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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.
Existing VAT act likely to remain in place for next two years
The existing VAT act of 1991 is likely to remain in force for the next two years while the proposed VAT and Supplementary Duty 2012 law will be suspended. According to Finance Division officials, the government has planned to postpone implementation of the new Value-Added Tax (VAT) law from July 1, sensing that it might put a negative impact on people’s life.
Tk 4,327cr more written off
Country’s banks wrote off afresh defaulted loans worth Tk 4,326.98 crore in 2016 as part of cleaning up their balance sheets. According to the latest Bangladesh Bank data, banks’ total write-offs increased to Tk 44,690.64 crore as of December 31, 2016 from Tk 40,360.66 crore on December 31, 2015. BB officials and an expert said that writing off uncollectible loans frequently was a bad practice for the banks as they tried to show lower portfolios of defaulted loans in the way.
Govt to widen road for transshipment
The government will widen a narrow 51-kilometre road from Ashuganj river port to Akhaura land port to four lanes for smooth transhipment of Indian goods. Scheduled to be complete by 2020, the construction will cost Tk 3,568 crore, 63 percent of which will come from an Indian line of credit. The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) approved the project on Tuesday.
Govt borrowing from saving instruments likely to exceed target in FY2016-17
The government expects its borrowing from saving instruments will exceed Tk50,000 crore in the outgoing fiscal year against the target of Tk45,000 crore. In June so far, an amount of Tk10,000 crore came from the sale of saving instruments. “There has been a huge pressure of buying saving instruments in the month of June which marks the end of a fiscal year,” said Bablu Kumar Saha, Director General of the Department of National Savings.
Bangladesh’s stocks end higher for third day
Bangladesh’s stocks extended their winning streak for the three consecutive sessions on Wednesday as optimistic investors continued their buying spree amid post-Eid positive expectation. Brokers said as pre-Eid sale pressure faded away and June-closing near, the optimistic investors took position on sector specific large-cap stocks amid post-Eid positive expectation.
NBR cuts rice import duty to 10pc
The National Board of Revenue on Wednesday issued a statutory regulatory order lowering the import duty on rice to 10 per cent from 28 per cent to rein in the soaring price of the staple. The revenue board lowered the customs duty to 10 per cent from previous 25 per cent and withdrew 3 per cent regulatory duty on import of rice.
ADB gives $300m for Ctg-Cox's Bazar rail link
The government yesterday signed agreements with the Asian Development Bank to get $300 million in loans to build a dual-gauge rail link between Chittagong and Cox's Bazar with the view to promoting trade and regional connectivity. The assistance is part of the $1.5 billion loan that the Manila-based multilateral lender has committed to the South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation Chittagong-Cox's Bazar Railway Project.
Bangladesh Taka remains unchanged against $US
The exchange rate of Bangladesh Taka (BDT) remained unchanged against the US currency in evening transactions on Wednesday in inter-bank foreign exchange (forex) market. The US dollar was quoted at maximum BDT 80.56 – BDT 80.60 during the evening trading. In the early transactions today, the American currency was quoted the same as evening.
BBN/SSR/AD