investors awaited developments on potential US-Iran talks at the United Nations General Assembly this week.

Spot silver fell 1.1percent to $65.28, platinum lost 1.1percent to $1,777.29 and palladium declined 0.8percent to $1,290.07.

In a major bid to restore investor confidence, the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) will start paying compensation to 17,332 affected clients from 28 September while introducing risk-based capital supervision and digital oversight to prevent brokerage fund embezzlement.

The initiative will enable nearly 97% of the 17,925 investors affected by five defaulted brokerage houses – Moshihor Securities, Tamha Securities, Crest Securities, Shah Mohammad Sagir & Co Ltd, and Banco Securities—to fully recover their claims of up to Tk5 lakh each from the Investment Protection Fund (IPF).

Announcing the landmark decision at a press conference today (22 September) at the DSE Tower in Nikunja, DSE Chairman Maminul Islam said the five rogue brokerages had collectively embezzled Tk250 crore from their clients.

At the event, the DSE also launched its new website with featuring the real time market update including detail information about the listed companies.

The DSE chairman said they had received claims from affected investors amounting to Tk72 crore so far. Of this, Tk35 crore had already been disbursed through recoveries from the brokerage firms. The remaining Tk37.60 crore will be paid from the IPF, with the disbursement scheduled to begin on 28 September and expected to take one to two months to complete.

He said funds from the IPF would be disbursed to verified affected investors of Moshihor Securities Limited starting 28 September. The outstanding dues of verified affected investors of the other four firms will also be paid in phases according to schedules to be announced later. Only investors who receive an SMS from the DSE will be eligible to collect their cheques from the DSE office on their designated dates.

While 17,332 investors will receive their full claims under the Tk5 lakh payout ceiling, the remaining 593 investors with larger claims will still have outstanding dues. The DSE chairman assured that legal measures, liquidation of securities held by the defaulting brokerages, recovery from directors' personal assets, and future inflows into the IPF would be mobilised to settle their remaining claims.

Describing the compensation plan as a moral duty rather than merely a regulatory requirement, Maminul Islam said the embezzlement had severely affected retired people, teachers, judges and small retail investors, leaving them financially stranded. The initiative has received full cooperation from the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC), which expanded the compensation scheme to cover clients of all five defaulted brokerages following a request from the DSE.

To ensure sustainable funding for investor claims, the Investor Protection Fund receives contributions from brokerage trading commissions, as well as 25% of the interest earned on funds held in brokerage accounts, under a policy decision adopted in 2025.

Meanwhile, legal action against the offenders is still underway, with four defaulted firms facing prosecution by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and another involved in ongoing court litigation.

The DSE chairman said the ACC had already submitted charge sheets against two firms to the court.

DSE to introduce digital surveillance

Alongside investor relief, the capital market operator is taking preventive measures to ensure such financial scams do not recur. DSE Managing Director Nuzhat Anwar said the premier bourse will introduce Risk-Based Capital Supervision and upgrade its IT infrastructure to digitally monitor brokerage activities.

Recognising that physical audits of roughly 250 operational brokerage houses are impractical given current staffing levels, the DSE plans to leverage automated digital surveillance to detect irregularities early and prevent fund diversion.

Speaking about the broader vision for the market, IPF Chairman Nasreen Begum expressed confidence that the settlement process would strengthen investor protection and restore public trust in the capital market. She added that a secure investment environment is crucial to driving national economic growth.

T+1 settlement, Nasdaq trading engine in reform drive

The DSE is also preparing a series of structural reforms to modernise Bangladesh's capital market infrastructure. By December 2026, the exchange aims to introduce T+1 settlement and scrip netting to speed up transactions and improve market liquidity.

A dedicated trading platform for open-end mutual funds is scheduled to launch by November 2026, enabling seamless trading under existing regulations.

Looking ahead, the DSE plans to deploy Nasdaq's advanced trade-matching engine and introduce financial derivatives by January 2028, backed by comprehensive market awareness campaigns.

The exchange is also upgrading its disaster recovery system by December 2026 and finalising industry reclassification following board approval and regulatory consultation.

To boost fixed-income trading, the DSE has cut bond valuation costs by nearly 80% and is encouraging new corporate bond listings on the main board. To attract high-quality equity listings and address a listing drought that has persisted for more than two years, the DSE aims to bring at least 10 blue-chip companies to the market by 2027 through direct listings or initial public offerings (IPOs).

To facilitate this, the exchange is preparing draft rules for direct listings and simplifying IPO regulations. As an incentive, it will offer a 50% waiver on listing fees for companies applying for IPOs or direct listings by March 2027.

Meanwhile, high-level government efforts are underway to attract foreign portfolio investment through international debt instruments.

Maminul Islam said the government has initiated steps to issue sovereign bonds for international investors. A high-level delegation, including the prime minister, finance minister and special assistant to the prime minister on capital markets and investment, is visiting New York to meet leading global investment banks.

The initiative seeks to facilitate commercial and sovereign bond issuances and attract sustained foreign capital inflows into Bangladesh's financial markets.

A large number of employees were recruited at Islami Bank Bangladesh during the S Alam era in violation of recruitment rules, without job advertisements or written examinations, according to a Bangladesh Bank inspection report that uncovered widespread irregularities.

Between 2017 and 2024, the bank recruited 8,099 employees from Chittagong district, accounting for 74.77 percent of all hires, Bangladesh Bank data show.
The concentration was particularly pronounced in Patiya upazila, which accounted for 5,148 recruits, or 47.5 percent of total hires and 63.56 percent of Chittagong’s recruits. S Alam Group Chairman Mohammed Saiful Alam hails from Patiya.

The report attributed the concentration largely to the absence of publicly advertised vacancies, which limited opportunities for candidates from other parts of the country.

Contacted, Arief Hossain Khan, executive director and spokesperson of Bangladesh Bank, told The Daily Star that he was not aware of the report’s findings, but action would be taken against those responsible if any irregularities were found.

In September last year, Islami Bank terminated more than 5,000 officials who did not appear for a special competency evaluation test ordered by the management on September 22 for 5,385 officials whose recruitment was questionable.

The officials were appointed by the S Alam Group without any examination and with fake certificates after the Chattogram-based business group forcibly took over the bank in 2017, the BB report showed.

The S Alam Group’s control over Islami Bank ended in August 2024 with the fall of the Awami League regime. Bangladesh Bank dissolved the bank’s board, which was heavily dominated by individuals linked to the conglomerate.

The new board’s HR audit found that more than 10,000 of the bank’s 21,000 officials had been appointed after the 2017 takeover, according to the bank’s HR department.

CV BOXES REPLACED JOB ADS

The inspection report found that candidates were sourced without advertisements or written tests through CV collection boxes at S Alam Group Chairman’s home in Patiya and the group’s Asadganj office in Chattogram.

The boxes were labelled for different categories, including Patiya General, Patiya Cash, male general/cash, Satkania-Lohagara, Gandamara-Banshkhali, Hindu general, female cash and peon/diploma positions, the report said.

In 2019, 178 trainee officers were recruited for the 24th Probationary Officer batch without a newspaper advertisement, violating the bank’s HR policy and prescribed recruitment procedures. Four probationary officer batches -- the 23rd, 24th, 25th and 26th -- were recruited through direct entry.

The BB report said the bank’s rules required written and oral examinations, with candidates needing at least 50 percent in the written test to qualify for the viva. Vacancies were also required to be advertised in at least two national dailies at least 15 days before recruitment. These requirements were not followed in several cases.

In May 2019, the bank issued appointment letters to 178 people, while a memo instructed that 126 of them be sent to First Security Islami Bank at its request. The inspection report said the bank, not being a human-resource agency, was not authorised to make such an arrangement.

The report also found that some DMDs, including Md Akiz Uddin and Miftah Uddin, did not meet the required experience criteria, including the minimum experience in their previous positions and as officers. It further observed that some policy changes after 2017 appeared to have provided unjustified benefits to certain groups.

BB FLAGS UNEQUAL ASSESSMENTS

Bangladesh Bank also found discriminatory treatment in staff assessments involving terminations by the current management. Officers with similar recruitment backgrounds were treated differently, according to the report.

Although the special assessment was arranged for employees recruited during the specified period, 17 officers were dismissed before being given an opportunity to sit for the test.

Another 243 officers did not sit for the assessment but remained employed.
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Although the bank cited overseas postings, illness and maternity leave as reasons, the inspection found that some officers who had not applied for exemption were retained, while others who had applied were dismissed.

CURRENT MANAGEMENT’S RESPONSE

Md Altaf Hossain, acting managing director of the bank, told The Daily Star that he was not aware of the central bank inspection report.

He said the officials were not dismissed based on whether their appointments were valid or invalid.

“The recruitment process followed at that time did not comply with the service rules. Therefore, they were given an opportunity to complete the formalities of their appointments by sitting for an examination.”

However, they did not take the examination, he said, adding that those officials also prevented others from participating in it.

“As a result, their appointments were cancelled because they challenged the institution’s decision. Bangladesh Bank also said that the matter was an internal issue of the institution and that the institution could take a decision in this regard.”

M Kamal Uddin Jasim, additional managing director of the bank, who was in charge of the HR department at that time, told The Daily Star that those who could not sit for the examination at that time were tested later.

Two groups are currently protesting in front of Islami Bank headquarters and Bangladesh Bank. One comprises former employees demanding reinstatement, while the other, the ‘Islami Bank Customers’ Coordination Council’, is demanding the arrest of S Alam Group Chairman Mohammed Saiful Alam, recovery of stolen assets and dissolution of the current boards of directors.

Internet prices in Bangladesh could drop by 40 to 50 percent following the introduction of private submarine cable connections, according to Aminul Hakim, president of the Internet Service Providers Association of Bangladesh (ISPAB).

He noted that internet service providers (ISPs) would be able to purchase bandwidth at roughly half of today’s rates once private submarine cable operators begin supplying the market.

He made the remarks in response to a question at a discussion titled “Affordable internet for all: barriers and solutions to tech giants’ investment in Bangladesh” held at a hotel in Dhaka yesterday. The event was organised by the Telecom and Technology Reporters Network Bangladesh (TRNB).

ISPs currently purchase bandwidth at Tk 120 to Tk 130 per Mbps, said Aminul, who is also chief executive officer of private submarine cable company Metacore Subcom Ltd.

The entry of private submarine cable operators would increase the supply of international bandwidth, create multiple sources and boost competition in the market.

As a result, bandwidth prices could fall by 40 to 50 percent, he said.

Aminul said demand for bandwidth is rising rapidly as internet usage increases in Bangladesh.

He put the country’s current bandwidth demand at around 13,500 Gbps and estimated that it could reach 50,000 to 54,000 Gbps by 2030.

Bangladesh therefore needs to increase capacity through multiple submarine cables and international connectivity while creating greater opportunities for private investment to meet future demand, he said.

Aminul said Bangladesh currently has to import a significant amount of international bandwidth from India. He added that international connectivity is closely linked to the services and infrastructure of global technology companies such as Google, Meta, Akamai and Cloudflare.

However, large technology companies and hyperscalers face significant challenges in investing in Bangladesh because of the monopoly-dependent environment of Bangladesh Submarine Cables PLC, limitations in international connectivity, uninterrupted power supply issues and the absence of favourable policies, he said.

TRNB President Masuduzzaman Robin chaired the event, while former TRNB president Samir Kumar Dey moderated it.

Mahmud Shahed, project head of private submarine cable company Metacore Subcom Ltd, and Moin Uddin Ahmed, treasurer of ISPAB, made two presentations at the event.

The presentations showed that BSCPLC has invested Tk 819.50 crore in two submarine cables -- SEA-ME-WE-4 and SEA-ME-WE-5.

The company generated more than Tk 3,000 crore in revenue between 2008 and 2026 and earned net profits of more than Tk 1,362 crore during the period, according to the presentations.

The presenters, however, said ordinary consumers and internet users were being deprived of the benefits of these investments because of the opportunity for a monopoly business.

However, Bangladesh Submarine Cables earlier said that concerns about a possible shortage of internet bandwidth in the country are unfounded.

The company has said there is currently no shortage in the supply of international bandwidth in Bangladesh and no risk of a shortage in the future. Rather, it has the capacity to supply more bandwidth than current demand.

The World Bank has agreed to support Bangladesh in dealing with external economic shocks related to oil and gas supplies and supply-chain disruptions, Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury said today (22 September).

He said the issue was discussed during Prime Minister Tarique Rahman's meeting with World Bank Group President Ajay Banga at the UN Headquarters in New York.

Khosru briefed reporters in front of the UN Headquarters after the meeting, which lasted about half an hour.

He said the discussions focused on Bangladesh's partnership with the World Bank and how the two sides can work together under the partnership framework to support the country's development trajectory.

"External shocks are creating problems for the economy due to issues related to oil, gas and supply chains, which are beyond Bangladesh's control. We discussed what role the World Bank can play, and it has agreed to come forward with support," the minister said.

He said Bangladesh and the World Bank agreed to work together to ensure that supply-chain disruptions do not hamper the country's development trajectory.

Khosru said the meeting also discussed the government's social programmes, including the Family Card and Farmers' Card, which he said were appreciated by the World Bank.

He said the World Bank will support such programmes, and the two sides also discussed expanding initiatives aimed at creating young entrepreneurs and generating employment.

"We have already rolled out programmes for young entrepreneurs based on 50 percent grants and 50 percent concessional loans. We discussed how we can expand these programmes together with the World Bank," the minister said.

He said the government wants to take youth entrepreneurship and employment programmes to a larger scale so that entrepreneurship among young people can generate more jobs and further employment in the economy.

"The role of the young generation is extremely important in the economic trajectory we are pursuing towards a trillion-dollar economy by 2034," Khosru said.

He said the government will work with the World Bank to provide greater support for young entrepreneurs and create more employment opportunities.

The minister said the meeting also covered the World Bank's role in helping Bangladesh address economic pressures caused by external factors, particularly energy and supply-chain challenges.

"We have to maintain our development trajectory, and we need to ensure that supply-chain problems do not disrupt it. We agreed to work together on how the World Bank and Bangladesh can address these challenges," he said.

Khosru also said the government is seeing positive signs in several areas of the economy.

"We are seeing signs of improvement in the capital market. We are reforming and trying to recapitalise our banks, and there are signs of improvement there. Our exports are increasing, remittances are increasing, and our rating has moved from negative to stable," he said, adding that the signs in the economy are very positive.

The minister said Bangladesh and the World Bank will continue working together to address critical supply-chain problems while sustaining areas of positive economic growth.

Prime Minister's Finance and Planning Adviser Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir was also present at the meeting, which took place on the sidelines of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly.

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman's UN engagements began today with a welcome breakfast hosted by UN Secretary-General António Guterres for heads of delegation and their spouses, followed by the opening session and high-level General Debate of the General Assembly.

During his brief New York stay, the prime minister is scheduled to hold a series of bilateral and high-level meetings with heads of state and government and leaders of international organisations. He is scheduled to address the General Debate on September 24.

A gas and power crisis has hit production at most Bangladeshi garment makers, ​but at 4A Yarn Dyeing, a supplier to Walmart, Gap and Next, workers stitch hoodies and attach brand logos uninterrupted, at ‌least for now.

Since 2019, 4A has generated its own power, including through solar panels, making it an exception in Bangladesh’s garment industry, the world’s second-biggest exporter after China. The Middle East crisis has worsened energy shortages in the country where much of the electricity is generated using natural gas, furnace oil and diesel.
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A recent survey of 134 ​knitwear factories found that 55 percent had seen buyers cancel or cut orders because of gas and power shortages since late August, ​and 78 percent had partially halted production. The factories also reported shipment delays and discounted orders to buyers.

But that’s not yet the case at 4A, whose factory on Dhaka’s outskirts employs nearly 7,500 workers and meets around 40 percent of its electricity needs through solar, ​the rest mainly through its own gas and diesel generation.“We never stayed at a single-source energy dependency. We had backups for everything,” said company co-owner ​Abdullah Hil Nakib. “We need some sort of certainty. But the cost of doing business has increased. First there was a shortage of oil, then a shortage of gas.”

Costlier diesel has pushed 4A’s production costs up by 2 percent to 3 percent, adding up to Tk 5 million ($40,950) to its monthly fuel bill, he said.The pressure on factories intensified on ​Monday after Bangladesh raised fuel prices by up to 17.4 percent, a move the government said was necessary because of soaring global prices and higher shipping ​costs due to the Middle East conflict triggered by US-Israeli attacks on Iran in February.

To reduce future disruptions, 4A plans to install an industrial-scale battery system that ‌would allow operations to continue for several hours if power sources fail.“We’ve been able to absorb the extra costs, but not every factory can afford to do that,” said Nakib, whose factory roofs are nearly covered in solar panels.

STEEP FUEL PRICE HIKE TO PILE MORE PRESSURE

Soaring gas import costs are slowing the country’s industrial growth, causing electricity outages and hurting spending on development projects due to higher gas subsidies, Bangladesh’s power minister said last week.

Bangladesh’s ready-made garment sector ​accounts for more than 80 percent of ​export earnings, employs about 4 million workers and contributes around 10 percent to gross domestic product.

Some manufacturers have incurred additional costs by shipping goods by air or offering discounts to meet delivery deadlines after energy-related disruptions.

“Our margins are already very thin, and the fuel ​price hike will squeeze them further,” said garment exporter Shahidullah Azim. “It is becoming increasingly difficult for us to ​absorb higher production and transportation costs while remaining competitive.”

Azim said a Canadian buyer that had been expected to order 25,000 pieces ultimately placed an order for only 8,000, which he attributed to declining buyer confidence amid Bangladesh’s economic and energy challenges.

Companies may be able to pay higher fuel costs, but gas shortages and power cuts are more worrying ​for some, given that those problems are not as intense in competitors like Vietnam ​and India, said Mohiuddin Rubel, additional managing director of Denim Expert Ltd, which supplies to brands including H&M.

“Whether we hold our position against other sourcing countries or lose ground to them ​depends on how well we manage it,” he said.