Good morning. Here's what happened overnight and what you need to know today.
1.
FX Market on the Mend as Remittances Rebound: After a prolonged period of crisis, the foreign exchange market in Bangladesh, especially the interbank forex market, is showing signs of recovery, driven by a rebound in remittance receipts and key policy interventions by the central bank. The interbank forex market, which is crucial in facilitating international trade, had been under huge pressure lately owing to a crisis of US dollars, which was triggered by a combination of high import bills, lower-than-expected remittance inflows, and dwindling foreign exchange reserves. (The Daily Star)
2.
How Change of Ministers Altered Project Priorities during AL Regime: The Tk334 crore lavish circuit house project planned in the capital's Bailey Road was deemed less important and sent back by the then planning minister in 2022.But in less than one and half years the same project got approved by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) at the insistence of another planning minister. This is only one instance how a project's priority changes with the change of persons with authority and it gets cleared, no matter whether the Planning Commission raised questions about cost estimations or its very relevance. (The Business Standard)
3.
Liquidity Mishandling Lands Dozen Banks in Quagmire: At least 11 of mushrooming private commercial banks (PCBs) in Bangladesh faced with financial vulnerability mainly for a lack of proper liquidity management, bankers said, warranting government intervention. Weak corporate governance has also encouraged aggressive lending that has also pushed up the volume of classified loans significantly at these banks, they explained. The banks, whose boards have already been reconstituted following regime change in state power, are Islami Bank Bangladesh, Social Islami Bank, Global Islami Bank, Union Bank, National Bank, First Security Islami Bank, Bangladesh Commerce Bank, Al Arafah Islami Bank, United Commercial Bank, Exim Bank and IFIC Bank. (The Financial Express)
4.
RMG Sector on Brink as Unrest Continues: Shin Shin Apparels, a ready-made garment (RMG) factory located in Ashulia, Dhaka, while offering more facilities to its workers than many other manufacturers, has been forced to halt its production due to the ongoing workers' unrest. Despite multiple meetings between the factory owner and the workers, no resolution could be reached, leading to the decision to shut down operations. The factory has officially announced its closure under Section 13(1) of the Labour Act, invoking the 'no work, no pay' policy. (The Business Post)
5.
Gold Breaks $2,600 Barrier: Gold soared above the $2,600 level on Friday for the first time, extending a rally boosted by bets for further US interest rate cuts, and rising tensions in the Middle East. Spot gold was up 1.3 percent at $2,620.63 per ounce by 1:43 pm ET (1743 GMT), while US gold futures settled 1.2 percent higher to $2,646.20. (The Daily Star)
6.
BD Seeks $1.0b Aid from Japan: Bangladesh has recently sought $1.0-billion budgetary support from Japan to facilitate the country's post-flood recovery in the eastern region and also to weather the economic storm, officials said on Saturday. "We sent a request letter to our friendly country Japan early this month seeking its support. Bangladesh needs sizeable funds to recover the economy, damaged by some wrong macro-economic policies of the Sheikh Hasina government and sudden floods in late August," said a senior official of the Economic Relations Division (ERD). (The Financial Express)
---Saju Sarker
BBN/SSR/AD