Good morning. Here's what happened overnight and what you need to know today.
1.
Rebuilding Confidence: Amid worker unrest and insecurity in the industrial sector, entrepreneurs and bankers have urged the new administration to focus on rebuilding confidence in the economy. Businesses suffered heavily because of street protests and internet blackouts with production disrupted and shipments delayed during the anti-discrimination student movement that toppled the Sheikh Hasina government on August 5. (The Daily Star)
2.
S Alam’s Empire: On a sunny August morning, I was standing at the crossroads of Jalan Merlimau and Thomson Road in Singapore. The summer sun beat down mercilessly as I looked for the number plate of the huge three-storey mansion – a penthouse sprawled over 12,000 square feet. Strangely, I could not find any number plate. But it must be No 3 Jalan Merlimau; the building right next to it is No 5. I crossed the road to the high-rise – that one is No 2. So there is no question that the mansion opposite is No 3 Jalan Merlimau, which is owned by Bangladeshi oligarch Saiful Alam Masud, commonly known as S Alam, chairman of S Alam Group. (The Business Standard)
3.
Deposit Falls: Bangladesh's banking sector experienced a significant decline in deposits in July, falling by Tk8,200 crore, mainly due to a 5-day internet blackout, three days of bank closures, and a general slowdown in banking activity due to unrest in the country. Along with the fall in deposits, the amount of cash held by the public increased by approximately Tk1,200 crore in July, as people preferred to keep liquid cash amid uncertainty. (The Business Standard)
4.
Bring Back Laundered Money: The Anti-Corruption Commission has decided to work with the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the US to bring back money siphoned off abroad. The decision came at a meeting yesterday between the ACC's money laundering and legal wings and an FBI delegation, said meeting sources. (The Daily Star)
5.
RMG Factories Shut: Around a hundred export-oriented garment factories remained closed amid unrest as a section of workers staged demonstrations through Ashulia-Gazipur industrial belts despite security deployment, sources said Monday. They said 85 readymade garment (RMG) factories located in Ashulia and Gazipur industrial belts announced Monday holiday with pay to avert far more troubles as the labour unrest has been on stream for a week now. (The Financial Express)
6.
Agent Banking: Agent banking deposits saw a significant increase of 19.76 per cent, reaching Tk 40,073 crore by the end of June of this year, up from Tk 33,462 crore recorded in the same period of the previous year, according to the latest "Quarterly Report on Agent Banking" released by the Bangladesh Bank (BB) on Monday. The central bank's data also revealed that the overall deposits in the banking sector rose by 9.25 per cent year-on-year, amounting to Tk 17.42 lakh crore. (The Business Post)
---Saju Sarker