Twelve months later, the country is navigating a fragile path toward democratic restoration, grappling with economic stabilisation and sweeping reforms at home, even as it recalibrates delicate relationships abroad.

International Finance examines how the “July Revolution” and its aftermath have reshaped Bangladesh’s political landscape, economy, and foreign policy one year later, highlighting the key reforms, challenges, and international dynamics.

Fallout of the student-led revolution

The immediate trigger for Hasina’s downfall was a wave of student protests ignited by a controversial affirmative action quota in public sector jobs.

In 2024, Bangladesh’s Supreme Court reinstated a policy reserving 30% of government jobs for the descendants of 1971 independence war veterans. This move outraged young graduates, who demanded merit-based hiring in a country already plagued by youth unemployment.

Long-simmering mass grievances over scarce jobs, economic inequality, and perceived cronyism under Hasina’s Awami League government boiled over. Protesters saw the quota as emblematic of a system that rewarded the ruling party’s loyalists at the expense of ordinary citizens, following years of alleged high-level corruption and authoritarian drift in Hasina’s administration.

What began as campus demonstrations escalated into nationwide unrest by mid-July 2024, met by a heavy-handed crackdown. Security forces used live fire and mass arrests in an attempt to quell the uprising, resulting in significant bloodshed. Rights groups like Amnesty International blamed Hasina’s government for using excessive force, which caused the deaths of students, journalists, and bystanders.

In total, over a thousand people were killed in the weeks of chaos that paralysed Dhaka and other cities. The violence only fuelled public outrage. By early August 2024, tens of thousands of demonstrators were marching on the Prime Minister’s residence, defacing images of Hasina and demanding her resignation. Facing insurmountable pressure, Hasina finally resigned on August 5, 2024, and fled the country under military escort with her family, seeking refuge in India.

Sheikh Hasina’s abrupt exit precipitated a constitutional crisis. With the elected government’s collapse, an interim administration was hastily assembled to fill the power vacuum. On August 8, 2024, Muhammad Yunus, the famed microfinance pioneer and the country’s only Nobel Peace Prize winner, was sworn in as Chief Adviser by the figurehead President.

This caretaker government, consisting of technocrats and respected civil society figures, was tasked with restoring order and guiding Bangladesh back to democracy. Yunus vowed to hold credible elections, reform the political system, and deliver justice for those killed during the protests. The student revolution, known colloquially as the “July Revolution,” had upended Bangladesh’s dynastic politics overnight, dismantling the long-entrenched Awami League rule. However, the challenges of governing a polarised nation in the aftermath proved daunting, and the initial euphoria of change soon gave way to the messy reality of transition.

The interim government

As interim leader, Muhammad Yunus set an ambitious agenda to stabilise Bangladesh’s democracy and economy. Yunus, internationally lauded for his anti-poverty work with Grameen Bank, had instant credibility and strong backing from Western donors and the United Nations.

Domestically, however, his unelected government faced “massive expectations to restore democracy and prosperity” without any popular mandate or political party base. To build trust, Yunus brought in several experienced technocrats for key positions. For example, he appointed former IMF economist Ahsan H Mansur as the new governor of Bangladesh Bank to spearhead financial reforms. He also reconstituted the Anti-Corruption Commission with respected figures, signalling a break from past regimes accused of shielding the powerful.

In its early months, the interim government focused on halting violence and initiating institutional reforms. Notably, enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings, which were the hallmarks of the previous government’s repression, ceased under the Yunus administration.

Yunus opened dialogues with opposition parties to discuss overhauling the constitution, judiciary, and law enforcement before any vote. Some proposed political reforms included imposing term limits for prime ministers, creating a two-chamber parliament, and appointing an empowered Chief Justice independent of the executive. These ideas aimed to prevent a return to one-party dominance and to strengthen checks and balances after years of democratic backsliding.

To assess the scale of economic damage and corruption left behind, Yunus’ cabinet commissioned a 12-member committee to produce a “white paper” on Bangladesh’s finances. The findings, released in late 2024, were staggering. During Hasina’s tenure, an estimated C$326 billion had been syphoned out of Bangladesh through illicit financial outflows, averaging C$22 billion per year.

The report identified 10 banks as technically bankrupt, exposed inflated costs in public infrastructure projects, and estimated that up to 40% of the government’s annual development budget had been embezzled by insiders. These revelations highlighted the institutional rot and graft that the new government inherited, strengthening Yunus’ resolve to “root out corruption and recover Bangladesh’s stolen wealth.”

Armed with this diagnosis, the interim authorities pursued urgent remedial measures. Bangladesh Bank’s leadership, under Mansur, moved swiftly to address a looming banking crisis. The bank was raising interest rates to tame surging inflation, dissolving and replacing the boards of 11 troubled banks, and launching efforts to recover non-performing loans and repatriate money illicitly sent abroad.

Anti-corruption prosecutors opened high-profile investigations into politically connected tycoons who benefited under Hasina’s patronage. By year’s end, the government had attached or frozen assets worth over Tk 1.75 trillion belonging to about a dozen influential business groups suspected of large-scale loan fraud and money laundering. Such moves marked the start of a clean-up of Bangladesh’s financial system, though they also risked unsettling some domestic business interests.

Financial stabilisation efforts

One year after the uprising, economic stabilisation remains a central preoccupation of the Yunus administration. When they took office, Bangladesh’s economy was fragile, rocked by unrest, burdened with debt and deficits. Although the country had enjoyed robust GDP growth averaging 6–7% for much of Hasina’s tenure, deep structural weaknesses became increasingly evident by 2024.

Youth unemployment was alarmingly high, with 83% of all unemployed individuals being under 30 years old. Inflation was in double digits. The political turmoil in mid-2024 delivered an immediate economic shock as factory output, exports, and investor confidence all plummeted amid strikes, curfews, and internet blackouts.

The vital garment industry, accounting for 85% of export earnings, reported over C$547 million in lost orders and production disruptions in the weeks following the revolution. By some estimates, 2.1 million jobs were lost between July and December 2024 as businesses downsized or shut down, with women, especially garment workers, bearing over 85% of those job losses.

The interim government negotiated emergency support from international lenders to prevent a financial meltdown. Bangladesh was already under a $6.4 billion IMF loan programme, and in December 2024, Yunus requested additional IMF financing to shore up dwindling foreign exchange reserves. The IMF and World Bank imposed strict conditions. Bangladesh had to restore fiscal discipline, raise revenues, reform its exchange rate policy, and restructure its ailing banking sector.

Meeting these benchmarks was arduous, but Dhaka made notable progress by mid-2025. The central bank’s monetary tightening helped cool inflation from 11.7% in July 2024 to around 9.0% by May 2025. The government also took politically delicate steps like adopting a unified, market-driven exchange rate and cutting public spending.

In fact, the national budget unveiled for FY2025–26 was slightly smaller than the previous year’s, marking the first time in Bangladesh’s history that an annual budget shrank year-on-year. This unprecedented belt-tightening, tax administration reforms, including abolishing the old National Board of Revenue to create two new revenue authorities, satisfied the IMF’s requirements.

In return, by mid-2025, the IMF released about C$1.76 billion in delayed programme funds, while the World Bank and other donors also unlocked fresh financing for Bangladesh. These inflows stabilised the forex reserves and reassured markets that Bangladesh would avert a balance-of-payments crisis.

Some crucial economic indicators have started to improve. Export earnings rebounded strongly in late 2024 and early 2025. Also, between July 2024 and May 2025, merchandise exports were up by C$5.4 billion compared to the same period a year prior, with ready-made garment exports growing about 10% despite the turmoil.

This export resilience, aided by the more competitive exchange rate, helped Bangladesh maintain a current account balance. Nevertheless, serious weaknesses persist. The GDP growth rate is projected to slow to only 3.3% in the 2024–25 fiscal year, down from over 6% in previous years, reflecting depressed investment and consumer confidence.

Private sector credit growth remains sluggish due to banks’ bad loan burdens. Unemployment and underemployment are still acute, as millions of young people entering the workforce each year are not finding adequate work, raising the risk of further social discontent.

Critics note that while the interim government stabilised macroeconomic fundamentals, it has yet to enact deeper structural reforms to spur new industries or significantly boost job creation. For example, despite Yunus’ past advocacy for higher garment worker wages, his government has not yet raised the minimum wage or unveiled major stimulus for employment generation.

The economic recovery remains fragile and heavily contingent on political stability and continued policy discipline. Any resurgence of unrest or loss of reform momentum could easily set back the gains of the past year, economists warn.

Roadmap to political stabilisation

Following the revolution, Bangladesh finds itself in a fluid and fragmented landscape. The old Awami League-led order has been dismantled, and Hasina’s party was formally banned in May 2025. Several of its top leaders now face prosecution, but the contours of the new order are still taking shape.

In the vacuum left by the Awami League, new and resurgent forces are vying for influence. The student activists who spearheaded the uprising have coalesced into a new political party, with the stated goal of breaking the dominance of the country’s two dynastic mainstream parties.

Meanwhile, the Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami, which had been banned from politics for over a decade, has re-entered the scene, allying itself with the youthful revolutionary movement. Jamaat’s return is highly polarising, as it is an Islamist party that once opposed Bangladesh’s independence in 1971. Its renewed strength is uncertain, but its leaders clearly see an opening to fill the void left by Hasina’s ouster.

Managing these factions and delivering on the promise of fresh elections has proven tricky for Yunus. Upon taking power, he dissolved the parliament in August 2024 and asserted that new national elections would be held once essential reforms were implemented.

Initially, the interim government indicated a vote could occur by April 2026, about 20 months after Hasina’s fall. Yunus has insisted that key governance changes must be enacted before a return to elected rule, ensuring that the next government inherits a fairer system. This includes constitutional amendments and strengthening independent institutions that were eroded under the previous regime.

However, consensus on the timeline and scope of reforms remains elusive. The BNP was the main opposition under Hasina and is now eager for a quick election, sensing an opportunity to finally gain power through the ballot box after boycotting the flawed 2024 polls.

BNP leaders argue that the interim government’s legitimacy will wane if it overstays or delays a democratic transition. By contrast, the Jamaat-e-Islami and many student revolutionaries favour giving Yunus’ administration more time to implement reforms thoroughly before holding a vote. This debate has become a flashpoint in Bangladeshi politics.

One analyst noted, “There’s a divide between those who want to see reforms through and give them more time, and those who feel it’s time to wrap things up and focus on elections.”

The disagreement even extends into state institutions. Bangladesh’s army chief reportedly urged holding elections by December 2025, several months earlier than Yunus’ schedule, a suggestion the interim civilian leadership resisted.

The post-revolution honeymoon has clearly ended, replaced by wrangling and mistrust among erstwhile allies. While all major parties profess support for democratic revival, each fears losing advantage. The student-led movement and Jamaat worry that a premature election could allow BNP stalwarts to replace one entrenched establishment with another. On the other hand, the BNP accuses the student leaders of being too close to the Yunus regime and using state institutions to advance their own agenda.

Yunus himself walks a tightrope as he must maintain neutrality and stability, even as segments of the population grow impatient for elected representation. His government’s crackdown on residual pockets of Awami League loyalists has drawn criticism from Hasina’s camp as political persecution, although many in Bangladesh see it as overdue accountability for an authoritarian regime.

At the same time, human rights issues have not disappeared as violence against religious minorities spiked amid the power shift, and community leaders complain the interim authorities have struggled to protect vulnerable groups from mob attacks and Islamist hardliners.

Human Rights Watch acknowledged that enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings declined under Yunus but urged faster reforms to “create robust, independent institutions” that safeguard rights long-term. As Bangladesh edges toward an election, likely in 2025 or early 2026, the success of its political transition will hinge on balancing these tensions. Electoral laws are being revised to ensure a free and fair vote. For instance, discussions are underway about reconstituting the Election Commission and updating voter rolls with input from all parties.

Civil society is pushing for the deployment of neutral election observers and perhaps even the United Nations’ technical assistance to strengthen credibility. Yunus has hinted that he might step aside before the polls if a consensus political framework is achieved, to allow a fully neutral caretaker to oversee the voting.

While such a move might reassure critics who see him as overly partisan, it could also sow fresh uncertainty. The path to democracy remains unfinished, and time is running out. The interim government’s mandate ends once an elected administration takes office, making it imperative to implement reforms and conduct elections that earn broad legitimacy. Failure to do so risks reigniting street unrest—or worse, inviting military intervention, a scenario Bangladesh is determined to prevent.

Democracy’s defining test ahead

Politically, the clock is ticking for Yunus to deliver the promised new election and hand over power. Continued disagreements over the reform timetable or the rules of the election could spark renewed street agitation, and indeed, sporadic protests have already flared as various groups push their demands, some too volatile in nature.

Maintaining public trust is critical, and the interim government must be seen as an honest broker setting the stage for real democracy, rather than clinging to power or favouring one faction. Yunus’s suggestion that he may step down early, if necessary, reflects an acute awareness of public perception. Ultimately, the credibility of Bangladesh’s democratic transition will hinge on how the upcoming elections are managed, particularly their inclusivity, fairness, and broad acceptance. Only then can Bangladesh move beyond its legacy of flawed polls and entrenched one-party rule.

Internationally, the country will need to continue balancing competing interests. The infusion of Chinese funds is helpful, but overreliance on any single patron could compromise the nation’s strategic autonomy. Likewise, repairing ties with India, the regional hegemon, may be unavoidable for economic and security reasons in the long run. And while courting Western trade and aid, Bangladesh must address their concerns about labour rights and transparency to avoid punitive measures like tariffs or sanctions.

A South Asia analyst aptly noted, “Post-revolution honeymoons often don’t last long, and Bangladesh is no exception.”

The real work of building a stable, prosperous, and democratic Bangladesh is just beginning, and it will require steadfast commitment to reform and consensus-building well beyond this first year of dramatic change.

The coming months up to the planned 2025/26 election will be crucial. If the interim leadership succeeds in preserving stability, enacting vital institutional reforms, and delivering credible elections, Bangladesh could emerge from this period of upheaval with renewed strength and democratic resilience.

If not, the country risks sliding back into political uncertainty or conflict, squandering the hard-fought gains of the past year. A cautious optimism persists that Bangladesh’s darkest days of July 2024 have given way to a new dawn of possibility, albeit one that will demand patience and perseverance.

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Bangladesh was perceived internationally as having a rapid economic development trajectory as recently as 2022. But as of right now, nothing more exemplifies how Bangladesh’s economic success story is coming apart than its desperate pleas for a fresh $3 billion bailout from the IMF, $1.5 billion from the World Bank, $1 billion from the Asian Development Bank, and cooperation from the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

Before the global economic consequences from the Ukraine war started to weigh on Bangladesh’s finances, the Sheikh Hasina regime brought political stability and great economic growth to Bangladesh, despite her almost 15-year reign growing increasingly dictatorial.

Bangladesh’s growth and stability stand in contrast to Pakistan’s ongoing political and economic challenges. The two countries diverged in 1971 following a liberation war marked by significant violence and loss of life.

Uncertainty awaits

After Sheikh Hasina was overthrown in a youth-led uprising, the military chose an interim civilian-led government that is currently fighting to reestablish the rule of law and revitalise an economy severely damaged by widespread mob violence and destruction. Bangladeshi politics has historically involved the military as a major actor. The military’s influence over the government in a democratic context is concerning, and in Bangladesh, this has contributed to significant instability.

Apart from hundreds of deaths during the anti-government protests, the new regime contended that some of the rioters had stolen weaponry from law enforcement and other persons. Additionally, mobs in Dhaka took some police officers hostage, resulting in the deaths of at least 44 officers.

Political tensions have increased due to the new government’s involvement in human rights violations, including purges, arbitrary detentions, and restrictions on freedom of speech. Many individuals, including academics, journalists, and political opponents, have faced serious charges that led to their imprisonment.

Recently, a 75-year-old retired Supreme Court justice was severely beaten in a magistrate’s court, suffering injuries that required emergency surgery. This raises concerns about whether Bangladesh might follow a similar path to Pakistan, where ongoing political dysfunction and economic challenges have resulted in persistent conflict. In Pakistan, elections have struggled to reduce the military’s influence over politics.

In Bangladesh, the military has increasingly taken on a prominent role in national decision-making, with the army commander emerging as a key leader. Former military general M. Sakhawat Hussain, now a minister in the interim government, made headlines by threatening political extortionists, stating he had “asked the army leader to break your legs.”

The 84-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus is in charge of an interim government that is unconstitutional.

Bangladesh’s economy is in terrible shape, with foreign reserves fast depleting, prices skyrocketing, the banking system in disarray, and most economic activity coming to a complete halt. Regaining the trust of international investors will be difficult in light of the widespread looting, vandalism, and arson that have occurred since July 2024. Travel advisories to Bangladesh are still in force for many nations.

The resurgence of some groups poses a serious challenge to law and order in Bangladesh, similar to the situation in Pakistan.

While Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government had taken strong measures against faction groups, recent protests led to the release of hundreds of radical elements from jails. Attacks on jails started more than two weeks before the overthrow of the government, but they picked up steam following Hasina’s forcible flight to India.

In a televised speech on August 5, Bangladesh’s chief of army, General Waker-uz-Zaman, announced Sheikh Hasina’s resignation and departure, saying he was “taking full responsibility” and would assist in “forming an interim administration.”

However, a partisan administration of three former military generals, a hard-line Islamist cleric, and two student protest leaders have taken office in place of a broad-based government of national unity.

Bangladesh is currently experiencing significant political divisions, which have contributed to cycles of violence and retaliation. Without efforts toward national healing and reconciliation, these divisions are likely to lead to increased tensions and economic instability.

The current status of economy

The economy of Bangladesh may confront new difficulties as a result of the present political unrest. A downturn in economic growth will be among the most noticeable effects right away since volatility breeds doubt and erodes investor confidence.

Official figures denote that the GDP of the nation has grown by 6.6% annually on average during the last ten years. According to Moody’s ratings agency, this growth for the year ending in June 2025 will be significantly less than 6%.

To get the nation’s economy back on track, the Muhammad Yunus-led interim administration must promote political stability and restore law and order.

Before the latest round of upheaval, Bangladesh was already dealing with several economic difficulties. Among these has been a protracted period of high inflation since 2022. In July, the rate of inflation surged to a record 14.1%, with food inflation reaching a 12-year high of 11.66%.

The current situation is likely to persist. Supply chain disruptions from movement restrictions during the unrest have led to shortages, and high inflation is affecting lower-income individuals more significantly.

In Bangladesh, unemployment and the slow emergence of new jobs, particularly among educated youth, have long been problems. Currently, over twice as many Bangladeshi people as the worldwide average, 40% of those between the ages of 15 and 24, are not enrolled in school, employed, or receiving training.

Private sector investment in the country, a significant source of employment creation, has remained flat. Furthermore, the current unrest will provide additional harm to the investment environment.

From $48 billion (£36.6 billion) in August 2021 to just over $18 billion (£13.8 billion) in May 2024, Bangladesh’s foreign exchange reserves have dropped significantly. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) set a minimum reserve requirement for countries to clear import payments, which the current level of reserves hardly matches.

A protracted period of unrest can lead to a worsening of the situation as export and remittance income decline. Having accounted for two-thirds of the GDP per capita increase in Bangladesh between 2001 and 2020, these are the country’s two main sources of growth.

Repairing the economy

The primary goal of the transitional administration will be to prepare the way for a smooth handoff to more permanent leadership. It will also probably have to deal with the urgent economic issues facing the nation.

Dealing with inflation is an urgent priority. The central bank has been under fire in recent years from IMF and Bangladeshi economists for improper use of monetary policy. For example, despite mounting inflationary pressure, interest rates on bank deposits and loans were limited to 6% and 9%, respectively, between April 2020 and June 2023.

The government, under Sheikh Hasina’s leadership since 2009, also took out large loans from the central bank to improve its appalling tax mobilisation efforts. However, because borrowing from the central bank increases the amount of money in circulation, it typically increases inflationary pressure.

With the appointment of renowned economist Ahsan H Mansur as the new governor of the central bank, there is optimism that the bank will carry out its mandate.

However, a large number of the economic issues facing Bangladesh are systemic. Reforms are required, for instance, in the banking industry to address problems including excessively high loan default rates, subpar governance, and insufficient risk management procedures.

According to data from the Bangladesh Bank, 11% of loans are either not repaid at all or are subject to late repayment. However, the real percentage is probably far higher.

To guarantee that banks implement sound financial practices, greater regulatory monitoring and greater openness are required. The interim administration has declared that a banking commission will be established shortly.

In addition, Bangladesh collects far less tax money than other nations of comparable development. The next administration will have to increase tax compliance, expand the tax base, and boost revenue collection effectiveness.

Public spending should be able to rise as a result of these measures. In comparison to similar countries, Bangladesh’s public spending has decreased significantly in recent years, accounting for only 15% of GDP. Over Hasina’s 15 years in office, around $150 billion (£115 billion) was embezzled from the nation.

According to the US-based think tank Global Financial Integrity, most of the stolen money came from bank loans that corporations and influential people took out.

Lastly, Bangladesh must stop depending so much on the clothing sector. With ready-made clothing making up 85% of all export earnings, it is the nation’s largest export sector by far.

However, broadening the export market would not be a simple task. In 2026, Bangladesh is expected to leave the United Nations’ list of the least developed nations. Consequently, it is unlikely that the nation will gain the commercial advantages it already enjoys in other nations, including having no export taxes.

Furthermore, the nation receives relatively little foreign direct investment. The new government needs to move toward trade liberalisation, easing investment restrictions, and removing structural obstacles like financing availability to make investing in Bangladeshi companies more alluring to foreign investors.

Right now, Bangladesh stands at a critical juncture as it navigates the aftermath of a turbulent revolution and the establishment of a military-backed interim government. While the nation previously enjoyed rapid economic growth, the current climate is marked by severe financial instability, escalating inflation, and significant political divisions. The urgent need for international loans highlights the economic challenges ahead, including restoring investor confidence and addressing systemic banking issues.

As the new administration seeks to stabilise the country, it must prioritise political reconciliation and implement essential reforms. Only through unity and effective governance can Bangladesh hope to regain its footing and work towards a sustainable economic future, moving beyond its reliance on the garment sector and fostering a more diverse and resilient economy.

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Following a more than 50% increase in gasoline prices by the government, protesters have recently taken to the streets. The cost of importing fuel has increased, and Bangladesh’s economy and foreign exchange reserves have suffered as a result of the conflict in Ukraine.

According to Khandker Anwarul Islam, the cabinet secretary for Bangladesh, schools – which were previously only closed on Fridays- would now also be shut on Saturdays. Schools in Bangladesh are typically open six days a week: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Banks and government buildings will now only be open for seven hours per day as opposed to eight. Private offices, however, will be able to choose their own business hours, according to Islam. He continued by saying that the government would keep supplying power to villages including in the early hours of the morning when crops are irrigated.

Many areas of Bangladesh have been known to experience daily power outages lasting longer than two hours. The majority of the nation’s electricity is produced by natural gas.

Due to the escalating expense of fuel imports, authorities have shut down all of Bangladesh’s diesel-powered power facilities, which produce around 6% of the nation’s electricity. Earlier this month, the price of gasoline was increased by more than 50%, going from 86 taka (90 US cents, 76p) to 130 taka per litre. Diesel and kerosene prices increased by over 40% at the same time.

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

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Bangladesh has sought the funds for its balance of payment and budgetary needs, as well as for efforts to deal with climate change. It is said that Finance Minister A H M Mustafa Kamal wrote to IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva on July 24.

Bangladesh Bank recently announced that the import of luxury products, fruits, non-cereal foods, canned goods, and processed foods would be discouraged as a policy to preserve dollars.

The bank’s foreign exchange reserves decreased from $45.5 billion a year earlier to $39.67 billion as of July 20. This amount is still enough to cover imports for more than five months.

According to central bank data, Bangladesh’s July to May current account deficit was $17.2bn, compared with a deficit of $2.78bn in the year-earlier period. In the first 11 months of the fiscal year that ended on June 30, imports jumped 39% but exports grew only 34%.

Shamsul Alam, junior planning minister, said that authorities were grappling with a crisis because of rising international fuel prices after the Russian attack on Ukraine. “Our balance of payments is in the negative zone. We need to stabilize our exchange rate,” he said.

Alam said the government had rolled out austerity measures in addition to electricity rationing, including import curbs and cuts to development spending.

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“The opportunities opening out in the international water sector are driving year’s Global Water Summit Paris to be the biggest yet,” commented Christopher Gasson, Publisher at Global Water Intelligence (GWI) the co-organiser of the conference. “With more than US$150bn of investments in desalination, water distribution, wastewater treatment under discussion and a full slate of industrial water users attending the event, registrations are 10% up on last year’s blockbuster event in Madrid.”

The summit will host a ‘blended finance’ workshop in partnership with the World Bank, aimed at developing structures that bring together public and private resources to deliver water infrastructure projects in emerging markets.

Forming part of the summit’s finance agenda strand, the blended finance session will bring together representatives of development finance institutions with top performing utility leaders and government officials from Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, as they plan to use their access to low cost finance to mobilise private investment in infrastructure on an unprecedented scale. The session will explore how the water sector should proceed in developing structures that bring together public and private resources to deliver water infrastructure projects in emerging markets.

The Global Water Summit will also feature round tables hosted by officials and finance institution representatives, providing insights on private sector opportunities in several key regions with major infrastructure spending plans including the USA, Argentina, Morocco, Oman, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Iran, Nigeria, and India. Together these national spending plans represent $100 billion of water infrastructure investment.

The 2018 summit will be preceded by a pre-conference workshop on the privatisation of Saudi Arabia’s water sector, held on 15th April 2018 in partnership with The Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture (MEWA), the Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC), the National Water Company (NWC) and the Water and Electricity Company.

The officials from the four Saudi organisations will be hosting the workshop in a bid to outline the kingdom’s £60 billion investment opportunity, and to identify and attract top-performing potential partners for their investment plans at the earliest stage of the privatisation process.

Emerging opportunities for the desalination market will also form part of The Global Water Summit agenda, with over five million m3/d of new desalination capacity being presented in Paris.

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The comments on how the country needs to better manage its city planning were made as more than 300 mayors from all over the country, as well as a number of mayors from other countries, urban planners and professionals participated in a conference to discuss challenges and ways to improve cities in Bangladesh.

“Cities are engines of growth, but rapid, unplanned urbanization prevents cities from realizing their full potential,” said Qimiao Fan, Country Director for Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal of the World Bank. “To become an upper middle-income country by its 50th birthday, Bangladesh must manage its urbanization sustainably.  As Bangladesh’s long-term development partner, we look forward to working together to improve the livability, competitiveness and sustainability of cities in Bangladesh.”

In Bangladesh, rapid and unplanned urbanization has affected the livability in the cities. Today, about 54 million Bangladeshis live in cities and the number will more than double in the next 35 years. Yet, one-fifth of urban dwellers live in poverty.

Most of the cities and municipalities in Bangladesh offer inadequate infrastructure and low levels of urban services. Bangladesh needs to increase spending for the local infrastructure. The share of local spending compared to total public expenditure in Bangladesh is about 3 percent, one of the lowest globally. The cities are underperforming in terms of livability.

To meet the challenges of rapid urbanization, the conference introduced a Center of Excellence for Urban Development, a platform to exchange knowledge and build the capacity of the municipalities aimed at improving the livability of cities. The center is piloting a Young Professional Internship Program, aimed at planners, architects and engineers, in 11 urban local governments.

The 2-day conference forged partnerships for knowledge exchange on global best practices and city leadership. On the last day of the conference, the Center of Excellence will also announce the winners of the national Champion City Awards Program — the first of its kind in the country — which recognizes good practices and innovative solutions.

Honorable Speaker Dr. Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, Mayor for Dhaka South, spoke at the inaugural session, which was chaired by the President of the Municipal Association of Bangladesh, Md. Abdul Baten.

The World Bank organized the conference in partnership with the Municipal Association of Bangladesh, Bangladesh Institute of Planners, Institute of Architects, Bangladesh and Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh with financial support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.

The World Bank was among the first development partners to support Bangladesh following its independence. Since then the World Bank has committed more than $26 billion in grants and interest-free credits to the country. In recent years, Bangladesh has been among the largest recipients of the World Bank’s interest-free credits.

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Bangladesh’s busy remittance corridor is a cornerstone of the country’s economy, with the total value of funds transferred in 2014 reaching approximately $15bn. However, despite a 35% increase in migrant outflow, inward remittances from global expatriates in 2016 amounted to Bangladesh’s lowest total in five years, totalling $13.61bn, and there are national concerns that migrants have turned to illegal channels to avoid high exchange rates when transferring money back into the country.

PCT are helping Brac Saajan to curb this trend by enabling the business to deliver a HM Revenue and Customs/Financial Conduct Authority registered prepaid Mastercard. The card, which is free to apply for and does not require a credit check, is available as an instant issue SDD and upgradeable to include full KYC and personalisation.

It allows users to load funds to shop online on or in-store, pay bills, or share money with recipients in another country safely and securely.

Ian Clowes, CEO, Payment Cloud Technologies, said, “At PCT, we’re committed to opening the financial services market to enable players like Brac Saajan to deliver products that meet more consumer needs, in more places. We were instantly attracted to Brac Saajan’s commitment to driving positive social change for Bangladesh and making a real difference to its migrant communities in the UK and elsewhere. Building on our proven track record with Change Account, we are delighted to be applying the same expert knowledge and program management to Brac Saajan’s new prepaid Mastercard.”

Brac Saajan selected PCT for its credible record in enabling businesses to bring innovative prepaid solutions to market quickly and securely, and its dedicated and comprehensive program management. PCT will manage the Brac Saajan prepaid Mastercard’s end-to-end process, inclusive of full KYC/personalisation upgrades.

Jeremy Proctor, CFO, Brac Saajan Exchange Ltd, said, “Brac Saajan Exchange was established with a core goal to support the needs of, amongst others, Non-Resident Bangladeshi (NRB) communities. To support our mission to become the market leader in this corridor and to diversify our business, we need a partner that has a deep knowledge of regulatory compliance and how to react to changes in the industry. With PCT’s obvious success in bringing prepaid cards to market quickly and effectively, we were quickly convinced that we could achieve our objectives with Ian and his team managing our prepaid programme.’’

PCT are committed to driving positive economic and social change, evidenced through the delivery of banking services for demographics who are underserved by traditional financial services providers in partnership with charity banking organisation Change Account.

Almost half of Bangladesh’s population lives on less than one dollar per day. PCT have aligned their socially responsible values with Brac Saajan’s corporate vision to combat this poverty by providing a profitable and socially responsible financial institution for a healthy, democratic and poverty-free Bangladesh.

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February 15, 2016: The insurance industry in Bangladesh is considered to be an untapped sector. It has one of the lowest insurance penetrations in the world (around 1%). While some choose to be pessimistic about it, insurance experts tend to view this as an area full of possibilities and opportunities. Lack of awareness regarding insurance is very much visible, which makes it hard to achieve our desired growth in the industry.

Currently, we are seeing a consistent 13%-15% growth every year in the insurance industry. If this reaches 20%, this will be a remarkable achievement for the industry. Being the market leader and the only AAA rated insurance company in Bangladesh; Green Delta Insurance believes that when the industry grows, they grow as well.

The market penetration of insurance is currently less than 1%. With our flagship project ‘Insurance For Everyone’ and the government’s recent praiseworthy initiatives related to safety net insurance to give coverage to the bottom of the pyramid group, we are hopeful regarding the possibilities of a 5% market penetration within 5-10 years’ timeframe.

Green Delta Insurance holds 13-14% of the market share of the insurance industry being the leader of the non-life insurance sector at the moment. In the decade ahead, if our projections work out properly, we will be more aggressive in the market and aim to capture 22-25% of the market share.

Green Delta Insurance is the first non-life insurance company from Bangladesh to introduce the retail insurance department. The department was created with the motto ‘Insurance for Everyone’. Ms. Farzana Chowdhury, MD & CEO of Green Delta, was the person who gave birth to the concept. After the formation of the retail department, the people in the department are working hard to take it forward. The direct sales team is going door to door to build awareness regarding insurance and convince people about the brighter side of having an insurance policy.

The insurance penetration in Bangladesh is less than 1%, which shows the current scenario of the market. There’s always a negative aura regarding insurance among the general people of our country. We see people try to avoid buying a policy unless it’s mandatory by law. So, naturally the job for the Retail Insurance department is very challenging. But Green Delta is coming up with innovative branding strategies to create a positive buzz in the market. A wind of change can be felt already. The market is growing slowly but consistently. Green Delta is not only promoting its own products but also promoting the overall sector.

The main products that the retail insurance department sells are Motor Insurance, Overseas Mediclaim Insurance, Personal accident insurance, People’s personal accident policy, Health Insurance, All risk insurance and Nibedita – Comprehensive Insurance scheme for women. There are few other projects under Retail and SME. They are Niramoy-micro insurance for rural people, Shudin- micro insurance for garments workers, Weather index based Crop Insurance and Probashi- Comprehensive Insurance Scheme for Migrant workers.

The insurance penetration in Bangladesh is less than 1%, which shows the current scenario of the market. There’s always a negative aura regarding insurance among the general people of our country. We see people try to avoid buying a policy unless it’s mandatory by law. So, naturally the job for the Retail Insurance department is very challenging. But Green Delta is coming up with innovative branding strategies to create a positive buzz in the market. A wind of change can be felt already. The market is growing slowly but consistently. Green Delta is not only promoting its own products but also promoting the overall sector.

As the market leader, Green Delta wants to grow with every other insurance company because that’s the only way to materialise the concept of insurance for everyone. It will be difficult for a single company to change the scenario regarding insurance penetration so the support of the other insurers is expected.

Green Delta is confident about the success of this department. The number of people who started believing in insurance products is increasing every day, which promises a better day for the industry. Green Delta is leaving no stone unturned to educate the general people regarding the necessity of insurance. Positive results can be noticed through public behaviour on social media.

A country’s strong economy is very much interrelated with its insurance market. Bangladesh’s economy will grow rapidly once people start realising the importance of insurance in everyday life. Retail & SME Insurance in Bangladesh is committed to bring about a positive change in the insurance market.

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October 5, 2015 – In line with its commitment to making a positive change in the lives of its customers, Al Ansari Exchange, the UAE-based foreign exchange and worldwide money transfer company, presented the Grand Prize of AED 1 million to the lucky winner of Al Ansari Exchange Summer Promotion 2015.

Organised under the theme ‘Be a Millionaire and Change Your Life,’ the promotion was a turning point in the life of Mizanur Rahman Abdul Wahab from Bangladesh, a worker in a livestock farm in Abu Dhabi, who won the Grand Prize after sending AED 1,039 to his family in his hometown. The 37-year-old Mizanur Rahman received the good news with mixed feelings of surprise and happiness. He had never imagined that he would realise his dreams of building a new house and starting his own business after working in the same field for more than 20 years on a limited monthly salary.

“Our heartly congratulations to Mizanur Rahman Abdul Wahab on being a millionaire with us,” said Rashed Ali Al Ansari, General Manager, Al Ansari Exchange. “The overwhelming success of Al Ansari Exchange Summer Promotion 2015, which saw great response for its positive role in changing lives, urges us to continue to offer the best promotions and valuable prizes to our customers in appreciation of their continuous support and effective contributions as real partners in boosting Al Ansari Exchange’s growth and leading position across the UAE.”

Mizanur Rahman Abdul Wahab admitted that he never expected that sending money to his family in Bangladesh would offer him a golden opportunity to radically change his life. “I thank Al Ansari Exchange for helping me achieve my dreams of building new house and securing better future for my family and six sisters. I want to provide good education for my children and look forward to investing this money in establishing a private business that would help make a positive change in the lives of many youngsters in my hometown in Bangladesh. I also plan to buy a car in order to be able to visit new places across the country,” said Abdul Wahab.

Other winners were also awarded with the additional prizes of AED 50,000, AED 25,000, AED 15,000, and AED 10,000. All customers who made eligible transactions during the two-month long promotion – which ran from June 15, 2015 to August 15, 2015 – were qualified for the raffle draw. The transactions included Money Transfers, Purchase of Foreign Exchange, National Bonds, Air Ticket Payment for Air Arabia or Fly Dubai, and Credit Card Encashment from any of the Al Ansari Exchange branches in the UAE.

The post Al Ansari Exchange hands over AED 1 million to winner of Summer Promotion 2015 appeared first on International Finance.