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.
Jica-funded projects on track again
With “satisfactory” improvement in law and order, Japanese consultants and contractors are rejoining projects in Bangladesh which they had left following a string of terror attacks, especially after the one on Gulshan cafe on July 1. Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) assists in 35 projects and all of those had either stalled or slowed down due to the absence of consultants and contractors, project officials said.
Traffic congestions cost 7pc of GDP
Traffic congestion in Dhaka costs the country $11.4 billion every year, which is seven per cent of the Gross Domestic Product, revealed a study on Tuesday. About one quarter of working hours are lost in congestion as about 1.5 million city dwellers use vehicles for travelling across the city every day, said the study commissioned by Brac Institute of Government and Development. The financial loss is a calculation of the cost of time lost in traffic congestions and the money spent for operating vehicles the extra hours.
Bangladesh slashes deposits for boosting inward remittances
The central bank of Bangladesh has relaxed the policy on drawing arrangement between overseas exchange houses and banks operating in Bangladesh aiming to expedite the flow of inward remittances. Under the relaxation, the amount of security deposit for drawing arrangement came down to US$10,000 from $25,000 while security deposit for Non-Resident Taka (NRT) account got trimmed down to BDT 0.20 million from BDT 0.50 million.
Govt to cut foreign aid in ADP
The government moves to revise down the project aid (PA) in the current development budget as many project-executing agencies performed poorly in utilisation of the allocated foreign funds. Officials said Monday government's Economic Relations Division (ERD) has arranged two days of consultation with the agencies concerned on revision of the project aid (PA).
Banks plan to issue bonds to boost capital
Many public and private banks have been considering issuing bonds next year to maintain the new international standards for capital adequacy ratio. Officials at the finance ministry and the Bangladesh Bank said the government has been considering releasing bonds to meet the huge capital shortfall in BASIC, Sonali and Rupali banks. But private banks have been mulling over the same but to increase their capital more in accordance with international standards.
DSEX crosses 5,000-mark after 26 months
Bangladesh’s stocks extended their winning spell for the third day in a row on Tuesday with key index of the premier bourse crossing the ‘psychological’ threshold of 5,000-mark after 26 months. Brokers said the market’s upbeat trend sustained having optimistic support of large-cap stocks amid growing confidence of investors while some investors rebalanced their portfolio ahead of year-end as only two trading are left in 2016.
Taka appreciates vs US dollar by 10 paisa
The local currency Taka appreciated by 10 paisa against US dollar on Tuesday in a single day after two months in the inter-bank foreign exchange (forex) market. The US dollar was quoted at Tk 78.70-Tk 78.80 against Tk 78.80 of the previous working day, according to treasury officials of commercial banks. It was Tk 78.80-Tk 78.85 on Thursday.
NBR asks int’l orgs to surrender passbooks of 395 staff by Jan 31
The National Board of Revenue has given a January 31 ultimatum to the international organisations and development partners to either renew or surrender the customs passbooks the NBR issued to their 395 non-Bangladeshi staff who left the country without disposing of durable goods including motor cars imported under duty-free benefits. The revenue board has asked its nine field-level customs offices to take legal actions if the passbooks are not renewed or surrendered by the deadline.
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