Good morning. Here's what happened overnight and what you need to know today.
1.
Paltry Disbursement, High Cost of Funds Compound Crisis: Drawn-out disbursement process and excessive cost of fund in the central bank-guaranteed liquidity feeding to the crisis-ridden commercial banks are making it more of a hindrance than help, bankers said. Because of the delay even in getting the costly cash assistance from the well-off banks under the guarantee scheme, the troubled banks find it hard to handle the customers rushing to withdraw their money out of heightened panic, which ultimately further widens their woes, according to the bankers. (The Financial Express)
2.
BB to Lift LC Restrictions on Crisis-Hit Banks: The Bangladesh Bank (BB) has decided in principle to withdraw the restrictions on opening letters of credit (LCs) by six crisis-hit banks, according to officials. The measure, which was imposed in August this year, prevented banks from opening LCs only by keeping a 100 percent margin. The development came following a meeting at the Bangladesh Bank headquarters yesterday between officials of the ailing banks and central bank officials. (The Daily Star)
3.
Govt Inherits Tk50,000cr in power and Energy Dues, Plans Special Bond for Payment Relief: The government's outstanding debt in the power and energy sector has soared to a record of nearly Tk50,000 crore with around Tk45,500 crore accrued in the electricity sector alone from August last year to October this year, exceeding the current fiscal year's budget allocation by over 30%, a finance division official says.Tk3,500-4,000 crore in new dues are added each month to the bill. However, with limited revenue collection, the Finance Ministry has only been able to pay down between Tk1,500-2,000 crore monthly, according to the official who wished to remain anonymous. (The Business Standard)
4.
Capital-Gains Tax Cut to Half from 30pc: Government's revenue authority halved the tax on capital-gains from sales of shares by individual investors in the stock market. The fiscal perks spurred instant stocks rebound. The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has issued a notification by lowering the tax rate to 15 per cent on capital-gains above Tk 5.0 million from trading in shares on the stock exchanges, says a press statement. Meanwhile, substantial price hikes of selective large-cap stocks, including blue chips, helped the benchmark index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) surge almost 62 points or 1.18 per cent to settle at 5,252, after losing more than 8 points the day before. (The Financial Express)
5.
Dhaka North Toils to Withdraw Deposits from 4 Crisis-Hit Banks Linked to S Alam Group: Four shariah-based banks, which were controlled by the controversial business conglomerate S Alam Group, cannot pay back deposits of the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) amounting to Tk29 crore due to a liquidity crisis. Recently, after being unable to recover its deposits, the corporation sent a letter to the governor of the central bank. However, according to bank sources, no directive has been issued by the central bank thus far. The banks are Global Islami Bank, Social Islami Bank, First Security Islami Bank, and Bangladesh Commerce Bank. (The Business Standard)
6.
Denim Demand Rebounds Gradually: Experts: The demand outlook for locally made denim garments is gradually improving as Western economies rebound, local and foreign businessmen said yesterday. There is intense competition in the global denim market as almost all competing countries, including Turkey, Pakistan and Vietnam, have always been strong denim producers. Sales of denim products slowed over the last three years due to the severe fallouts of the Covid-19 pandemic, Russia-Ukraine war, and high inflationary pressures in the Western world, including the European Union (EU) and the US. (The Daily Star)
----Saju Sarker
BBN/SSR/AD