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Bangladesh, Dhaka (BBN) – Bangladesh Business News prepares Tuesday’s evening business round up compiling reports, published by different newspapers and news portals.
Farmers Bank scam: HC upholds Rashedul’s bail in money laundering case
The High Court (HC) on Tuesday upheld a subordinate court order that gave bail to Rashedul Haque Chisty, son of the ex-chairman of Farmers Bank audit committee Mahbubul Haque Chisty, in a money laundering case filed on charge of misappropriating Tk 1.59 billion. The HC bench comprised of Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice Mohi Uddin Shamim passed the order after rejecting a revision petition lodged by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) challenging the lower court order that granted him bail earlier.
Bangladesh’s stocks tumble amid lower turnover
Bangladesh’s stocks witnessed a big jolt on Tuesday, with the key index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) tumbling below 5,700-mark, as investors went on sell-offs on large-cap stocks. DSEX, the prime index of the DSE, went down by 94.55 points or 1.63 per cent to settle at 5,695. DSEX lost roughly 140 points in the past three straight sessions.
Economic recovery feels the weight of empty classrooms
An Oxford economist, Professor Simon Wren-Lewis, in a study released in March last year estimated that school closures lasting four weeks could cut three percent from the UK’s GDP, costing the economy billions of pounds. Bangladesh’s economy is not shielded from the damage induced by school closures since last March. Now, think about the economic consequences for school closures in Bangladesh for around a year since last March. The empty classrooms not only hit education, it hit the economy. Industries estimate that businesses based on the academic activities of students have lost around Tk50,000 crore. This is just an iceberg of the impact. There is no estimation about future impact on the economy.
DGDA issues ‘Lot Release Certificate’ for Covishield
The Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA) today issued the “Lot Release Certificate” for Covishield — the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine manufactured by Serum Institute of India — to Beximco Pharmaceutical Ltd. Through this, there will be no legal restriction from the DGDA — the apex drug regulatory body of the government — to use the vaccines.
City Bank inaugurates relocated Gulshan branch
City Bank on Monday formally opened its relocated Gulshan branch located at Gulshan 1 in the capital, says a press release received on Tuesday. Chairman of the bank Aziz Al Kaiser inaugurated the relocated branch, which is equipped with full-fledged modern and digital banking facilities, according to the press release.
WHO expected to review AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine on Feb 8
The World Health Organization’s vaccine advisory panel has tentatively scheduled a review of the Astrazeneca Covid-19 vaccine for February 8, an expert said on Tuesday.
32% people willing to get vaccines in first phase of Covid-19 inoculation: survey
A new survey has revealed that 32 percent people have said they will take Covid-19 vaccines at the very beginning of the countrywide inoculation likely to start from February 8. A majority of the people—around 52 percent, however, want to take the vaccine a few weeks or months after the vaccination will start. On the other hand, some 16 percent people said they will not take the vaccine at all, revealed the survey conducted on 3,560 people from 16 upazilas of eight divisions and two city corporations of Dhaka city.
Mass vaccination to begin Feb 7 in Bangladesh: Minister
Bangladesh Health minister Zahid Maleque on Tuesday said the nationwide mass vaccination against COVID-19 would begin on February 7. Earlier, the government announced February 8 for the inauguration of mass vaccination.
IMF more upbeat on global economy, but warns new Covid variants could derail growth
The International Monetary Fund has become more upbeat about the global economy, as coronavirus vaccinations are administered across the world. It is, however, worried about the risk new Covid variants pose to the post-pandemic recovery. According to its latest World Economic Outlook, published Tuesday, the institution now expects the global economy to grow 5.5% this year — a 0.3 percentage point increase from October’s forecasts. It sees global GDP (gross domestic product) expanding by 4.2% in 2022.
Johnson & Johnson quarterly sales raise 8.3pc
Johnson & Johnson on Tuesday posted an 8.3 per cent rise in quarterly sales and said it would share details from its keenly watched coronavirus vaccine trial soon, as the healthcare conglomerate races to develop a potential single-dose vaccine for COVID-19. Quarterly sales rose to $22.48 billion from $20.75 billion.
Shares in Asia decline as major stock indexes fall more than 2%
Stocks in Asia declined in Tuesday trade, with Chinese stocks leading losses among the region’s major markets. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong dropped 2.55% to close at 29,391.26. Hong Kong-listed shares of Chinese tech giant Tencent plunged 6.26%, while Meituan also saw heavy losses as it fell 5.3%. Mainland Chinese stocks were lower on the day, with the Shanghai composite down 1.51% to 3,569.43 while the Shenzhen component fell 2.277% to 15,352.42. South Korea’s Kospi closed 2.14% lower at 3,140.31.
Moderna vaccine will ‘work’ against new variants
Moderna said on Monday it believes its Covid-19 vaccine protects against new variants found in Britain and South Africa, although it will test a new booster shot aimed at the South African variant after concluding the antibody response could be diminished. The company said in a news release it found no reduction in the antibody response against the variant found in Britain. Against the South African variant, it found a reduced response but still believed its two-dose regimen would provide protection.
Yen, Dollar may extend rise as stocks fall after China drains liquidity
A risk-off tone prevailed in Asia-Pacific trading hours. The defensively-minded US Dollar and Japanese Yen rose while their sentiment-geared Australian and New Zealand Dollars fell alongside stocks and cyclical commodities including copper and crude oil.
AstraZeneca denies its vaccine is less efficient in the elderly; battles with EU over supplies
British-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca is fighting battles on several fronts this week — defending its coronavirus vaccine from reports that it could be less effective in protecting the elderly and facing increasing tensions with the EU over its delayed supplies to the bloc. On Monday, the drugmaker defended its vaccine from reports in several German newspapers, Bild and Handelsblatt, that the AstraZeneca vaccine, created in conjunction with the University of Oxford, had a low efficacy rate (of less than 10% and 8%, the papers said, respectively) in the over-65s, the main target group for having the vaccine as they are more at risk of serious disease and death.
Oil drops as U.S. stimulus wrangles, rising Covid-19 cases hit sentiment
Oil prices fell on Tuesday as fading hopes for a rapid approval of new U.S. economic stimulus and mounting new coronavirus cases raised questions over the pace of any recovery in demand.
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