Dhaka, Oct. 22 -- A prolonged teachers' strike ended Tuesday on a 15-percent house-rent allowance raise finally approved by the head of interim government.

Bangladesh's economy-"devastated by 15 years of rampant corruption and plunder"-has not yet regained the capacity to afford the 20-percent increase demanded by the teachers, said Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus, according to a spokesman for the CA Office.

"Therefore, the government has had to take this decision in the light of the existing economic realities," the CA said, noting though that the economy now got revitalised under the interim government' rule since last yea's uprising that brought about regime change.

The Chief Adviser made it clear that the interim government ...