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.
Remittance slumps for 9th month
The inward remittance decreased by $1.86 billion or 16.86 per cent in the July-March period of the current financial year 2016-17 compared with the corresponding period of FY16 as inflow dropped for the ninth month in a row this FY. The country received $9.19 billion in remittance in July-March of the current FY against $11.05 billion in the same period of last FY. Experts and bankers said many non-resident Bangladeshis opted for illegal channels like hundi to send their money home because of a lower rate of the US dollar against the taka in the banking sector.
Bangladesh relaxes rules for boosting software exports
The central bank of Bangladesh has relaxed regulations in support of the ICT (information and communication technology) sector helping it achieve the target of US$5.0 billion software exports by 2021. Under the relaxations, the banks are now allowed to remit from $25,000 to $30,000 on behalf of IT or software firms in a calendar year, the Bangladesh Bank (BB) said in a notification issued on Sunday.
Budget to be revised down 7.4pc
The government is set to revise down this fiscal year's budget by 7.4 percent, with the non-development sector taking the hit mostly. The revised budget, which will be disclosed in June, will be of Tk 315,400 crore, according to the finance ministry's documents. The non-development budget will be truncated about 11 percent to Tk 204,700 crore, despite an increase in government expenditure caused by salary hike of public servants.
Women entrepreneurs to get Tk25 lakh collateral-free loan
Bangladesh Bank has directed banks to provide Tk25 lakh loan to a woman entrepreneur without any collateral. The new entrepreneurs will also get collateral-free Tk10 lakh loans. Bangladesh Bank issued a circular on Sunday to ease the process of the SME loans to the women and new entrepreneurs. SME loans will be disbursed on the basis of bank-client relations and types of products and services.
Bangladesh stocks extend losing spell for 3rd day
Bangladesh’s stocks extended their losing streak for the three consecutive sessions on Sunday as cautious investors continued their selling spree, especially bank stocks. Brokers said the market finished lower as most of the investors opted for quick-profit, especially on banks as some banks declared poor dividend for the year ended on December 3`1, 2016. The market started with a negative note and the downbeat trend continued till end of the session amid modest volatility.
State banks' loss-making branches soar
The four state-owned banks' loss-making branches more than doubled in 2016, much to the worries of Bangladesh Bank and the finance ministry. At the end of 2016, Sonali, Janata, Agrani and Rupali's loss-making branches stood at 446 in contrast to 186 at the end of 2015. The reason for the sharp rise in the number of loss-making branches is that they were previously shown to be breaking even or in the black artificially on the back of their interest income from head office against deposits.
Dhaka, Delhi agree to revive Chilahati-Haldibari rail link
Bangladesh would revive the cross-border railway connections between its Chilahati station and Indian Haldibari station by 2020 to facilitate bilateral and regional trade, and movement of international passengers, officials said Sunday. They said Bangladesh Railway (BR) has taken a project at a cost of Tk 781.29 million to reconstruct the 9.0-kilometre railway network from Chilahati, Nilphamari to the Indian border, which was abandoned during the Pakistan-India war in 1965.
IFAD invests $129m in two projects
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) will invest $129 million in two projects to support small farmers and develop a community-based flood information system in the country. Agriculture ministry and Local Government and Engineering Department will implement the projects under the current Country Strategy Opportunity Paper (COSOP 2012-2018), said a news release. IFAD has already started project designing with the concerned ministries and departments of the government.
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