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.
Trump’s protectionism to mar any B’desh benefit: economists
United States’ pulling out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal, which has been thought to affect Bangladesh trade, will have a little impact on Bangladesh as the new US president Donald Trump’s ‘protectionist’ economic agenda would hurt global economy including Bangladesh’s export, economists said. The US president signed an executive order on Monday ending the US’s participation in the TPP, a sweeping trade pact negotiated with eleven other nations. ‘Donald Trump has pulled the US out of the TPP, but there is no reason to be happy for Bangladesh as the initiative is the reflection of anti-trade position of the new president of the US,’ Policy Research Institute executive director Ahsan H Mansur told New Age on Tuesday.
Uniform 15pc VAT stays
The uniform 15 per cent VAT will remain, the finance minister said Tuesday while expressing the hope to dispel the differences over enforcement of the new tax law. "I don't think different rates of VAT should be there right at this moment," AMA Muhith told reporters. He said there may be such rates later on. "We first need to be accustomed to the 15 per cent VAT."
Atiur for exchange houses, MFS direct link to boost remittance
Former governor of Bangladesh Bank (BB) Atiur Rahman has suggested setting up a direct link between overseas exchange houses of local banks and mobile financial services (MFS) to revamp the flow of inward remittance. Dr. Rahman disclosed the plan while replying to a query from the audience of Professor Shafiqur Rahman Memorial Lecture 2016 at the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh in Dhaka Tuesday evening. “I was thinking about it, but could not implement the plan,” the former governor noted.
Mobile bank users now over 40m
The number of mobile banking accounts crossed 4m in December last year, thanks to the growing popularity of easy money access system. The total registered mobile banking accounts reached 41m at the end of December last year, with an increase of over 9.2m accounts from 31.8m in the December 2015. The number of mobile accounts increased by 6.6m during the year 2015 from 25.1m at the end of 2014, according to the Bangladesh Bank data.
DSEX crosses 5,700-mark amid optimism
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 5,700-mark, as investors continued their buying spree amid optimism. Brokers said the robust market momentum continued as enthusiastic participants continued their buying spree on large-cap stocks riding on hopes and excitements, pushing the prime index of DSE to its new high.
Regulator asks bullish bourses to stay cautious
The regulator has asked the bourses to keep an eye on the current upward trend in the stockmarket against the backdrop of a bullish momentum that continued yesterday as well. DSEX, the benchmark index of Dhaka Stock Exchange, rose 38.45 points or 0.67 percent to finish the day at 5,708.24 points -- the highest since the introduction of the index on January 27, 2013. The turnover stood at Tk 2,013.44 crore, down 7.67 percent from the previous day.
Move on to raise output of govt’s LPG plant
The government has moved to increase production capacity of state-run LP Gas Ltd's annual LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) six-fold to 120,000 tonnes (mt) from existing 20,000 mt to cater to the mounting demand of the fuel, said officials. The LP Gas Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of state-owned Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC), has floated an international tender seeking expression of interests (EOIs) from interested firms for selecting a joint venture partner for construction and operation of import-based LPG storage, bottling and distribution plant at Mongla in southern Bagerhat district, said a senior BPC official.
2 cases of bird flu found in Bangladesh
The Government of Bangladesh has confirmed two outbreaks of H5N1 bird flu virus in poultry in the last week. According to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and the Bangladesh health ministry, the first case of bird flu was found on a poultry farm in Dhamrai, just outside Dhaka, reports Business Standard. The second case of bird flu was found in a village in the Western district of Rajshahi where about 450 backyard poultry died from the virus.
BBN/SSR/AD