Bundles of hundred dollar notes
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.
Remittance inflow drops by almost $2b in 10 months
The inward remittance decreased by $1.96 billion or 16.02 per cent in the July-April period of the current financial year 2016-17 compared with the corresponding period of FY16. The inflow dropped for the 10th month in a row this financial year. The country received $10.28 billion in remittance in July-April of FY17 against $12.25 billion in the same period of FY16, according to the latest Bangladesh Bank data.
$6-9b lost in 2014
Bangladesh has lost between $6 billion and $9 billion to illicit money outflows in 2014, according to a Global Financial Integrity (GFI) report. The Washington-based research and advisory organisation on Monday released the report based on a research on 150 countries. Bangladesh lost $75 billion due to trade misinvoicing and other unrecorded outflows between 2005 and 2014, according to the report.
BB fears pressure on forex reserves to rise further
Bangladesh Bank fears that pressure on the country’s foreign exchange reserves will increase if the government approves overseas equity investment by the local firms. Bank and Financial Institutions Division said it is not clear whether the local firms may return home their equity investment. The central bank feared the pressure on foreign exchange reserves as Akij Group, Nitol Niloy Group and Ha-Meem Group are now interested to invest overseas.
Bangladesh’ banks allowed issuing ‘Freelancer Card’
Country’s commercial banks are now allowed to issue ‘Freelancer Card’ having dual-currency units with features of being prepaid from abroad. On receipt of the payment, up to eligible portion of the Exporters’ Retention Quota (ERQ) might be credited at the options of beneficiaries in foreign currency unit of the card while the remainder mandatorily in local currency unit after conversion at prevailing exchange rate, according to a circular issued by the Bangladesh Bank (BB), the country’s central bank, on Tuesday.
Bangladesh’s stocks return to higher
Bangladesh’s stocks returned to higher Tuesday, after single-session break, as optimistic investors took position on some large-cap stocks. Following the previous day’s sharp decline, the key index of the country’s prime bourse advanced 21 points while the Selective Category Index of port city bourse rose 33 points within first 15 minutes of trading at 10:45am.
BIDA receives 45% less investment proposals in Q3
Investment proposals by companies registered with Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) has fallen by 45.88% during January to March month of the current fiscal year 2016-17. According to the latest BIDA data released on Tuesday, during the period, a total of 510 industrial units were registered with BIDA for investment.
Half of allocation may remain unspent this FY
More than half of the budgetary allocation for the big foreign-funded projects in road transport sector is likely to remain unspent this fiscal year (FY) due to slow progress of their implementation, sources said. They said the progress was relatively better in case of only one project funded by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) -- other projects could not make any significant headway, forcing the project offices to refrain from seeking the fourth or last installment of the allocation this fiscal year.
Private sector credit growth picks up
Private sector credit growth crossed the 16 percent mark for the first time in six months in March on the back of higher investment in government's infrastructure projects and a surge in SME lending amid lower interest rate. In March, credit growth stood at 16.06 percent -- which is close to the monetary target of 16.5 percent set by the Bangladesh Bank for the second half of the fiscal year. In February, the credit growth stood at 15.88 percent.
BBN/SSR/AD