Qimiao Fan, WB country director for Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal, speaks while Zahid Hussain, lead economist at the World Bank's Dhaka office, and Mehrin A Mahbub, head of corporate communications of WB's Dhaka office, look on during a press briefing at its Dhaka office on September 27 regarding the latest updates on the Bangladesh economy and jobs creation status. Photo: BBN
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 forecasts 6.4pc growth
The World Bank has kept unchanged its growth forecast for Bangladesh at 6.4 percent for the current fiscal year, much lower than the country's achievement in the last fiscal year and the government target for FY 2017-18. The government has set a growth target of 7.4 percent for the current fiscal year, up from 7.24 percent achieved a year ago.
Bangladesh enters club of top 100 countries
Bangladesh's competitiveness ranking got elevated to a double-digit 99th amongst 137 countries surveyed, rising seven notches up from previous position. The findings came in the latest Global Competitiveness Report (2017-18) of the World Economic Forum (WEF), released in Dhaka Wednesday.
Stocks refinance scheme extended by 2yrs with reduced interest rate
The government extended the tenure of capital market refinancing scheme by two more years, cutting interest rate on loans from the scheme by 1.5 per cent to 6 per cent. The government granted the extension following appeals from the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission and the Investment Corporation of Bangladesh.
BDT appreciates 19 paisa against US$ for importers
The exchange rate of Bangladesh Taka (BDT) appreciated significantly against the US dollar on Wednesday for importers, as the central bank sold US$ 38 million to the banks. The local currency appreciated by 0.23 per cent or 19 paisa each against the US currency, as the average bill for collection (BC) rate of the greenback came down to BDT 81.8963 on the day from BDT 82.0892 on the previous working day, according to Bangladesh Foreign Exchange Dealers Association (BAFEDA).
Farm, micro loans made cheaper
The central bank has made a move to reduce commercial banks' cost for agricultural loans and microcredit to encourage lending in the two segments. Banks have been instructed to maintain 1 percent general provisioning against all unclassified farm and micro loans instead of 2.5 percent, said a circular from the central bank yesterday.
Bangladesh Bank sells $38m to three banks
The central bank of Bangladesh has sold $38 million to three commercial banks directly to meet the growing demand for the greenback in the market. “We’ve sold the US dollars to the banks at market rate on Wednesday to settle their import payment obligations particularly for food grains and fuel oils,” a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told BBN in Dhaka.
Govt indecision blamed for rice price hike
The government indecision over procurement and tax cut in import has contributed to the hike in rice price recently, according to the World Bank. The World Bank lead economist, Zahid Hussain, came up with the remark while addressing a group of journalists at his office in Dhaka on Wednesday. He was delivering speech on The Bangladesh Development Update: Towards more, better and inclusive jobs.
Prices of coarse rice decline
The prices of finer varieties of rice continued to maintain their recent-peak levels Wednesday, but the coarse varieties showed a downward trend due to the recent cut in import duties and the government's import initiatives. Sarna, a coarse variety of rice, was selling at Tk 48 per kg at different retail markets in the city on the day, which was between Tk 52 and Tk 55 during the last few days.
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