<abstract> <p>Limited access to financial services is considered as a vital bottleneck for curbing poverty in Bangladesh. Digital technology such as mobile banking can contribute to accelerate people's access to finance but did not receive proper attention before COVID-19. This study intends to explore the use of mobile banking services to accelerate people's financial access in Bangladesh due to the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic by using secondary data. Mainly documentation techniques and descriptive statistical methods are used to collect and analyze the data. The study reveals that the number of registered mobile banking customers has escalated during the COVID-19 era. Mainly government policies regarding different mobile banking transactions such as cash in, cash out, person to person (P2P) transaction, salary and utility bill payments etc., have significantly contributed to rise the people's digital financial access during this pandemic. People's changing habit towards digital transactions has also contributed to increasing their financial access. The government should provide a convenient financial access platform to create a cashless society in the country.</p> </abstract>

In Bangladesh, the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to have substantial effects on the livelihood of people, but smallholder vegetables growers will be even more affected because of the perishability nature of the product. The first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in Bangladesh on 8th March, 2020 and consequently the country went into lockdown on 26 March, 2020. This study has made a survey of vegetables farmers through a mobile phone to understand the impact of COVID-19 on vegetables supply chain, gross margin and the future production plan of the growers. In Bangladesh, the lockdown has disrupted the food supply chain and increases the likelihood of food insecurity. Lockdown has impeded vegetable farmers’ access to markets, thus limiting their productive and sales capacities. The price of yield has dropped by more than half resulting in huge loss for vegetable growers. The loss incurred by the farmers for producing Brinjal, Cucumber, Pointed gourd, Yardlong beans and Bottle gourd are BDT 4900, BDT 10900, BDT 57400, BDT 52500 and BDT 18500 per acre respectively as a result of COVID-19. The decreased income increases farmers’ likelihood of vulnerability and food insecurity and poses a challenge to continued produce. ‘Cash support’ is more important than ‘food support’ in order to keep vegetable farmers in farming, to ensure a ready supply of necessary low-cost resources, and to help fight against the upcoming food shortage.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the unique aspects of Islamic finance and its role in economic development. It also explores the suitability of Islamic finance in China. Design/methodology/approach The paper explores the potential of Islamic banking and finance for economic sustainability in China. This study adopts the content analysis approach and focuses on various aspects of finance. Moreover, a critical investigation has been done by using various indicators of a new finance system adoption by considering the economic, cultural, religious and political aspects of China. Findings The study reveals that China already tested Islamic finance on a pilot basis in Ningxia, China. China is suitably positioned to adopt Islamic finance for its economic development. It also reports that Islamic finance will be more helpful to implement One Belt One Road initiative of China, as the Gulf and Arab Islamic finance-based countries are the major partners of China. This study analyzes Islamic micro-finance literature and proposes suitable measures for adoption in China. Practical implications Despite some limitations, the findings have a large implication on Islamic financing in general. It will be helpful to researchers and practitioners to understand the Islamic finance model for implementing it in a new environment. Social implications This study analyzes the demand, rules and regulations, related challenges and potential of launching Islamic banking and finance in China. Originality/value This study analyzes the demand, rules and regulations, related challenges and potential of launching Islamic banking and finance in China. The paper fills a gap to the existing literature on Islamic finance uniqueness, challenges and opportunities from the perspective of a non-Muslim country.

Access to information and communication technology (ICT) has been considered crucial to alleviate poverty and improve food security of rural households. The mobile phone is an ICT that is widely used by rural households in developing countries. This study examines the determinants of mobile phone adoption using survey data of vulnerable rural households in Bangladesh, a developing country; the study empirically assesses the income hypothesis of mobile phone adoption in particular. Four alternative specifications of the model are developed to test the stability and robustness of the estimates. The study finds rural households have heterogeneous access to ICT such as radio, TV, computer and the Internet except mobile phone. Our estimated Gini coefficient indicates high income inequality among the rural households. The model results suggest that household income positively influences mobile phone adoption. However, the impact is not statistically significant. Other factors such as respondents’ age, education and farm category are statistically significant influences on mobile phone adoption. An increasing use of mobile phones is likely to enhance the sharing of valuable information among rural households for the better management of their livelihoods and improved farming decisions.

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