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.
Sovereign wealth fund to take off with reserves
The much talked-about sovereign wealth fund is likely to be formed with Bangladesh Bank's foreign currency reserves and finances from multilateral donor agencies following recommendations from a high-powered committee. For the past decade, the economy had been stuck in the 6 percent growth trajectory and the lack of adequate infrastructure has been blamed for it. To address the issue, the government has decided to use the sovereign wealth fund to bankroll long-term physical infrastructure projects like the Padma bridge for the most part.
Flow of inward remittances cross $1.0bn in Jan.
The flow of inward remittances crossed US$1.0 billion-mark again in January after falling trend of consecutive two months as different initiatives, taken by authorities concerned, to check inflow of the same using illegal ‘hundi’ system. The remittances from Bangladeshi nationals working abroad were estimated at $1.01 billion in January last, up by $50.71 million than that of the previous month. In December 2016, the remittance was $958.73 million. It was $951.37 million in November last year. The flow of inward remittances was $1.15 billion in January 2016.
Bangladesh’s imports grow 11.25% in H1
Bangladesh’s overall imports grew by 11.25 per cent in the first-half (H1) of the current fiscal year (FY), thanks to a jump by nearly 60 per cent in import of capital machinery, officials said. The actual import in terms of settlement of letters of credit (LCs) rose to $22.59 billion during the July-December period of FY 2016-17 from $20.30 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal, according to the central bank’s latest statistics. On the other hand, opening of LCs, generally known as import orders, increased by 9.30 per cent to $ 23.02 billion in the first six months of FY 17 from $21.06 billion a year ago.
Foreign funds in Bangladesh’s stocks soar in Jan.
Net foreign investment in Bangladesh’s stocks marked a significant jumped year-on-year in January, 2017 year as overseas investors consider the stock market lucrative for long-term investment. The overseas investors bought shares worth BDT 6.11 billion, while they sold stocks of BDT 4.25 billion in January 2017, to take their net investment for the first month of the year to BDT 1.86 billion, according to statistics from the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE). In January, 2016, the net foreign investments was negative BDT 225 million as the foreign investors bought shares worth BDT 3.23 billion and sold shares worth BDT 3.45 billion.
Bangladesh’s stocks stay positive after volatile trading
Bangladesh’s stocks stayed positive trend on Wednesday, with turnover falling further, as late hours sale pressure wiped out most of the early gains. The market started with an upward note and the key index of the country’s prime bourse rose 68 points in the mid-session, but rest of the session fell steadily and investors booked quick-gain, ultimately ended only 5.55 points higher. The key index of the DSE added 5.55 points, while the Selective Category Index of port city bourse advanced 5.75 points at the closing.
NBR to scrutinise IT, VAT returns of 65 corporate entities
The income tax wings of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) have decided to scrutinise the income tax and VAT returns of 65 large corporate taxpayers to detect possible tax evasion. The large companies will be jointly audited by both income tax and Value Added Tax (VAT) wings of their respective Large Taxpayers Units (LTUs) for the first time, officials said.
WB okays $300mn for Bangladesh’s local govt system
The World Bank has approved $300 million financing to empower the local governments at grassroots level with discretionary funds that would enable communities decide and implement local development priorities. Built on the success of two predecessor projects, the Local Governance Support Project – 3 (LGSP-3) will cover all the 4550 Union Parishads, the lowest tier of the local government, and benefit over 115 million residents, said a press statement of World Bank issued on Tuesday. The project will establish national budget transfers as a norm to the Union Parishads.
BASIS software expo begins
A four-day ‘BASIS SOFTEXPO 2017’ began in the city on Wednesday to stimulate growth of information and communication technology industry through promotion and development, invention and research. The Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services organised the software exposition that will continue till Saturday next week at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre.
BBN/SSR/AD