Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) – The BBN has prepared the morning business round up compiling reports, published by different newspapers and news portals in Bangladesh.
IMF to review loan conditions: The IMF at the end of this week will review Bangladesh’s progress in implementing the conditions tagged with the fifth instalment, or $140 million, of a $1 billion loan under the lender’s Extended Credit Facility programme. If the International Monetary Fund finds the conditions were met satisfactorily, the amount may be released in May, a finance ministry official said. During the two-week review that starts on Wednesday, the IMF will focus on a VAT automation system, state banks’ performances, and the budget for the current and next fiscal years.
NBR sets target to net in 0.2m taxpayers by Dec: The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has set a target to net in around 200,000 or 0.2 million new taxpayers by December this year by conducting an external survey across the country. The board was casting the tax net wider in a bid to make up for the possible revenue loss to be caused by a cut in corporate tax rates in the budget of the upcoming fiscal year (FY), tax officials said.
House owners evade 50pc tax on income: Most of the house owners have persistently been evading taxes by hiding actual income from house property and providing misinformation, officials of the National Board of Revenue said. House owners usually declare less then 50 per cent of income generated from house property in their income tax returns, officials said. But, practically, house owners pay taxes only on 25 per cent of their income from house property as they get 25 per cent of the declared income as maintenance costs, they said adding that in this way around 75 per cent of income from house rent remained out of income tax.
Many RMG units yet to execute new wage structure in 3 months: A good number of garment factories are yet to implement the new wage structure for workers after more than three months of its announcement. Labour leaders said less than 50 per cent of the factories implemented the new wage announced by a government-formed wage board on December 5 last year. Factory owners, however, said that more than 85 per cent of garment units had so far implemented the new wage structure.
Bangladesh’s apparel exports grow 17% in eight months: The country’s ready-made garment exports are continuing to soar, rising by nearly 17 percent in the first eight months of the current fiscal year as restoring political stability in Bangladesh. Apparel exports rose to US$16.14 billion in the eight months from July to February from $13.83 billion a year earlier – and exceeding targets set at $15.36 billion. Woven garment exports grew by 15.92 percent to $8.23 billion during the period, from $7.10 billion last year while Knitwear exports increased by 17.50 percent to $7.91billion from $6.73 billion, according to the state-run Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) statistics.
DSE to launch T+2 cycle from Apr 16: Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) has decided to introduce the reduced trading cycle–T+2–from April 16 this year replacing the existing trading cycle–T+3–in a bid to increase the liquidity flow in the capital market, officials said. After the introduction of the T+2 trading cycle, the buyers will receive shares and the sellers will get money two days after the transactions are executed. Presently, an investor gets cheque against his sale order after three days of executing his sale order.
Bangladesh’s rice import increases significantly on int’l price fall: Bangladesh’s rice import increased significantly in the recent months following the lower prices on the global market, a central bank report said. The Bangladesh Bank (BB) has recently conducted an investigation to know the cause of the increased trend in rice importand prepared a finding report in this connection in the first week of this month. The rice import increased significantly in the first six months of the current financial year 2013-14 despite the higher production of the crop in the FY 2012-13, according to the report.
Stability first: Bangladesh needs political and social stability to achieve its development goals, former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad said yesterday. He was talking to journalists on the sidelines of a convocation ceremony at the capital’s Bangabandhu International Conference Centre. Destructive street agitation helps neither development nor democracy, added Mahathir, who made great strides as the head of Malaysian government for 22 years to build a modern country. Held in high reverence in Asia, he was the convocation speaker at the second convocation of University of Information Technology and Sciences (UITS).
BBN/SSR/AD-16Mar14-8:25 am (BST)
