Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)-An end to GSP facility for Bangladesh may have an adverse impact on trade with the US, although the privilege covers an insignificant quantity of the total exports, says an initial position paper prepared by the government. “Withdrawal of GSP is likely to deliver a very harmful message about the country to the US buyers, as they might think that, out of consumer concerns and adverse media publicity, Bangladesh is not the right place to source from. That could affect our exports, even the RMG products,” said the position paper.
The European Parliament (EP) is planning to adopt a harsh resolution soon on the labour and safety standards in the garment sector in Bangladesh. This will put the country’s $20 billion plus export-oriented apparel industry in another challenging situation in its largest export destination.
The government on Wednesday appointed a new five-member committee to look into the safety arrangements at readymade garment factories across the country with the objective of checking recurrence of fire which on November 24 killed 112 workers and left many more injured at Tazreen Fashions at Ashulia. Led by a fire service and civil defence official the committee has been asked to identify the lapses in safety and security arrangements at apparel factories and submit a report in three months.
The National Board of Revenue looks to net three lakh new taxpayers by June through a countrywide survey, a senior NBR official said on Wednesday. “We have already started our survey to find and expand the number of taxpayers,” said Md Alauddin, member in charge of tax survey and inspection at the NBR.
The central bank has allowed local firms to remit commission earnings of foreign stock brokerage firms abroad using banking channel without its prior approval. “We’ve taken the measure to encourage foreign portfolio investors to invest their funds in the local capital market,” a Bangladesh Bank (BB) senior official told the FE, adding that it would help in repatriation of the share of commission earnings of foreign stock brokerage firms timely from Bangladesh.
The chief executive officer of Dhaka Stock Exchange, Musharraf M Hussain, on Wednesday resigned after the board of directors grilled the management team led by Musharraf on the day before over repeated ‘operational failures’. ‘I have decided to resign as the board’s approach towards the management had hurt my dignity,’ Musharraf told New Age when asked about the issue.
A record-breaking cold spell sent the mercury plummeting across the country on Wednesday, with Dinajpur experiencing 3.2 degrees Celsius, the lowest in almost half a century. Many thousand people suffered badly as the persisting chilly weather with strong winds sent them packing home early, limiting their outdoor activities to only basic necessities.
Left-leaning political parties on Wednesday called a countrywide half-day general strike on January 16 in protest against the latest price hike of fuel oils and the plan of the Awami League-led government to go for another phase of power price hike. The strike will start at 6:00am and end at noon.
The country’s stocks ended flat in a volatile trading on Wednesday, market operators said. The benchmark Dhaka Stock Exchange General Index, DGEN, closed at 4122.41 with a marginal gain of 3.64 points or 0.007 percent.The All Shares Price Index, DSI, rose 2.02 points or 0.05 per cent to 3429.77. The DSE-20 blue chip index saw fractional losses of 0.25 points to 3429.77. The Chittagong Stock Exchange Selective Category Index, CSCX, gained 23.38 points to 8025.70.
BBN/SSR/AD-10Jan13-9:50 am (BST)
