Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) - The BBN has prepared the morning business round up compiling reports, published by different newspapers and news portals in Bangladesh.
BB unlikely to recommend SoCBs recap
The central bank has decided not to play a role anymore in injecting public money into the cash-strapped four state-owned commercial banks (SoCBs) to meet their capital shortfalls, officials said. Exasperated with repeated request for recapitalisation of the banks over the years, the regulator has now asked them to earn and run on their own funds by maintaining capital adequacy. "We'll not recommend the Ministry of Finance for injection of taxpayers' money to meet capital shortfalls of the SoCBs," a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told the FE Saturday.
State banks continue to rely on handouts
The government provided Tk 11,219 crore to four state banks over the last 12 years to meet their capital deficits but the lenders' financial position is yet to improve. This fiscal year too, Tk 5,000 crore has been earmarked in the budget for injection to Sonali, Janata, Agrani and Rupali banks to meet their capital shortfall. Owing to poor management, the banks accrued a cumulative loss of Tk 10,112 crore over the past seven years, according to central bank statistics.
7 lakh transport owners dodge tax, fees for a decade
The owners of about seven lakh trucks, buses and minibuses have paid no tax and fees in the past one decade while about three lakh of those vehicles are running without fitness certificates, officials said. Repeated extension of the deadline following petitions of Dhaka District Truck Owners Association with the blessing of Bangladesh Sarak Paribahan Sramik Federation, led by Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan, is the main reason behind the dues, the officials said. Quoting a proposal of the finance ministry, they said that truck and bus owners obtained the extension of the deadline on a number of occasions through the road transport ministry in the past one decade. At the latest, the deadline was extended till May 2014 following Shajahan Khan’s plea in October 2013, but the owner so far made no payment, the officials said.
Weekly review: Bangladesh’s stocks return to red amid profit taking
Bangladesh’s stocks returned to the red last week that ended on Thursday with turnover falling further as profit booking dominated the market sentiment. The week witnessed five trading sessions as usual. Of them, four sessions closed lower while one session saw marginal gain. Week-on-week, DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went down by 55.58 points or 1.14 percent to settle the week at 4,808.87. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, plunged 27.44 points or 1.45 percent to end at 1,859.40. The DSE Shariah Index shed 6.08 points or 0.51 percent to finish at 1,191.01.
PCBs dominate list of top 10 corporate taxpayers in FY15
Private commercial banks (PCBs) remained notable contributors to government's corporate-tax receipts as six of them were among the top ten payers of income tax last fiscal. Out of the rest four, Grameenphone -- the leading mobile-phone company -- stood on top as income-tax payer. According to the Large Taxpayer Unit (LTU) statistics, the top-ten corporate taxpayers paid nearly one-third of the aggregate income-tax collection by the unit in the fiscal year (FY) 2014-15.
Banks unhappy over EC tariff for NID verification
Scheduled banks and non-bank financial institutions are not happy with the Election Commission decision to charge Tk 2 for each crosscheck of their clients’ information through the national identity database. Some banks have recently complained to the central bank and ministry of finance that they have to pay huge amount of charge to the EC as their branches crosscheck a large number of clients’ information every working day. Against the backdrop, the central bank has included the issue in the agenda of the bankers meeting which would be held on September 3, a BB official told New Age on Tuesday.
Leather sector's exports cross $1b for second year
Exports of leather and leather goods crossed $1 billion for the second year in fiscal 2014-15, according to data from the Export Promotion Bureau. In 2014-15, Bangladesh exported leather and leather goods worth $1.13 billion, compared with $1.12 billion in the previous fiscal year, making it the second highest contributor to national exports after garment. Jute and jute goods became the third highest export earner, data shows. Bangladesh exports leather shoes, travel bags, wallets, belts and finished leather.
60% banks’ bottomline go up despite lending rates fall
Almost 60% of the listed banks have witnessed an inflated bottomline in the first half of this year, despite fall in lending and deposit rates as well as political unrest in the first quarter 2015. The banks made profits after keeping provision for tax thanks to the central bank’s continued relaxation in loan provisioning norms, say analysts and bankers. However, some banks struggled to boost their earnings because of some factors, including foreign loan inflow, drop in interest income in the wake of falling interest rate, that had affected their incomes to some extend.
BBN/SSR/AD