A 20-bed field ward for children infected with measles is awaiting launch at Dhaka Medical College Hospital. The Bangladesh Army is assisting in setting up the ward. A visit to Dhaka Medical College Hospital this morning, Wednesday, showed that the field ward had been set up in tents beside the Shaheed Dr Milon Auditorium. Four Ansar personnel were on duty there.

The hospital's director, Brigadier General Md Asaduzzaman, said, "We have established a 20-bed field hospital here for measles patients. But we are not admitting patients there yet. We have not received instructions from our directorate. Once we receive the order, we will start operations." A visit to wards 210 and 211 of the hospital's pediatric unit showed many children undergoing treatment. As beds were unavailable, many children were being treated on makeshift beds placed on the floor.

The government has undertaken the "Padma Barrage (1st Phase)" project involving an estimated cost of over Tk 344.97 billion to restore major river systems, reduce salinity intrusion and strengthen irrigation and ecological sustainability across large parts of the country. The government approved the mega project at a meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) held today at the Cabinet Division Conference Room at Bangladesh Secretariat with ECNEC Chairperson and Prime Minister Tarique Rahman in the chair.

Recommended by the Planning Commission, the project was placed before the day's ECNEC meeting for approval aimed at reviving river systems, reducing salinity intrusion in the southwest, improving irrigation facilities, and restoring ecological balance in the Sundarbans. The project, undertaken by the Ministry of Water Resources and to be implemented by the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB), has been estimated at over Tk 344.97 billion and will be fully financed through government funding (GoB grant). The implementation period has been set from July 2026 to June 2033.

The government has fixed the prices of hides of sacrificial animals ahead of the upcoming Eid-ul-Azha. This year, the price of salted cowhide per square foot in Dhaka has been increased by Tk 2 compared to last year. In Dhaka, the price of salted cowhide has been set at Tk 62 to Tk 67 per square foot, up from Tk 60 to Tk 65 last year. Outside Dhaka, the price has been set at Tk 57 to Tk 62 per square foot, compared to Tk 55 to Tk 60 last year. Commerce Minister Khandaker Abdul Muktadir informed journalists about the hide prices today (Wednesday) after a meeting at the Ministry of Commerce on ensuring proper management of Eid-related issues.

Meanwhile, the price of salt-treated goat skin has been set at Tk 25 to Tk 30 per square foot and female goat skin at Tk 22 to Tk 25 per square foot, applicable both in Dhaka and outside Dhaka. The commerce minister also told journalists, "This time as well, the government will provide salt worth Tk 176 million free of cost for hide preservation. In every area, hides will be preserved at business establishments, mosques, and madrasas."

Fitch Ratings revised its outlook on Bangladesh to "negative" from "stable", citing rising external financing pressures and macroeconomic vulnerabilities linked to exposure to the Middle East conflict. The global ratings agency kept Bangladesh's long-term foreign-currency issuer default rating (IDR), which measures the ability to service foreign-currency-denominated debt over time, unchanged at B+. "The Middle East conflict creates significant downside risks, particularly through the supply and cost of energy imports and remittances," Fitch said in a statement this week.

Nearly half of the country's remittances come from the Middle East, while crude oil and petroleum products together account for almost 15 percent of imports, worth about $10 billion in 2025. "Strong remittances so far in financial year 2026 provide near-term support to external finances; however, uncertainty regarding the conflict's duration poses substantial downside risks," said Fitch, an American-British credit rating agency.