Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) – The Bangladesh Business News (BBN) has prepared the morning business round up compiling reports, published by different newspapers and news portals in Bangladesh.
Barapukuria sees coal glut with little storage capacity: Coal storage at the country's lone operative coalmine at Barapukuria in northern Dinajpur has already exceeded capacity due to lower-than-expected consumption, posing a threat of combustion to the coal yard, sources said. The quantity of stockpiled coal produced from Barapukuria is currently 400,000 tonnes, which is double the capacity of the designated coal storage yard. State-owned Barapukuria Coal Mining Company Ltd (BCMCL) has now been forced to store some 200,000 tonnes of additional coal in the nearby playground, they said.
Tk 104cr wasted for quorum crisis in 9th parliament:Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) on Tuesday observed that the exceptional character of the ongoing tenth parliament without a ‘practical’ opposition would not last long and hoped that inclusive eleventh national polls would be held very soon. ‘There is a nominal but not practical opposition in the tenth parliament and the exceptional character of the parliament would not last long,’ the corruption watchdog executive director Iftekharuzzaman said at a press conference at the CIRDAP auditorium. The TIB arranged the press conference to disseminate a study report revealing that quorum crisis in the ninth parliament caused the country waste of time worth over Tk 104 crore.
Rice imports soar despite higher yields: Rice imports are surging despite higher production in the past three harvesting seasons of aman, aus and boro. Imports rose 19 times to 3.71 lakh tonnes between July 2013 and March 6 this year, from 18,900 tonnes in the same period a year ago, according to the food ministry. Government officials said imports rose as rice prices were low on the international market due to higher production and exports particularly from India. Currently, the export price of Indian parboiled rice is at $410 each tonne on the international market, whereas the wholesale price of the same quality rice remains over $430 a tonne in Bangladesh, according to food ministry data.
BB ups GDP growth projection by 0.01pc: The central bank has upgraded its projection of the country's economic growth bringing its forecast closer to the finance minister's estimate. Finance Minister AMA Muhith in February last told the media that the country's gross domestic product (GDP) was likely to grow at the rate of 6.3 per cent. However, the finance minister in his March 12 speech in the Jatiya Sangsad (JS) said the growth target of 7.2 per cent might be achieved, if the output in the industrial sector and the harvest of main crops were satisfactory. He was placing the first quarterly report on the state of economy.
Banks look for ways to rescue debt-ridden Mostafa Group: Banks are trying to find a way to rescue Mostafa Group, a Chittagong-based conglomerate now overwhelmed by piling bank loans. However, bankers said it must be a 'win-win game' for both the parties, otherwise banks will be in trouble and their profits will be affected in meeting the loan-loss provision. “We have discussed the issue of Mostafa Group at a recent meeting. We are working on how we can help them get rehabilitated,” said Anis A Khan, vice-chairman of Association of Bankers, Bangladesh and managing director of Mutual Trust Bank. “Debt syndication could be a solution,” Khan said.
Imports up 13.60pc in Feb: The country’s overall imports increased by 13.60 per cent in February of this year against a negative growth of 12.84 per cent in the corresponding month of the last year due mainly to higher import of food products. According to Bangladesh Bank data, the overall settlement of letters of credit, generally known as actual import, stood at $2.85 billion in February of this year. The figure was $2.50 billion in February 2013 and $2.87 billion in January 2012.
A BB official told New Age on Tuesday that the importers were now importing more products than the previous few months as the businesspeople got a respite in the period from the situation of political unrest.
Tuesday’s major market indicators of Bangladesh: The call money rate remained unchanged on Tuesday while the US dollar was stable against the local currency in the inter-bank market, treasury officials said. The call rate ranged between 5.25 per cent and 8.25 per cent on the day unchanged from the previous level. But most of the deals were made at rates between 7.25 per cent and 8.25 per cent on the day, they added. The US currency was stable against Bangladesh Taka (BDT) due mainly to low demand of the greenback in the inter-bank foreign exchange market.
BB sets ceiling on ATM charges: The central bank has capped the fees for ATM (automated teller machine) services to encourage people to use electronic transactions at their convenience instead of taking the risk of cash withdrawal from branches. The Bangladesh Bank (BB) on Tuesday in a circular fixed the fees for per transaction at BDT 0 for using the ATM installed by the same card issuing bank and BDT 20 for using others' ATM.
BB purchases $70 million from two PCBs: The central bank has continued purchasing of the US dollar from the commercial banks directly to keep the inter-bank foreign exchange (forex) market stable, officials said. "We've expedited our intervention in the forex market aiming to protect the interests of exporters and migrant workers by keeping the exchange rate of the local currency against the greenback stable," a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told BBN in Dhaka.
BBN/SSR/AD-19Mar14-9:15 am (BST0
