Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) - The BBN has prepared the morning business round up compiling reports, published by different newspapers and news portals in Bangladesh.
Govt plans to trim growth target as blockade bites
The government plans to revise down its economic growth target for the current fiscal year as the ongoing countrywide blockade and the associated violence have continued to hit the economy hard. “We will have to revise it because of the current situation. The revision exercise has already begun,” Finance Minister AMA Muhith told reporters at his secretariat office yesterday.
Puzzles of prolonged political unrest upset budget revision
Government's finance experts are in a fix in finalising the revised budget as they are unable to figure out real revenue mobilisation and its expenditure over the next five months. This is due to an unrelenting political unrest sweeping across the country, official sources said. Such inordinate delays in preparation and finalisation of the revised budget, including the Revised Annual Development Programme (RADP), they feel, may affect execution of the development projects earmarked for the current fiscal year.
KSA lifts ban on recruiting manpower from Bangladesh
The Saudi Arabian government on Sunday lifted the ban on recruiting manpower from Bangladesh. Shamsun Nahar, director general of Bureau of Manpower and Employment (BMET) in Bangladesh, confirmed it to the BBN. The KSA government imposed the ban on importing manpower from Bangladesh in 2008 alleging anomalies in the recruitment process. “The Ministry of Labour in Saudi Arabia overturned the embargo on the recruitment of Bangladeshi manpower on Sunday and the officials from Bangladesh embassy to Riyadh endorsed the information to us,” Ms Nahar said.
$300m WB loan soon for export sector, market infrastructure
The World Bank will lend US$ 300 million soon to facilitate long-term financing for the country’s export-oriented manufacturing sector and to strengthen financial market infrastructure, sources in the finance ministry and Bangladesh Bank said. The support from the multilateral lending agency will come under ‘Bangladesh Financial Sector Support Project’.
Businesses chart course of action
The businessmen of the country will observe a 15-minute sit-in programme across the country from 12:00 noon on February 8 carrying national flags in their hands and demanding immediate solution to the ongoing political deadlock. The decision was taken at an emergency meeting of the leaders of the country's leading trade bodies on Sunday in the backdrop of the volatile political situation in the country.
Muhith criticises Islamic banking
Finance Minister AMA Muhith yesterday criticised Islamic banking, saying the system has been built on "misconception". "The system seems to me absolutely fraudulent," he told parliament, replying to a question of a lawmaker. Muhith said the banking model has become popular around the world. "It is unfortunate that many organisations like IMF [International Monetary Fund] talk about it." The minister said "riba" and interest rates are not the same.
FPI in Bangladesh’s stocks fall 18% in January
Net foreign portfolio investment (FPI) in Bangladesh’s stocks fell 18 percent in January this year compared to same month last year, as foreign fund managers followed ‘wait-and-see’ policy amid ongoing political unrest. Foreign investors bought shares worth BDT 3.65 billion and sold shares worth BDT 1.36 billion to take net investment to BDT 2.28 billion in January this year, according to statistics from the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE).
BBN/SSR/AD-02Feb15-9:26 am (BST)