File photo: EPA
Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) - The BBN (Bangladesh Business News) has prepared the morning business round up compiling reports, published by different newspapers and news portals in Bangladesh.
UN, WB chiefs likely to visit Rohingya camps in Bangladesh
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim are likely to make a two-day official visit to Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar district of Bangladesh on July 1. Apart from visiting the refugee camps, they will hold meetings with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Finance Minister AMA Muhith, the government's Economic Relations Division (ERD) sources said.
Call money rate stable before Eid festival
The inter-bank call money rate remained almost stable on Thursday, the last working day before the Eid festival, despite higher withdrawal of cash from the banks, bankers said. The call money rate ranged from 2.0 per cent to 5.0 per cent on the day against the previous rate of between 1.80 per cent and 5.0 per cent.
Tobacco duty withdrawal will incentivize cultivation
Experts have said the withdrawal of the 25% customs duty on tobacco exports will encourage farmers to cultivate more of the cash crop, despite the health and environmental hazards it poses. In his budget speech delivered in the parliament on June 7, Finance Minister AMA Muhith said he had proposed the withdrawal of the customs duty in order to reduce domestic consumption by encouraging exports.
Call money rate before Eid holidays belies bankers’ liquidity crisis claim
The call money rate remained within 3.75 per cent before the Eid-ul-Fitr holidays, the peak time for money transaction by clients to meet the expenditure for one of the biggest religious festivals of the Muslims. Eid-ul-Fitr holidays begin today as the festival will be celebrrated on June 16 or 17 subject to the appearance of the moon.
WB provides $700m to improve education in Bangladesh
The World Bank (WB) has approved $700 million to improve the primary education sector in Bangladesh. The Quality Learning for All Program (QLEAP) will benefit more than 18 million children studying in pre-primary level to grade 5, a WB statement said. It will finance implementation of the government’s Fourth Primary Education Development Program (PEDP4).
State banks sit with most default loans
Eight state-run banks accounted for more than half of the Tk 88,589 crore default loans in the banking sector at the end of the first quarter of 2018 as their unbridled indiscipline continues to weigh down the entire industry. At the end of March, the default loans of Agrani, Rupali, Sonali, Janata, BASIC, Bangladesh Krishi, Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan and Bangladesh Development Bank stood at Tk 49,112 crore, up 14.88 percent from the previous quarter, according to data from the Bangladesh Bank.
Bangladesh, Japan sign Tk 15,326cr loan deals for 6 projects
The government of Japan will provide 200,371 million Japanese yen (approximately Tk 15,326 crore or $1,831 million) for Bangladesh under its 39th Official Development Assistance (ODA) loan package for implementing six mega projects. In this regard, the exchange of notes for these six projects was signed on Thursday between Economic Relations Division (ERD) secretary Kazi Shofiqul Azam and Japanese ambassador to Dhaka Hiroyasu Izumi. The loan agreements were signed by the ERD secretary and the chief representative of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Bangladesh Office Takatoshi Nishikata.
Asian shares fall as US-China trade spat escalates
Asian shares fell on Monday after US President Donald Trump cranked up trade tensions by going ahead with tariffs on Chinese imports, prompting Beijing to immediately respond in kind. Fears of a global trade war added to pressure on oil prices, which extended Friday’s big fall, while the dollar retreated from near 3-week highs against the safe haven yen.
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