Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) - The BBN has prepared the morning news highlights compiling reports, published by different newspapers and news portals in Bangladesh.
Target 7-nation power grid
A Bimstec meeting yesterday finalised a draft deal to set up power grid connections for electricity trade among its seven member countries -- Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand. “After years of negotiation, the member states of Bimstec today finalised the draft of the deal,” said Anwar Hossain, joint secretary (development) of the Power Division yesterday. “We are hopeful that this initiative will provide energy security in the region as it will enable the member states to share their surplus electricity with each other,” he added.
Post-listing periods see fall in dividend payment
Many of the companies that entered the capital market during 2011 to 2013 declared lower post-listing dividends than what they had offered before going public. The audit reports of the companies as in their prospectuses and the available information about them on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) website indicate a downward trend in their post-listing dividend payment. Some of the companies, however, cited political unrest and other obstacles as the reasons for their failure to offer dividend at satisfactory rates.
Yarn price falls on sluggish demand amid unrest
In the face of sluggish export orders of knit products the price of local yarn fell by 15 per cent over the last two months as international buyers are not feeling comfortable to visit Bangladesh due to political instability, industry people said. Slow demand due to political turmoil and fall of cotton price on the international market are the two prime reasons for the price fall of yarn, said its manufacturers. According to the spinners, the price of yarn decreased to $2.80 a kg from $3.25 a kg over the last two months.
Bearish spell continue to hit Bangladesh stock
Bangladesh’s stock extended their bearish spell for the fourth consecutive sessions Monday, as deepening political strife continued to hunt investors. The market opened with a downturn which sustained throughout the session as most investors were on selling mood in fear of declining the stock prices further. Meanwhile, a group of investors formed human chain in front of the prime bourse for a while, protesting the free fall of share prices. At the end of the session, DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) dipped below the 4,500-mark further and ended at 4,477.99 points, shedding 58.39 points or 1.28 percent.
Banks to bear the brunt of political unrest
Pressure on banks to compensate the businesses affected by the ongoing blockade and shutdowns is mounting by the day. Garment exporters, textile millers, realtors and cement and steel makers etc have come up with fresh demands, including relaxed loan and default rules, in the wake of the blockade that has continued for the last 70 days putting businesses in trouble. “It will be bad for the banking industry if it continues to compromise on the lending rules,” said Chowdhury Md Feroz Bin Alam, general manager of Banking Regulations and Policy Department at Bangladesh Bank. Commercial banks supported their clients in 2009 and 2013, cushioning them against the impacts of global recession and domestic political unrest, he said.
ADB sees East Asia bond markets appear healthy
Widening credit spreads, a stronger United States (US) dollar, Greece’s debt crisis, and plunging oil prices are growing risks to local currency bonds in emerging East Asia, the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) latest Asia Bond Monitor shows. “While the US Federal Reserve is expected to start raising interest rates and the cost of servicing US dollar-denominated debt is increasing, central banks in several Asian economies are easing their monetary stance and the prices of local currency bonds are broadly holding up well,” said ADB Chief Economist Shang-Jin Wei. “The sharp fall in oil prices has drawn attention to the financial health of oil and gas companies, but overall market exposure to the oil and gas segment is modest and manageable.”
Little headway in PPP initiative
The country is yet to see a breakthrough in attracting investment under the PPP initiatives, although projects in diverse sectors of the economy involving nearly $18 billion have obtained go-ahead until last month. Out of a total 45 approved projects, only three – two large and one small – have their contracts signed recently between foreign investors and the government ministries, a senior official in the public private partnership office under the PMO said.
He said the PPP office had completed appointment of advisers for at least 25 projects, detailed feasibility studies were undertaken against 12 projects and registration of interests against three projects were received so far from potential foreign investors.
Cement mega-merger deal in doubt
A deal to create the world's largest cement maker is in jeopardy after Swiss firm Holcim said its merger with French rival Lafarge could not go ahead "in its present form". The two firms agreed to merge in April, with Lafarge shareholders receiving one Holcim share for each Lafarge share, reports BBC. But since then, Holcim's shares have outperformed those of Lafarge. Holcim said it now wanted to negotiate "in good faith" both the agreed share exchange ratio and governance issues. If a merger were to go ahead the combined company would have sales of about €32bn (£22.8bn; $33.8bn).
BBN/SSR/AD-17Mar15-8:59 am (BST)