In August 2025, Bangladesh achieved a significant milestone in international trade as the United States reduced tariffs on Bangladeshi goods from 35% to 20% following successful negotiations and a strategic trade package proposal. The National Board of Revenue (NBR) made online tax return filing mandatory from FY2025–26 and received almost one lakh e-returns within just 10 days. On the macroeconomic front, headline inflation eased to 9.58%, mainly due to lower food prices, though persistently high non-food inflation and sluggish wage growth continued to limit household purchasing power. Meanwhile, poverty and inequality deepened between 2022 and 2025, with the share of the population under both lower and upper poverty lines rising sharply, and the national expenditure Gini coefficient increasing from 0.33 to 0.44 — reflecting growing disparities in income and consumption.
Authors: Muntaseer Kamal and Md. Imran Nazir
Series Editor: Dr Fahmida Khatun
Publication Period: August 2025
