Thursday’s morning business round up of Bangladesh

Last updated: January 5, 2017

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.

BPC seeks relief from huge debt, keen to utilise profit on projects
Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation has demanded that the finance ministry should convert its outstanding dues worth Tk 27,419 crore into subsidy although it was making hefty profit by selling petroleum products. Officials said BPC’s proposal to the ministry of finance to get relived from servicing huge amount of debt for the sake of implementation of development projects with the profit money it was making in the last two fiscal years. Meanwhile, the state-owned entity is yet to take any initiative to cut the oil prices in the local market despite a recent announcement by finance minister AMA Muhith.

Current account deficit widens on sliding remittance
Current account deficit widened further in the first five months of the fiscal year on the back of the sliding remittance inflow. Between the months of July and November last year, the current account deficit stood at $726 million in contrast to $1,336 million in the surplus a year earlier, according to the central bank's balance of payments data. The current account balance set foot into the negative territory for the first time in four years in the first quarter of fiscal 2016-17: the deficit was $504 million.

Bangladesh’s export earnings grow by 4.44% in H1
Bangladesh’s overall export earnings grew by 4.44 per cent in the first-half (H1) of the current fiscal year following lower shipments of readymade garments products due to labour unrest The export earnings rose to US$16.80 billion during the July-November period of the fiscal year (FY) 2016-17 from $16.08 billion in the same period of the FY 16, according to statistics from the state-run Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), released on Wednesday. The earnings during the H1 fell 3.28 per cent short of the period’s target of US$ 17.37 billion, according to Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) statistics released Wednesday.

Bangladesh averts being blacklisted in APG report
Bangladeshi has averted being blacklisted for money laundering and terrorism financing in the final report of Asia Pacific Group on Money Laundering, according to the government officials. They said the country’s diplomatic efforts helped it avoid the risk of being on APG blacklist. The cabinet meeting recently approved the final mutual evaluation report on anti-money laundering activities of Bangladesh.

Bangladesh’s stocks end higher for 9th day
Bangladesh stocks extended their winning spell for the ninth session in a row on Wednesday as enthusiastic investors continued their buying spree amid growing confidence. Analysts said the investors continued their buying binge on stocks amid spontaneous participation backed by hopes and excitements, taking the taking the prime index of the DSE to fresh 26 months high.

India rice prices fall, Thai, Vietnam remain dull
Rice prices in India fell due to ample supply and recent slide in the rupee, while the Thai and Vietnamese markets remained subdued in the first week of the new year, traders said on Wednesday. In India, the world’s biggest rice exporter, 5-per cent broken parboiled rice dropped $2 this week to $341 to $345 per tonne as a cash crunch in December prevented farmers from offloading a summer-sown crop, and as the rupee depreciated against the dollar.

Bangladesh-India fuel pipeline project hits fresh snags
The construction of the proposed 130-kilometre cross-country pipeline to carry diesel is facing yet another setback as the Indian firm has, allegedly, reneged on the agreed term of bearing the costs, said sources. India's state-run Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) in a recent letter to the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) agreed to provide the pipeline construction cost from Indian credit line instead of its own coffer, a senior BPC official said.

Summit signs deal to build $500m LNG terminal
Summit Group has signed an initial contract with Petrobangla to set up a liquefied natural gas terminal on Moheshkhali Island in Cox's Bazar at a cost of about $500 million. Summit LNG Terminal Company, a unit of Summit Group, will develop the floating facilities in 18 months after signing the final contract, the company said in a statement yesterday.
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