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.
BUDGET 2016-17: 22pc growth in private sector investment to be estimated
The next budget is likely to envisage a huge private sector investment in the economy, a gap of above Tk 80,000 crore or nearly 22 per cent growth from the poor investment made in the outgoing financial year. It will raise the contribution of private sector investment to gross domestic product to 23.3 per cent in the next 2016-17 financial year against 21.78 per cent in the revised estimate for the outgoing 2015-16 financial year, officials concerned said.
Unused foreign funds hit new high of $23b
The amount of unused foreign aid in the pipeline reached a new high of $22.95 billion in March as the government is slow in utilising the low-cost fund, which accounts for about 40 percent of the development budget. A finance ministry official said foreign aid commitments rose in recent years but the absorption capacity of ministries and divisions did not improve, leaving a huge stockpile.
Another budget without World Bank budget support
Bangladesh government is yet to succeed in getting the World Bank's Growth, Development Policy Credit (GDPS) Support due to lack of concrete reform actions in the policy matrix at major ministries. The government has been trying to get the soft loan that could amount to $500 million for over seven years now. The Economic Relations Division started negotiating with World Bank for the loan when this government came to power in 2009.
RHD floats road project to facilitate transit to India
The government would upgrade another road to a four-lane one in the country's north-eastern frontier to facilitate neighbouring India's transit through the Bangladesh territory, officials said Saturday. Officials said when implemented the highway would make the communication between the port city of Chittagong and north-eastern Indian states easy.
North Korea linked to digital attacks on global banks
Security researchers have tied the recent spate of digital breaches on Asian banks to North Korea, in what they say appears to be the first known case of a nation using digital attacks for financial gain. In three recent attacks on banks, researchers working for the digital security firm Symantec said, the thieves deployed a rare piece of code that had been seen in only two previous cases: the hacking attack at Sony Pictures in December 2014 and attacks on banks and media companies in South Korea in 2013.
GPH Ispat secures $154m in biggest syndicated loan
Chittagong-based steelmaker GPH Ispat secured $154 million or about Tk 1,200 crore from a dozen financial institutions, which will be the largest syndicated loan in Bangladesh led by United Commercial Bank. In 2012, Grameenphone borrowed Tk 846 crore from 15 banks and financial institutions, which was the biggest such syndicated loan at the time.
Bangladesh’s stocks inch down last week
Bangladesh’s stocks returned to the red last week that ended Thursday, after remaining upbeat in the previous week, as cautious investors booked quick-profit on large-cap stocks. The week witnessed four trading sessions as the market was closed Monday due to Shab-e-Barat. Of them, two sessions closed flat, one saw negative, while last session ended marginally higher.
Import growth drops to 4.40pc in July-April
Import payments registered a lower growth of 4.40 per cent in the first 10 months of the current financial year 2015-16 compared with that of a 4.49-per cent growth in the same period of the FY15 because of sluggish business situation in the country and lower commodity prices on the international market. According to the latest Bangladesh Bank data, opening of letters of credit, generally known as actual import orders, also posted a negative growth of 1.99 per cent in the July-April period of the FY16 compared with that of a positive growth of 7.36 per cent during the same period of the FY15.
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