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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.
Govt won’t take WB funds for modernisation of state banks
The government will not take the World Bank funds to modernise state-run banks and financial institutions. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina told the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council meeting on Tuesday that the government has its own fund to implement the project. “We will do the project with our own funds. We want no foreign agency get involved with the project,” she said as quoted by officials who attended the meeting. After the Ecnec meeting, Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal said prime minister does recommended not involving foreign agencies with the state banks modernisation project.
BB heist: More evidence of North Korea involvement
Cyber security firm Kaspersky Lab on Monday said it had obtained digital evidence that bolsters suspicions by some researchers that North Korea was involved in last year's $81 million cyber heist of the Bangladesh Bank's account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Russian-based Kaspersky released a 58-page report on Lazarus, a group linked to the heist in Bangladesh and the 2014 attack on Sony's Hollywood studio, which the US government blamed on North Korea. Among its findings, the report said Lazarus hackers made a direct connection from an IP address in North Korea to a server in Europe that was used to control systems infected by the group.
Regulator prepares 4G guideline for govt nod
The telecom regulator has finalised its proposed licensing guideline for 4G services, which will be sent to the government shortly for final approval. Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission has proposed 15 percent revenue sharing with the operators from fourth generation (4G) services. Mobile operators are currently sharing 5.5 percent of their gross revenue from 2G and 3G services with BTRC, in addition to 1 percent as contribution to the social obligation fund.
Credit card, personal loan limits for consumer financing double
Limits to credit-card and personal loans under consumer financing almost doubled to match rises in people's purchasing power, officials said Tuesday. Bangladesh Bank (BB), country's central bank, revised the limits after 13 years considering per-capita income, they explained.
Bangladesh’s stocks set fresh high
Bangladesh’s stocks record-breaking rally continued on Tuesday with the key index reaching a new high, backed by price appreciation in the banking sector shares. Following the previous day’s upturn, both bourses – the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) opened higher as investors mostly on buying mood on sector specific large-cap shares, especially from bank. After 15 minutes of trading, the key index of the country’s prime bourse advanced nearly 38 points while the Selective Category Index of port city bourse rose 74 points at 10:45am.
Scrap or cut VAT on utilities
Economists and researchers suggested the government should reconsider possible hike in the Value Added Tax (VAT) on electricity, gas and energy bills under the new VAT law, effective from July 01. The new VAT and Supplementary Duty Act 2012 is set to levy 15 per cent VAT on power and energy in a sharp increase from existing 5.0 per cent.
Janata weighed down by restructured large loans
Janata Bank is under trouble as some of its large borrowers whose loans were restructured under a special policy of the central bank are not paying installments regularly. The state lender restructured the highest amount of credits among the banks since Bangladesh Bank introduced a separate loan restructuring policy for big defaulters worth Tk 500 crore or more in 2015. Eleven corporate groups have availed the facilities. Of them, seven are the clients of Janata Bank. The seven clients are: Beximco, Jamuna, Thermax, SA Group, BR Spinning, AnnonTex and Ratanpur.
BSEC may issue cyber security guidelines for listed cos
Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission is likely to consider issuing separate guidelines on ensuring cyber security of the listed companies amid growing tension following Bangladesh Bank’s reserve heist in 2016. The capital market regulator’s indication came from a discussion with senior officials of banks and non-bank financial institutions on ‘Cyber Security: A Business Imperative’ at its office in Agargaon in the city. ISSA Bangladesh organised the dialogue in association with BSEC.
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