Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- The Bangladesh Business News (BBN) prepares the morning business round up compiling reports, published by different newspapers and news portals in Bangladesh.
Govt prepares mid-term debt strategy to minimise cost, risk: The government has prepared a medium-term debt strategy (MTDS) with the objective of minimising its cost and risk involving debt portfolio. The MTDS is also aimed at meeting the borrowing requirement of the government in time and development of domestic debt market in the country. The treasury and debt management (TDM) wing under the Finance Division prepared the strategy. TDM sources said formulation of the MTDS will help the government assess its options to choose an appropriate borrowing mix to optimise the debt portfolio.
Budget on June 5: Bangladesh government is set to announce the national budget on June 5 for the fiscal year 2014-15. Finance Minister AMA Muhith will place the budget in the national parliament. The size of the budget for the FY 15, as indicated by the finance minister, is expected to be around BDT 2.50 trillion. Budget size for the current FY is BDT 2.22 trillion. Size of the Annual Development Programme (ADP) is likely to be set at BDT 800 billion, projecting 32 percent growth, against the revised one of BDT 600 billion for the current fiscal year.
Foreign investment in DSE jumps manifold in April: Net foreign investment in the Dhaka stockmarket rose to a record Tk 572 crore by nearly six times in April from the previous month, as overseas investors injected fresh funds into multinational companies. Foreign investors bought shares worth Tk 876.44 crore and sold shares worth Tk 304.35 crore in April, according to data from Dhaka Stock Exchange. Local stockbrokers said two international merger news of cement makers—Lafarge and Holcim—and drug makers—GlaxoSmithKline and Novartis—prompted foreign investors to take position in the companies that are listed on the Dhaka market. Lucrative dividends declared by other multinational companies also encouraged the investors to park money in the securities, they said.
Export to India slumps by 32pc in 10 months: Bangladesh’s export to India slumped by 32.22 per cent in the first 10 months of the current financial year 2013-2014 compared with the same period of the corresponding period of the FY13. Economists and Bangladesh Bank officials said that political unrest in first six months of the FY14 coupled with continuous non-tariff and para-tariff barriers put by India were the pivotal causes of declining trend in Bangladesh’s export to India. According to Export Promotion Bureau data, Bangladesh export to India dipped to $333.91 million in July-April this FY from $492.69 million in July-April in the FY13.
The 10-month export to India this year was also lowest in three years as total earning in July-April in 2011-2012 was $434.80 million.
Bangladesh’s state-own banks asked to expedite loan recovery drives: The central bank of Bangladesh has asked four state-owned commercial banks (SoCBs) to gear up their recovery drives to ensure realisation of instalments of rescheduled loans properly.The SoCBs have been instructed to take effective measures so that rescheduled loans do not turn into classified ones, officials said. The instructions came at a meeting held at the Bangladesh Bank (BB) on Sunday to review the memoranda of understanding (MoUs) of the four SoCBs --- Sonali Bank, Janata Bank, Agrani Bank and Rupali Bank --- with BB Deputy Governor Abu Hena Mohammad Razee Hassan in the chair.
Online system to track foreign aid: The government has taken an initiative to develop an online system that will track the incoming flow of aid into Bangladesh in an effort to ensure accountability and transparency for both the government and development partners. The Economic Relations Division yesterday organised a meeting at the NEC conference room to share the 'beta version' of Aid Information Management System (AIMS) with stakeholders, including development partners and civil society organisations. Arastoo Khan, additional secretary of ERD, chaired the meeting where Md Shakhawat Hossain, an ICT specialist from ERD's Aid Effectiveness Project, and Karolien Casaer, a UNDP policy specialist, delivered presentations on AIMS, an application that records and processes information on development activities and aid flow in a country.
Half of RMG units take no approval for extra work-hour: A Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments survey has found that 49 per cent of the country’s readymade garment factories do not take approval from factory inspectors for additional working hours at their units. DIFE officials said that taking approval from factory inspector for additional working hours is mandatory. The DIFE conducted the survey in 317 garment factories in January-March period.
The survey on compliance issue in the RMG sector found that 21 per cent of the factories did not provide appointment letters to their workers while 26 per cent of the units violated holiday rules.
BBN/SSR/AD-12May14-11:04 am (BST)