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.
Economists fear foreign currency crisis
Economist and experts in a post-budget parley on Saturday apprehended a crisis of foreign currency in near future against the backdrop of sharp rise in non-concessional loans for implementing costly projects amid negative inflow of remittance and slow export growth.At a daylong seminar organised by local think-tank Centre for Policy Dialogue, they also said that the 15 per cent Value Added Tax would put destabilising effects on people, especially the middle income group, because of price hike of essentials, transport costs and electricity.
Bus tickets online: a boon for home-goers
Nearly half of the long distance bus tickets sold every day are now made available online, thanks to the growing use of private ticketing platforms which came into existence some three years ago. The benefits of simply going online or calling up 24/7 hotlines to get tickets via email or SMS become evident especially around Eids, centring which bus companies sell around 2 lakh tickets daily, according to insiders.
Rail over Padma Bridge still uncertain
The Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s promise of running rail on the Padma Bridge from the first day of its inauguration remains uncertain as the government could not manage the funds so far. According to the Ministry of Railways sources, a total of Tk24,749cr of the project, among Tk34,988cr, was supposed to be donated by China government’s EXIM Bank. But the government could not make the deal with the bank yet, reports the Bangla Tribune.
Bangladesh to sign $300m loan deals under SASEC
The Bangladesh government is set to sign two separate loan agreements for construction of Chittagong-Cox’s Bazar Railway Line on June 21. The contracts would be signed between the Bangladesh government and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) worth of US$ 300 million at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in the capital for Chittagong-Cox’s Bazar Railway Project, Phase-1-Tranche-1under South Asia Sub-regional Economic Cooperation (SASEC), a senior government said.
Bangladesh’s stocks slip into red after 3-week as Eid near
Bangladesh’s stocks returned to the red last week that ended on Thursday, breaking a three-week winning spell as some investors sold stocks ahead of Eid festival. Brokers said the market witnessed a mild correction as investors preferred to book quick-gain on their investment over the recent price surge while some were refraining from making fresh investment as only five trading sessions are left before Eid vacation.
People's interests ignored in tax proposals: CPD
Consumers' interest has been sacrificed while framing the various VAT and supplementary duty proposals for the upcoming fiscal year, said the Centre for Policy Dialogue yesterday. “Attempt to collect revenue from all low-hanging fruits is observed,” said Fahmida Khatun, executive director of the CPD, while presenting an analysis on the proposed budget for 2017-18.
BB disburses Tk 5,831.39cr thru 7 refinance schemes
Bangladesh Bank has disbursed loans amounting to Tk 5,831.39 crore as of April 30 from its seven refinance schemes for the country’s disadvantaged entrepreneurs, which has played an important role in raising the capacity of small and medium enterprises. The majority of clients have taken the credit from the schemes with a lower interest rate of 8 to 9 per cent that has help the entrepreneurs to open new businesses or to expand the existing ones, a BB official told New Age on Thursday.
Muhith keen to stop VGF programmes
In an interesting move, finance minister is looking forward to only continuing the low price food distribution programmes, stopping the Vulnerable Group Feeding (VGF) programme. The development came despite a huge allocation for the VGF programme in the proposed budget. The food distribution programmes would go on for the beneficiaries of the VGF programme.
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