File photo: Wall Street Journal
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.
Mobile-based financial transactions mark fall
Fast-growing mobile-based financial transactions took a knock, dropping around 5.04 per cent, quarter on quarter, during the third quartile of this year. Sources concerned, however, attributed the downturn largely to 'seasonal effects'. According to the figures from Bangladesh Bank, a total of 475.67 million mobile-based transactions took place in the country during the July-September period of this year, the total value of which was 771.01 billion.
ADP spending rises 42pc in Jul-Oct
Development spending rose 42 percent year-on-year to Tk 23,815 crore in the first four months of the current fiscal year on the back of increased use of foreign aid. The spending by the ministries and divisions between July and October was 14.51 percent of the total allocation for the annual development programme, according to figures from the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division.
NBR issues final demand notices to 4 telcos to pay Tk 883cr
The National Board of Revenue has issued final demand notices to four mobile operators asking them to pay Tk 883.35 crore in second phase of outstanding SIM replacement tax within 90 days. In four separate demand notices to Grameenphone, Banglalink, Robi and Airtel (now merged with Robi), the Large Taxpayers’ Unit (Value-Added Tax) of the revenue board on Monday said that the companies dodged the amount in supplementary duty and VAT on sales of SIM between July 2012 and June 2015.
Bangladesh Bank sells $30m more to four banks
The central bank of Bangladesh has sold US$ 30 million more to four commercial banks directly to meet the growing demand for the greenback in the market. “The central bank sold the US currency to the banks at market rate on Monday to settle their import payment obligations,” a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB), the country’s central bank, told BBN in Dhaka.
Pay hike proposed in cabinet
A cabinet member on Monday proposed formation of a wage board to increase workers’ wages in the apparel sector, last revised in 2013, as the government employees’ pay structures were hiked two years back. Proposing the government move for enhancing the readymade garment workers’ pays in the weekly cabinet meeting, state minister for labour Md Mujibul Haque suggested that the NGO Affairs Bureau should strengthen its oversight mechanism to monitor what the non-governmental organisations were doing with the funds they were receiving from foreign donors for training and other welfare activities of workers.
Banks urge BB to give multiple payment switches
Banks yesterday urged the central bank to allow them to route their card transactions through multiple switches instead of a single platform: the National Payment Switch of Bangladesh (NPSB). The call was made at a meeting between Bangladesh Bank Deputy Governor SM Moniruzzaman and the Association of Bankers Bangladesh (ABB), a platform for chief executives of the country's scheduled banks.
Bangladesh-Myanmar bilateral trade through Teknaf regaining normalcy
Bilateral trade between Bangladesh and Myanmar through Teknaf land port in Cox’s Bazar is slowly returning to normal after almost grinding to a halt at the peak of the Rohingya refugee crisis in September. The port employs a workforce of 650 and is the main gateway for trade with Myanmar. Bangladesh exports 24 types of goods to Maungdaw, Sittwe and other port towns across the border. In reverse, Myanmar exports 30 types of goods to Bangladesh.
Bangladesh Taka depreciates 10 paisa more against US$
The Bangladesh Taka (BDT) depreciated ten paisa more against the US dollar Monday evening following higher demand for the greenback in the inter-bank foreign exchange market. The exchange rate of the BDT against the US dollar was quoted at maximum BDT 81.30 at the evening transactions today.
BBN/SSR/AD