Army Chief General Waker-uz-Zaman said Bangladesh should return to electoral democracy in 12-18 months. In an interview with news agency Reuters, General Zaman said that he will support the interim government in carrying out reforms and that the Bangladesh Army will be "professional" and stay away from politics. He vowed to back the country's interim government led by Professor Muhammad Yunus "come what may" to help it complete key reforms, so that elections could be held within the next 18 months.

Following the reforms, General Zaman said a transition to democracy should be made between a year and a year-and-a-half, but underlined the need for patience. Zaman wanted to distance the political establishment from the army, which is a major contributor to UN peacekeeping missions, and even suggested a reform proposal that could help the force maintain its independence. "It can only happen if there is some balance of power between the president and prime minister, where the armed forces can be placed directly under the president," he said.

The Asian Development Bank lowered its forecast for Bangladesh's economic growth to 5.1 percent for the current fiscal, primarily due to supply disruptions caused by political unrest in July and August 2024. The Manila-based multilateral lender had earlier projected that Bangladesh's GDP would grow by 6.6 percent in 2024-25. It also projected inflation in Bangladesh will rise to 10.1 percent in the fiscal year 2024-25, a significant increase of 3.1 percentage points from its previous estimate made in April.

The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics recently released data indicating that general inflation stood at 10.5 percent in August. The ADB's forecast attributes the anticipated rise in inflation to ongoing supply-side disruptions and higher import costs resulting from currency depreciation. The international lender expects inflation to remain in double digits through the end of FY 2024-25. Elevated food and non-food prices in the first half of 2024-25 have been pushing inflation higher, exacerbated by supply chain issues and increased import costs.

Production resumed in most industrial units in Ashulia and Gazipur areas on Wednesday (Sep. 25), following an improvement in the labour situation after owners agreed to meet an 18-point demand of the workers. According to industrial police, workers from the majority of the factories, both ready-made garment and non-RMG, returned to work on the day across the Ashulia and Gazipur industrial belts. However, the authorities of 33 factories in the two industrial zones continued to keep their units closed on Wednesday due to concerns over potential unrest.

Of these, 20 factories were closed under Section 13/1 of the Bangladesh Labour Act, 11 declared a general holiday and workers at the remaining two factories refused to work upon arrival in the morning. Among the closed factories, 25 are RMG units, while the other eight are non-RMG industrial units. Garment factory owners said that the labour situation improved following their announcement to address the workers' demands.

A lieutenant of the Bangladesh Army was killed during an operation by joint forces in Chakaria upazila of Cox's Bazar, sparking widespread outrage. The army officer, Lieutenant Tanzim Sarwar Nirjon, was posted at Ramu Cantonment in Cox's Bazar. In a statement, Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) said a team of the Army was responding to intelligence reports of an ongoing robbery going in Purba Maizpara village of Dulhazra union. The robbers, sensing the presence of the army patrol, tried to escape and Lt Tanzim Sarwar chased after them.

The robbers attacked Lt Tanzim at this time and stabbed him in the neck, severely injuring him and leading to tremendous blood loss, ISPR said. Six suspected robbers have been detained from Cox's Bazar in connection with the incident, of whom Md Babul Prakash, 44, has been identified as the primary financier of the incident. He also confessed to fatally stabbing Lieutenant Tanzim.