BBN Briefing – Good Morning Bangladesh  

Last updated: November 13, 2024

Good morning. Here's what happened overnight and what you need to know today.

1.

Budget Loans to Give Breathing Space to Economy: IMF: An exigent switch from project aid to budget-support loans from bilateral and multilateral development financiers in the interim period will yield some breathing space for Bangladesh's economy, the IMF observes. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has noted that apart from the recent political tensions, there have also been disruptions on the balance-of- payments side and particularly for external financing. (The Financial Express)

2.

Import Payment Delay a Reputational Loss for Bangladesh: BB: Despite an overall improvement in foreign currency stocks, some state-run banks and Shariah-based lenders are not making import payments on time, prompting the central bank to issue a notice and warn of punitive actions against bank officials. In the notice issued yesterday, the Bangladesh Bank (BB) said delays and defaults on import payments damage Bangladesh's image on the international stage and push up import costs, eventually weighing on people who are struggling under persistent price pressures. (The Daily Star)

3.

NBR Begins First Transfer Pricing Audit to Detect Any Tax Evasion by MNCs: After more than a decade of making transfer pricing rules, Bangladesh's National Board of Revenue (NBR) has commenced its first audit of multinational companies (MNCs) to ensure compliance with these regulations. The audit means to uncover any tax evasion tactics linked to international transactions. The move is seen as a major step towards financial transparency, aiming to prevent profit shifting, where companies allocate profits to countries with lower taxes, thereby reducing taxable income in Bangladesh, NBR officials said. (The Business Standard)

4.

World Bank Points Out Myriad Issues in Healthcare: The World Bank has committed to giving Bangladesh $400 million for implementing the next five-year plan for the health sector, which is estimated to cost around $9 billion. The government expects $2.3 billion of it to come from multilateral and bilateral partners, including the World Bank (WB), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). (The Daily Star)

5.

Money Market Shows Signs of Stability – but Depositor Trust Still Shaky: The country's money market – both local and foreign – has shown signs of gradual improvement over the past three months under the interim government. The dollar rate and reserves have remained stable, and interbank transactions have resumed, thanks to policy measures taken by the Bangladesh Bank. However, depositor confidence remains shaky as nine weak banks are still not fully able to pay back money to their customers, according to market insiders. (The Business Standard)

6.

Bangladesh Gross Forex Reserves Falls to $24.19b after ACU payment: Bangladesh’s imports from the Asian Clearing Union (ACU) member countries increased by nearly 9.50 per cent in the September-October period of this calendar year, officials said. The amount of ACU payment rose to $1.50 billion during the period under review from $1.37 billion earlier mainly due to higher imports from the ACU member countries, particularly from India. After the payment, the country’s gross foreign exchange (forex) reserves came down to $24.19 billion on Tuesday from $25.66 billion on Sunday as per traditional calculation of the Bangladesh Bank (BB). (Bangladesh Business News)

----Saju Sarker

BBN/SSR/AD

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