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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.
BBS labour force survey 2016-17: Female labour force growth dwarfs males
The size of the female labour force in Bangladesh increased at a significantly more rapid rate than that of men from the 2015-16 fiscal year to FY2016-17. According to a report from the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), the size of female labour force increased by 4.6%, while the male labour force increased by 1%. The total labour force increased by 1.4 million, or 2.3%.
Wider NBR drive to detect tax-dodging foreigners
Smelling large information gap in the data about registered foreign workers in Bangladesh, the tax authority now takes a wider survey on 40 companies to detect undocumented ones. As per the data compiled by the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA), some 5,345 foreign workers came through the authority's approval from May 2016 to November 2017, tax officials said.
SME loan release to women drops by 11pc in 2017
Disbursement of SME loans by banks and non-bank financial institutions to female entrepreneurs declined by 10.71 per cent or Tk 572.67 crore in 2017 compared with that in 2016, although their male peers received nearly 15 per cent more SME loans last year. Economists and female entrepreneurs attributed the fall to lack of supportive mentality of banks and NBFIs towards the small and medium enterprises run by women and absence of strict monitoring by Bangladesh Bank.
India scraps export duty on sugar to lift local prices
The Indian government yesterday withdrew the 20 percent export duty on sugar in a bid to boost sales abroad and lift domestic prices amid surplus production in the world's second largest producer of the sweetener. A notification on scrapping the export duty was issued by the finance ministry which said the estimated revenue implication of the move is Rs 75 crore for a year at the current export volumes.
Bangladesh Bank sells $10m to five banks
The central bank of Bangladesh has sold US$10 million more to five commercial banks to meet the growing demand for the greenback in the market. “We’ve sold the foreign currency to the banks on Tuesday at market rate to settle import payment bills particularly for food grains, fuel oils and capital machinery,” a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told the BBN in Dhaka.
Rod prices soar
Rod prices are spiralling with the soaring prices of melting scraps in the international market in the wake of US's announcement of 25 percent and 10 percent tariffs on steel and aluminium imports respectively from March 23. The development has left realtors sweating: the price hike of rod, the most important material for the construction industry, comes at a time when the real estate sector has just started to look up after years of downturn.
62 cos win export trophy
A total of 62 companies will receive National Export Trophy for the fiscal year 2014-15 in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the country's export earnings. The commerce ministry selected the names of the award-winning companies under 28 categories through a gazette notification on March 15.
Realtors decry increase in prices of construction materials
Realtors on Tuesday said the country’s housing sector is experiencing severe crisis due to ‘irrational increase’ in prices of construction materials, including cement, iron rod and bricks. A good number of realtors were on the brink of closing down constructions in their sites as the flat construction cost had already increased by Tk 200-250 per square feet due to the increase, said leaders of the Real Estate and Housing Association of Bangladesh.
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