Good morning. Here's what happened overnight and what you need to know today.
1.
RMG Work Orders Returning: After more than a month of disruption due to the political changeover and subsequent labour unrest in major industrial belts, international apparel retailers and brands are returning to Bangladesh with work orders for upcoming seasons. Local garment suppliers said more Western retailers and brands are now visiting the factories and inquiring about production as normalcy has returned to the sector. They said Western buyers are placing orders for the next autumn and winter seasons. (The Daily Star)
2.
Possible Impact of Middle East Crisis: As the conflict between Hamas and Israel escalates, concerns are growing among thousands of migrant workers, particularly in Lebanon and Jordan, about job security in an increasingly unstable environment. Since the war began in October last year, tensions have spread to Iran and Lebanon. Experts caution that if the conflict continues to escalate, it could severely impact Bangladesh's economy, as around 6 million Bangladeshi workers are employed in the Middle East. (The Business Standard)
3.
Budget Support: Bangladesh is set to seek confirmation of the committed budget-support credits from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) at the duo's annual meet beginning tomorrow (Monday), as its forex-crunch mitigation is exigent. The Bangladesh delegation to the meeting, headed by Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed, would request the WB for confirming its assured US$1.5 billion worth of budgetary support and IMF's $3.0 billion additional support, finance officials said Saturday. The conference of the twin institutions in the Bretton-Woods system will be held in Washington, DC on October 21-26. The ministerial meet will start on October 22. (The Financial Express)
4.
Two S Alam Sons Dodged Tk 75cr in Taxes in 20-21: At least six tax officials, including the then tax commissioner, were involved in extending undue favour to two sons of controversial businessman Mohammed Saiful Alam to legalise undisclosed money worth Tk 500 crore, an investigation by the tax intelligence has found. In the process, S Alam's sons Ashraful Alam and Asadul Alam were allowed to evade Tk 75 crore in taxes in 2020-21, according to the report, prepared by Mohammad Abdur Rakib, tax commissioner of income tax intelligence and investigation unit. (The Daily Star)
5.
Banks Free to Remit Payments Abroad: Banks now get a free hand to remit various payments abroad sans prior approval from the central bank as the banking regulator relaxes the foreign- exchange rules. The Bangladesh Bank issued Thursday three notifications to this effect on hopes for a boost in inward remittance by way of gaining confidence of the remitters or companies so that they can feel encouraged to send increased inbound remittances in future. "There is a correlation between outward and inward remittances. Rising flow of outward remittances normally helps attract more inflow of remittances," a BB senior official told the FE about the merit of bending the forex rules. (The Financial Express)
6.
How Shakib’s ‘Powerplay’ Blitz Backfired: Shakib Al Hasan's current situation is far from what many would have expected for a man of his stature. Unarguably the greatest sportsperson that Bangladesh has ever produced, Shakib now finds himself unable to come to his own country to take part in the first Test against South Africa, which could have been his swansong in the white uniform. This comes in the aftermath of the ousting of Sheikh Hasina's government, with which Shakib was aligned and where he was elected as a Member of Parliament during its last term. He is now also facing charges of murder. (The Business Standard)
----Saju Sarker
BBN/SSR/AD