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WEDNESDAY, 13 MAY 2026
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Bangladesh Business & Economy
Bangladesh's first institutional venture capital platform launches — Tk425 crore, 39 banks, first investments by year-end
Bangladesh Startup Investment Company PLC (BSIC) officially launched Tuesday at the Radisson Blu, Dhaka — the country's first institutionally governed VC platform backed by 39 commercial banks with committed capital of Tk425 crore ($35 million). The inaugural fund, "Onkur Bangladesh Fund 1," targets seed, late-seed and Series-A startups, with banks contributing 1% of annual net profits creating a recurring mechanism rather than a one-time pool. Finance Minister Amir Khosru inaugurated the event and pledged no political interference. BSIC aims to complete its first three investments before end-2026. The context that makes this matter: since 2010, Bangladesh startups raised over $1.1 billion — but less than 7% from domestic sources. Local funding crashed 95% year-on-year by 2024. BSIC is the structural response.
FY27 Budget signal: excise duty threshold on bank deposits may double to Tk5 lakh — ADB pledges $100M for Universal Pension
Two policy moves from Tuesday signal direction ahead of the June 11 budget announcement. First, the government is likely to raise the excise duty exemption on bank deposits from the current Tk3 lakh to Tk5 lakh — relieving roughly 40 lakh depositors in that bracket. NBR Chairman Abdur Rahman Khan confirmed the intention but said no final decision has been made; the government earns nearly Tk6,000 crore annually from bank excise duties. Second, at a high-level pension meeting chaired by Finance Minister Khosru, officials confirmed the ADB has pledged a $100 million concessional loan to strengthen the Universal Pension Scheme. As of April 30, only 377,545 people had enrolled across all four schemes (Probash, Progoti, Surokkha, Samata) with Tk256 crore in contributions — far short of targets. The minister directed authorities to enroll at least one family member from each of Bangladesh's 4 crore families by 2030. Proposals include a Shariah-based pension tier.
DSE breaks five-day losing streak as turnover surges 54% to Tk1,101cr — Remittances up 56.4% in first 11 days of May
The Dhaka Stock Exchange snapped a five-day losing streak on Tuesday as the DSEX gained 24 points to close at 5,229. Total turnover surged 54% to Tk1,101 crore — crossing the Tk1,000 crore mark for the first time in recent weeks — though most of the volume was driven by a single block transaction: BRAC Bank shares worth Tk335 crore in the block market. Market breadth was positive: 188 stocks advanced, 138 declined. Separately, Bangladesh Bank data released Tuesday showed remittance inflows surged 56.4% year-on-year in the first 11 days of May, reaching $1,442 million. A record single-day inflow of $251 million was recorded on May 11. FY26 year-to-date remittances now stand at $30,775 million — up 20.9% from the same period last year.
Business leaders call for 6-month NPL overdue window and 12% lending rate cap — former adviser claims interim govt discussed US trade deal with BNP-Jamaat
The Bangladesh Association of Banks and business chambers renewed pressure on BB Tuesday, urging adoption of a six-month grace period before loans are classified as overdue (currently three months) and a lending rate ceiling of 12% to ease borrowing costs for industry. In a separate development, former adviser Farida Khanam claimed that during the interim government, discussions with BNP and Jamaat included terms related to a US trade deal framework — a claim that could complicate the current elected government's position in ongoing tariff negotiations with Washington. BD's current 19% base tariff rate faces review, with USTR implementation talks having concluded May 5-7.
📌 Budget Context — The excise duty increase to Tk5 lakh, if passed June 11, would relieve 40 lakh small depositors. NBR earns ~Tk200 crore from this bracket — a politically easy give ahead of an election cycle. The harder ask from business: cut lending rates and extend NPL classification windows. Both are in front of Bangladesh Bank, not Parliament.
📌 BSIC Reality Check — The fund's first investments come after appointing a CIO and investment committee in Q3. Bangladesh's startup deal count fell from 94 in 2021 to single digits in 2024. Tk425 crore is real capital — but the institutional capability to deploy it at venture standards is still being built.
Economy Watch
Data Point · Updated 13 May, 8 AM
USD / BDT
122.93 ৳
BB interbank · May 11 close at 122.925 · Taka stable last 30 days
YUAN / BDT (CNY)
~17.84 ৳
Xe mid-market · 13 May 8 AM estimate via EBL rate sheet
DSEX Close — May 12
5,229 pts
▲ +24 pts · +0.47% · 5-day losing streak snapped · Turnover: Tk1,101cr (+54%)
Gold 22K / Bhori
2,44,711 ৳
▲ +2,216 from Tk2,42,495 · BAJUS rate effective May 7
Inflation Rate (Apr '26)
9.04%
▲ Rose from 8.91% in Mar · Food inflation: 8.24% (Mar)
Policy Rate (BB)
10.0%
Bangladesh Bank repo rate · Unchanged · Lending rate market-based; business leaders pushing for 12% cap
Bad Loans (NPL) Dec '25
30.60%
▼ Down from 35.73% peak (Sep '25) via rescheduling · Islami Bank alone: 51%
GDP Growth FY26
3.9–4.7%
WB: 3.9% · ADB: 4.0% · IMF: 4.7% · FY25 actual: 3.49%
Global Signal
Overnight — What Reaches Dhaka by Wednesday Morning
| Brent Crude TradingEconomics · 12 May close | ~$107/bbl ▲ · WTI climbed above $101 on Tue · EIA forecast: Brent ~$106/bbl in May–June · Strait of Hormuz effectively closed for 11+ weeks · IEA: largest supply shock on record · Saudi Aramco CEO: market losing ~100M barrels/week |
| WTI Crude TradingEconomics · 12 May | ~$101/bbl ▲ +3.4% Mon · 52-week range: $54.98–$117.63 · Iran rejected US naval blockade end demand; Trump mulling military resumption; gasoline avg $4.52/gallon US (AAA) |
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US CPI — April 2026 (RELEASED YESTERDAY) BLS · Released 12 May, 8:30 AM ET |
Headline CPI +3.8% YoY (beat 3.7% consensus) · +0.6% MoM · Core CPI: +2.8% YoY, +0.4% MoM · Energy +3.8% drove 40%+ of the gain · Gasoline +28.4% YoY · Food +3.2% YoY · Highest headline since May 2023 · Real wages fell 0.5% MoM — no rate cuts expected in 2026 |
| Wall St — 12 May close CNBC / TheStreet · 12 May 2026 | S&P 500 ~7,389 ▼ –0.16% · Dow 49,760 ▲ +0.11% · Nasdaq ~25,900 ▼ ~–1% · Hot CPI triggered tech sell-off; defensives (Walmart +2.15%, UnitedHealth +2.06%) offset losses · VIX: 18.38 |
| US Fed Rate Federal Reserve · Apr 29, 2026 | 3.50–3.75% · Held Apr 29 (3rd consecutive hold) · Kevin Warsh confirmed as Fed Chair · CME FedWatch: zero cuts priced in for 2026 · Hot April CPI cements no-cut consensus · BofA: no cuts until H2 2027 |
| Bitcoin Fortune / CoinDesk · 12 May AM | ~$80,600–$80,900 · Down 1.2% after hot CPI · Holding $80K support · Down ~22% over past year · Market cap ~$1.33T · Kevin Warsh's pro-Bitcoin reputation provides mild tailwind |
| Strait of Hormuz / Iran EIA STEO / Reuters · May 12, 2026 | Effectively closed · Week 11+ · EIA assumes closure until late May, partial recovery June · 10.5M b/d Gulf production shut in April · Trump discussing military resumption with NSC · Iran demands end to naval blockade + sanctions relief. No deal in sight |
| BD–US Tariff US Embassy Dhaka · May 2026 | 19% base rate · ART implementation talks concluded May 5–7 · Trump appealed May 8 against court ruling on Section 122 tariff — if appeal fails, BD exporters may reclaim 10% tariff paid since Aug 2025 · Former adviser claims interim govt pre-negotiated terms with BNP-Jamaat — politically sensitive |
| US–China Trade Yahoo Finance · 12 May 2026 | US tariffs on China ~45% · Trump–Xi Beijing summit ongoing · BD RMG ranked #2 US apparel supplier but captured zero incremental Q1 share from China's exit — Vietnam and Cambodia winning that race · Watch for any tariff signal from the summit |
| India–BD Relation Daily Star / ADB | India supplying diesel via pipeline amid LNG shortage · BD seeking $3B additional ADB budget support for energy overruns · Hormuz closure driving energy import bill up an estimated $4.8B annually · ADB $100M pension loan adds to BD–multilateral partnership track |
| Goldman Sachs / IEA IEA / Reuters · May 12, 2026 | IEA: largest oil supply shock on record · Goldman: energy shock is inflationary for 2026 globally · JPMorgan economists: "demand destruction beginning as consumers adjust to rising energy prices" · Supply buffers eroding — EIA projects Brent at $89/bbl by Q4 if Hormuz reopens |
| Asian Markets TradingEconomics · 13 May AM | Tracking Wall St mixed close; hot US CPI headwind for EM equities · Japan Nikkei supported by AI earnings momentum · Copper near record $6.46 · South Asian EM markets facing dual pressure from strong USD + oil shock · Bangladesh DSE outperformed on Tuesday after 5-day dip |
AI This Week
Practical Intelligence — Never Hype
For Your Work
Anthropic's Claude Sonnet 4.6 "Advisor Tool" — now in beta on the Claude Platform — introduces a two-model architecture where a smaller, faster Sonnet handles execution while the larger Opus model acts as a strategic advisor, reviewing outputs before they ship. The practical translation for Dhaka professionals: if you are using Claude via API for financial analysis, credit memo drafts, or any structured document workflow, this architecture cuts cost and latency while adding a senior-review step you used to have to prompt manually. The advisor model only triggers when it would meaningfully change the output — not on every call. For bank product teams and compliance analysts building on Claude, the specific win is on multi-language coding tasks: TBS benchmarks show Sonnet+Advisor outperforming Sonnet-solo across nine languages. The beta header to enable it:
anthropic-beta: advisor-tool-2026-03-01. If your team is still using single-model API calls for complex financial workflows, test this week.ORAWEK Note
A Real Observation. From a Real Person.
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Yesterday the US printed its hottest CPI in three years. Wall Street sold off — briefly — then recovered almost completely. Stocks ended flat. This is the market telling you that it does not believe the energy inflation is structural; it believes Hormuz will reopen and the shock will pass. I am not sure that bet is right. What I am more interested in this Wednesday morning is what happened here in Dhaka: 39 banks launched a Tk425 crore startup fund while the same banking sector carries Tk30+ lakh crore in bad loans. The question is not whether BSIC's capital is real — it is. The question is whether the same institutions that produced Islami Bank's Tk94,000 crore NPL problem have built the internal culture to make rigorous VC decisions. Venture capital is not a charity window. It requires the courage to say no to politically connected founders. That test has not come yet. The optimistic read is that BSIC's international advisors and transparent mandate create a different incentive structure. I hope so. Bangladesh's entrepreneurs deserve better than another instrument captured before it deploys.
— Founder · Wednesday morning · Dhaka