Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) - The BBN (Bangladesh Business News) has prepared the morning business round up compiling reports, published by different newspapers and news portals in Bangladesh.
WB to preview financial flipside of new VAT law
The World Bank will take a final look at the potential impact of the Value Added Tax and Supplementary Duty (SD) Act 2012 on the economy, especially on general prices and income distribution, before its enforcement. Officials said a WB mission would make a preview of the flipside of slapping a uniform 15 per cent VAT rate for all businesses under the law effective from next fiscal year.
Cash-starved SoBs seek bailout again
Trapped in deep corruption bred debt crisis an increasing number of state owned banks sent SoS to the government to raise recapitalization fund for them by selling bonds. Officials told New Age that the government was reluctant to bail out the sick SoBs by pumping cash from the exchequer as the measure drew severe criticism in the past. Officials said Rupali Bank, in which government holds 96 per cent of the stakes, requested for issuing bond worth Tk 500 crore to meet its capital shortfall.
Bangladesh’s four public banks asked to improve financial health soon
The central bank of Bangladesh has asked the four state-owned commercial banks (SoCBs) to improve their financial health immediately through slashing the amount of classified loans. The public sector banks have also been advised to expedite credit flow to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) instead of large ones for minimising risks, officials said. The instructions were given at a meeting, held at the Bangladesh Bank (BB) headquarters in the capital Dhaka on Thursday with Bangladesh Bank (BB) Governor Fazle Kabir in the chair.
Shrimp exports bounce back
Shrimp exports picked up in the first quarter of fiscal 2016-17 after remaining on the downturn over the past two fiscal years thanks to lower production in the major producing countries, said industry operators. Export earnings from shrimp rose 14 percent year-on-year to $124 million in the July-September period of the fiscal year, according to data from the Export Promotion Bureau.
New WB loans for infrastructure in the offing
Bangladesh is set to take loans under a new scheme of the World Bank that carries high interest rate, to meet the huge public and private sector investment demand. The Washington-based multilateral lender formed a new fund named “Scale-Up Facility (SUP)” in March this year and Bangladesh can take loans from it at high interest rate in addition to normal concessional credit. Since Bangladesh is a low-income country, it only gets loans from International Development Association, the arm of the World Bank Group that hands out loans and grants to the world's poorest developing countries.
Bangladesh’s stocks edge lower for second week
Bangladesh’s stocks finished marginally lower for the two consecutive weeks that ended on Thursday as investors booked profit on large-cap stocks. Analysts said the market edged lower as most of the investors booked profit on major sectors that saw significant gain in the past few weeks. LankaBangla Securities, a stockbroker, said, “DSEX finished in the red after struggling to below 4,700-level as stocks continued its mild profit booking”.
65 garment units finish remediation
Sixty-five readymade garment factories have completed so far all the corrective measures recommended by two platforms of western buyers and retailers during their initial electrical and structural safety inspections at the factories. Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, a platform of European retailers and buyers, announced that three of its supplier factories had completed remediation works in last week.
PDB to change all overhead electricity lines in six major cities
After successful implementation of some underground electricity distribution lines in Dhaka city, the government is now planning to implement the same in six other major cities in a bid to improve the country’s power supply situation. The Power Development Board (PDB) has taken an initiative to replace all overhead electricity distribution lines to underground ones in six major cities to increase the longevity and reliability of the power distribution system.
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