The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has further cut Bangladesh's growth forecast while keeping its projection on inflation elevated for the current fiscal. The country is now projected to grow at 3.8 percent in the 2024-25 fiscal, down from the 4.5 percent the multilateral lender projected in early October, because of output losses caused by the July uprising, floods, and tighter policies. The IMF's latest projection is lower than the 4 percent growth predicted by the World Bank in October.

The IMF said Bangladesh's GDP growth may rebound to 6.7 percent in FY26 as policies relax, in a statement issued on December 18, at the end of a two-week staff visit to the country. The mission visited Dhaka to discuss economic and financial policies to review the conditions attached to the $4.7 billion loan package approved for Bangladesh in January 2023. Bangladesh is expected to receive the fourth tranche of the loan, worth $645 million, upon approval by the IMF's executive board in early February.

At least four people were killed and 50 others injured in a clash between two factions of Tabligh Jamaat over control of the Ijtema Maidan, the site in Tongi where thousands of Muslim devotees congregate every year. The clash broke out between the followers of two Tabligh leaders -- Maulana Zubair Ahmad and Maulana Saad (see story) -- around 3am on Wednesday (Dec. 18), according to the officer-in-charge of Tongi West Police Station.

According to locals, Saad followers were trying to enter the Ijtema ground to hold a five-day "Jor-Ijtema" from December 20. Zubair followers already held their "Jor-Ijtema" earlier this month. As Zubair followers were already there, Saad followers failed to enter the field. After 3am though, hundreds of devotees crossed the Kamarpara Bridge and entered the Ijtema ground. Zubair followers then tried to stop them by throwing brick chunks, leading to a clash, said locals.

Home Affairs Adviser Lt Gen (retd) Jahangir Alam Chowdhury announced a probe committee would be formed to reinvestigate the carnage at the BDR headquarters in Pilkhana in 2009, contentiously termed as a mutiny, that left 74 people including 57 Army officers dead. Speaking at a special press conference at his Secretariat office on Monday (Dec. 17), the adviser said the committee would comprise retired judges and retired officials from the civil administration, police force and armed forces, and would be formed within five working days of the announcement.

He highlighted that the Home Ministry has been active in this matter since the formation of the interim government, and as the ministry's adviser, he had consistently advocated for re-investigating the incident. The adviser emphasised his personal commitment to justice for the BDR killings, both as a former member of the army and as a concerned citizen. He was in fact the head of an investigation of the massacre by the Army, that was allegedly compromised by the then-Awami League government.

The High Court acquitted former State Minister for Home Affairs Lutfuzzaman Babar and five others, who were sentenced to death by the trial court, in a case filed over the sensational 10-truck arms haul in Chattogram. Two separate cases were lodged with Karnaphuli Police Station a day after the arms were seized at Chattogram Urea Fertiliser Ltd (CUFL) jetty in the early hours of April 2, 2004 during the BNP-Jamaat government's tenure.

The arms and ammunition included 4,930 sophisticated firearms, 840 rocket launchers, 300 rockets, 27,020 grenades, 2,000 grenade-launching tubes, 6,392 magazines and 11.41 million bullets. One case was filed under the Special Powers Act 1974 for smuggling of firearms and the other was lodged under the Arms Act for illegal possession of firearms. The HC acquitted the six people, including Babar, of the arms smuggling case, observing that there is nothing in the police report as to who had smuggled the arms from whom and where.