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Getting or renewing a trade licence in Bangladesh now comes with an extra step: showing you accept Bangla QR payments. The Local Government Division has instructed city corporations, municipalities and district administrations to make Bangla QR integration a condition of licensing, and this month it told them to start enforcing it in the field. The rule builds on a year of escalating central bank mandates, backed by fines up to Tk30 lakh and jail time for banks and payment providers that don't comply.

Bangladesh's cabinet has walked away from a planned floating LNG terminal at Kutubjom that would have cost up to Tk13,161 crore over 20 years, choosing instead to buy nine LNG cargoes on the spot and government to government markets. Days later, in Bangkok, a China Exim Bank delegation told the power minister it wants to speed up financing for Payra power plant's expansion and for grid upgrades around Dhaka. Together, the two moves show a government juggling short term energy costs against the financing it needs to fix the system long term.

Bangladesh's Capital Market Stabilisation Fund went 26 months without a governing board, until the securities regulator finally named a new seven member interim panel this week. The fund, worth about Tk1,700 crore in unclaimed dividends and stocks, is meant to protect small investors, but a legal dispute over whether Bangladesh Bank should control it left the whole structure frozen since 2024. BSEC now wants a dedicated law to settle the question for good, with a draft expected to reach parliament soon.

Bangladesh's Cabinet Division has told every ministry and its subordinate offices to submit, by October 25, a time bound plan for rewriting the laws, rules and systems that still assume a July to June fiscal year. The instruction is the first real test of the government's August decision to shift the fiscal year to April through March starting in 2028-29. A separate, smaller deadline change lands the same week, with the tax authority pushing back the VAT return filing date to October 25 as well.

Five months after walking away from its $5.5 billion IMF programme eight months early, Bangladesh is back at the negotiating table in Bangkok, asking for a fresh loan of $4.5 to $5 billion. The new request comes as the country's revenue to GDP ratio has fallen to just 7 percent and bad loans in the banking sector have climbed to roughly a third of all lending. Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury says talks are expected to conclude by the end of the year, with disbursements running in quarterly instalments through December 2029.

Bangladesh currently holds just 0.49% of the UK's import market, and officials say doubling that share to 1% could be worth $10 billion a year in exports. Non-garment goods make up only about 6% of what Bangladesh sells to the UK today, even though demand exists for processed food, pharmaceuticals, footwear and furniture. A UK trade scheme will keep most of that access duty free even after Bangladesh's graduation from least developed country status, but exporters still need to close gaps in standards and certification.

Bangladesh's nine foreign commercial banks saw combined net profit fall 38% to Tk2,321 crore in the first half of 2026, hit by weak trade financing and energy shortages. At the same time, many domestic listed banks posted strong profit growth, driven almost entirely by investment income from government securities rather than new lending. Foreign banks still carry a far lower bad loan ratio and much stronger capital buffers than the sector average.

Bangladesh's labour ministry is asking garment factory owners and workers to nominate representatives for a new minimum wage board, a day after workers in Uttara blocked traffic demanding a monthly wage of Tk30,000. The current minimum wage of Tk12,500 was set in December 2023, and labour leaders say a legally required review is already overdue. Factory owners and unions disagree on exactly when the next wage board is due, a dispute that could delay fresh pay rises well into 2027 or 2028.

The Bangladesh Jewellers Association cut 22 carat gold by Tk3,266 a bhori on October 13 to Tk228,031, just four days after raising the same rate by Tk2,216. It is the latest swing in a price that has moved in both directions since late September, from Tk232,930 on September 26 to Tk231,297 on October 9 to Tk228,031 now. Silver was cut on the same schedule, with 22 carat silver down Tk117 a bhori to Tk4,199.

State-owned Sonali Bank has lent Tk7,000 crore to National Bank, fully guaranteed by Bangladesh Bank, after about 7,500 withdrawal requests arrived at the troubled lender in three days. The loan is meant to help National Bank meet an October 15 deadline to resume full withdrawals. The bank still owes the central bank over Tk10,000 crore from an earlier unpaid loan, a reminder of how deep its problems, rooted in the Sikder family era, still run.

Bangladesh has asked the World Bank for up to $10 billion in additional financing over the next three years to cover energy subsidies, bank recapitalisation and essential imports. In exchange, Dhaka has pledged to cut project approval times from 18 months to eight and implementation from seven years to five. The request, made at the Bangkok annual meetings, runs alongside a separate negotiation with the IMF over a $4.5 billion loan.

The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission has ruled that no listed company can present a cash dividend proposal at its AGM unless the full amount is already deposited in a separate bank account and certified. The move follows recent cases of non-compliance and comes with a warning of punitive action. In the same meeting, the regulator eased the approval process for reappointing independent directors, requiring only a clean credit report rather than a fresh review each time.

The International Monetary Fund has slashed its growth forecast for Bangladesh's current fiscal year to 3.2 percent and now expects inflation to average 10.9 percent, a level not seen since 2011. The downgrade, released at the IMF and World Bank's annual meetings in Bangkok, is steeper than forecasts from the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. It lands just as Dhaka is negotiating fresh financing from both institutions to cover energy and fertiliser subsidies.

Bangladesh Bank has relaxed a board rule specifically for BRAC Bank, letting its largest shareholder appoint up to three representative directors instead of just one. The 12 October circular benefits BRAC, which an official said holds 46 percent of the bank's shares. It is the second such case-specific exemption this year, after a similar one for Trust Bank in March.

Foreign investors sent 28 percent less money into Bangladesh in the first half of 2026 than a year earlier, Bangladesh Bank data show. Net equity capital inflows, widely seen as the clearest sign of fresh investor commitment, fell 55 percent to just $155 million. Economists point to energy shortages, trade disruptions and broader macroeconomic strain as the main reasons behind the slide.

Bangladeshi businesses opened $8.10 billion worth of import letters of credit in September, the highest monthly total in 53 months. The figure marks a 22.37 percent jump from a year earlier, but bankers say the surge is being driven mostly by rising prices for fuel, fertiliser and raw materials, not rising order volumes. Middle East tensions pushing up global oil prices are a key reason behind the higher import bill.

Dhaka's benchmark DSEX index fell 46 points to close at 5,404 on Monday, as worsening gas and electricity shortages continued to rattle investors. Nearly four in five listed companies lost value, and turnover dropped to Tk453 crore, down more than a fifth from the previous session. Analysts say energy disruptions are starting to show up in corporate earnings, even as falling treasury bill yields make some stocks look comparatively cheap.

All three Bangladesh Treasury bill tenors fell below 8% at auction on 11 October for the first time since October 2023, with the 91-day rate dropping 48 basis points in a single week to 7.65%. The decline is driven by a liquidity glut, with excess bank liquidity crossing Tk408,000 crore even as private sector credit growth has stayed below 5% for six straight months. Bankers say the falling yields reflect banks parking surplus cash in safer government securities rather than a healthy lending environment, and the trend could eventually pull fixed deposit rates lower too.

The Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority paid Tk26.37 crore to 7,641 policyholders on 4 October, its largest settlement round yet and the third in a rolling drive that has now cleared Tk63.91 crore for 16,058 policyholders since early September. Padma Islami Life Insurance policyholders received the biggest share of the latest round, Tk9 crore to 2,348 people, with five other life insurers also represented. The payments come from insurers' own assets and government securities rather than a government bailout, part of a push by IDRA Chairman Mir Nadia Nivin to rebuild confidence in a sector where claims have sat unpaid for years.

Bangladesh Bank has proposed a currency cooperation plan to the Maldives Monetary Authority aimed at making it easier for more than 100,000 Bangladeshi workers in the Maldives to send money home. The move comes after formal remittances from the Maldives fell about 16.4% in FY2025-26 to roughly $118 million, even as the Bangladeshi workforce there has stayed above 100,000. The plan floats rufiyaa settlement through the Asian Clearing Union, taka denominated travel cards, and a possible bilateral currency swap, though all three still need regulatory approval from both sides.

Bangladesh Bank Governor Md Mostaqur Rahman says recovering the capital drained from the country's banking system will cost Tk60,000 crore a year for five to eight years, money that could otherwise have supported 2 crore families or built two Padma Bridges. He says a third of the system's funds had already been stolen by the time he took office, and central bank data show non performing loans have climbed to 32.78% of all outstanding credit. Industry trackers now rank Bangladesh's bad loan ratio as the worst of any country they follow, ahead of war torn Ukraine.

Bangladesh Bank has issued its first comprehensive guidelines for Islamic credit cards, replacing interest based charges with a fixed service fee and turning late payment penalties into a pre agreed charity donation that cannot escalate. Here is how an Islamic card now differs from a conventional one, and what the new fraud protection and cooling off rules mean if you carry one.

Bangladesh's GDP grew 4.60% year on year in the April to June quarter, more than double the same period last year, driven almost entirely by a rebound in manufacturing. Full year FY26 growth settled at 3.68% after three uneven quarters. Here is what the numbers actually show, and why several economists say a weak base, not a true turnaround, explains most of the jump.

After months of rationed withdrawals and a High Court petition from depositors, Bangladesh Bank has agreed to inject fresh liquidity into National Bank PLC so it can meet withdrawal demand in full. The bank's board says every branch and ATM will serve customers on demand from October 15. Here is how National Bank, with a non performing loan ratio above 59 percent, got here, and what it means for its depositors and borrowers.

Bangladesh Bank has raised the amount of cash US dollars a traveler can buy from a money changer in one transaction, from $2,000 to $3,000. The move follows last month's hike in the annual travel quota to $18,000. Here is how the limits have evolved since 2024, and what it means if you are planning a trip abroad.

Bangladesh Bank left its benchmark policy rate unchanged at 9.5 percent on September 30, opting for caution in the first quarterly monetary policy statement it has issued under a new schedule tied to an IMF condition. Deputy Governor Md Habibur Rahman pointed to stubborn non food inflation of 9.32 percent and private credit growth of just 4.75 percent as reasons to hold steady so soon after an August rate cut. Days later, Bangladesh Bank's own data showed point to point inflation climbing back to 8.34 percent in September, breaking three months of cooling and arguably vindicating the central bank's reluctance to ease further. The World Bank's decision to cut its FY27 growth forecast to 3.4 percent within a week of the policy statement adds another reason the central bank may be glad it waited.

Bajus cut the price of 22-carat gold by Tk1,691 per bhori on October 5, then reversed course four days later with a Tk2,216 increase, leaving the metal at Tk2,31,297 per bhori as of October 10. The whiplash is nothing new this year, jewelers have revised rates more than 90 times since January, roughly one adjustment every two days, as local pure-gold costs track a volatile international bullion market and the taka-dollar rate. Even after the latest climb, the price sits well below the record Tk2,86,001 per bhori touched earlier in the year, though it is still running about 10.6 percent above where it stood in October 2025.

After three straight months of easing, Bangladesh's point to point inflation rose to 8.34 percent in September, up from a ten month low of 8.26 percent in August, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics data show. Food prices did almost all the damage, rising to 7.22 percent even as non food inflation held steady. The uptick lands the same week a World Bank report found nearly half of Bangladesh's poorest households get no safety net support at all, a reminder that an eight basis point move in the national average can still mean real hardship for families with the least room to absorb it.

Bangladesh's taka strengthened against the dollar in both July and August even as domestic inflation ran near 9 percent, pushing Bangladesh Bank's Real Effective Exchange Rate index up to 105.37, a level that signals the currency is now overvalued against its trading partners. An unnamed Bangladesh Bank official has said the central bank should consider letting the taka depreciate, warning that export earnings could suffer if it stays this strong. The timing is awkward: the warning lands just as Bangladesh's exports climbed 6.3 percent to 13.1 billion dollars in the first quarter of FY27, raising the question of how much of that recovery a persistently overvalued currency can allow to continue.

Sales of national savings certificates jumped nearly 57 percent in July and August compared with a year earlier, National Savings Directorate figures show, as savers chased returns that still beat most bank deposits. The surge arrived just as the government itself leaned harder on commercial banks, with net borrowing from the banking system rising by about Tk13,000 crore in the same two months, a sharp reversal from last year's net repayments. Together the two trends sketch a government financing a revenue shortfall through whichever channel is available, from the post office counter to the commercial banking system.