“Faith is the bird that feels the light and sings when the dawn is still dark.”
― Rabindranath Tagore
Dear colleagues and friends,
The year 2025 was a defining moment for Bangladesh. Following the July uprising and the formation of the Interim Government (IG) in 2024, people’s expectations for economic stability were high. While the IG took a few measures, economic pressures, including high inflation, vulnerabilities in the banking sector, and energy shortages, continued to weigh heavily on households and businesses. Meanwhile, the country entered the final year before its scheduled graduation from Least Developed Country (LDC) status in November 2026 and began preparing for the national elections on 12 February 2026. These transitions, while challenging, are also expected to create opportunities and optimism for the economy. The realisation of these opportunities will depend on meaningful and sustained reforms across policy, regulatory, and institutional frameworks.
Committed to addressing emerging economic issues critical to Bangladesh’s development, CPD researchers spent a significant amount of time this year working on reform measures required for various sectors of the economy. We have also scrutinised the government’s progress on its economic reform commitments. Besides, we continued to work on emerging economic issues that are important for shaping the Bangladesh’s economy. This ranged from macroeconomic performance and national budget analysis to sector-specific issues. These analyses have been published by CPD in various formats.
Of the total 57 publications, one was a volume of conference proceedings, one was a working paper, one was a flagship Macroeconomic Performance Review, two were discussion papers, three were books, four were power and energy quarterly briefs, four were monthly issues of Bangladesh Macroeconomic Pulse, a new series launched in July 2025 under CPD’s flagship IRBD programme, seven were briefing notes, 14 were research reports and 21 were policy briefs. We also organised 132 events, ranging from national and subnational dialogues, international roundtables and conferences, to expert consultations, media briefings, training workshops, young scholars’ seminars and extensive field-level engagements across the country.
This year, we lost two CPD Board members: Professor Syed Manzoorul Islam, Emeritus Professor of English at the University of Dhaka, and Mr Syed Manzur Elahi, Founding Chairman of the Apex Group. We remember with profound gratitude their leadership, guidance, integrity, and enduring contributions to CPD, and we extend our heartfelt condolences to their families and colleagues. At the same time, CPD is pleased to welcome two new members to the CPD Board of Trustees: Mr Syed Nasim Manzur, Managing Director of Apex Footwear Limited, and Professor Sumaiya Khair, Department of Law, University of Dhaka. Their experience and counsel will be invaluable to CPD as it fulfils its goals.
As we look ahead to 2026, CPD remains committed to independent analysis, constructive engagement and principled advocacy for a more just, inclusive and environmentally sustainable Bangladesh. I am deeply grateful to our colleagues, Board members, partners and well-wishers, whose trust and support make this work possible.
I wish you and your families a peaceful, healthy and rewarding New Year.
Dr Fahmida Khatun
Executive Director
Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD)
