BD Joins Apostille Convention to Save Tk 600 Crore Annually

The government has increased the monthly salaries of outsourced workers in state-owned and state-run organizations for the first time in six years, raising pay by Tk 570 to Tk 1,102 depending on city and job category. The finance ministry’s new circular also introduces three additional job categories, bringing more types of specialized workers under the revised pay structure.

The Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (Bida) is set to launch the Bangladesh Business Portal, a unified digital platform to streamline all trade and investment-related services. Currently, Bida’s One Stop Service (OSS) platform hosts 134 services from 44 agencies, but many key services are still missing, causing confusion among users.

The government has approved a major support project for the Bay Terminal at Chattogram port, focusing on marine infrastructure development with a budget of Tk 13,525.57 crore. The project, considered crucial for Bangladesh’s growing economy due to the lack of a true deep-sea port, will include building a breakwater and improving port connectivity.

Interest rates on Bangladesh’s government treasury bills (T-bills) have risen again this month, signaling persistent liquidity pressures in the banking sector and growing government reliance on bank borrowing to fund expenditures. Recent auctions saw yields climb to 11.58% for 91-day bills, 11.85% for 182-day, and 11.94% for 364-day, higher than earlier in the month and well above rates from a month ago.

The Bangladeshi government has aligned its revenue collection and spending targets for the 2025-26 fiscal year with the recommendations of a taskforce focused on economic growth strategies. The interim government has also updated its medium-term macroeconomic framework to accommodate future taskforce proposals.

UK-based firms have shown interest in investing up to $50 million to help Bangladesh recover an estimated $25 billion allegedly laundered abroad during the 16-year Awami League regime. The initiative, led by Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H Mansur and supported by the interim government, involves 11 specialist teams tracing illicit transfers linked to 11 influential families.