Thursday’s morning business round up of Bangladesh

Last updated: October 20, 2016

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.

Aman acreage rises
Farmers have planted aman paddy on more lands this year than the previous year, with expectations of a good harvest of the monsoon crop, officials and farmers said yesterday. Acreage increased 2 percent year-on-year to 56.93 lakh hectares this season, according to preliminary data of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE).

Bangladesh’s imports rise by 1.63% in Q1
Bangladesh’s overall import marked a modest growth by 1.63 per cent in the first quarter (Q1) of the current fiscal year over the same previous period, said officials. The actual import in terms of settlement of letters of credit (LCs) rose to US$9.34 billion during the July-September period of FY 17 from $9.19 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal, according to the central bank’s provisional data.

Three IOCs finally bid for offshore blocks
Three international oil companies (IOC), one each from Norway, South Korea and Singapore, have finally submitted bids for exploring hydrocarbons in as many offshore blocks in the Bay of Bengal, said officials. As the deadline was over Wednesday for bid submission for the much-awaited exploration of oil and gas reserves in the country's offshore areas, Norwegian Statoil, South Korean Daewoo and Singapore's KrisEnergy were found in the queue.

BTRC to propose cost modelling for MFS
The telecom regulator has decided to send a proposal to Bangladesh Bank for working out a cost model to determine the pricing of mobile financial services as the MFS operators and mobile phone companies are in a dispute over the issue. Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission officials said that the decision was taken in a meeting last week where representative of BB, BTRC, mobile operators and MFS operators were present.

Bangladesh’s stocks slip into red
Bangladesh’s stocks returned to the red on Wednesday, after remaining upbeat in the previous day, as risk-averse investors went on late hours selling spree. Both bourses – the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) closed in the red amid profit booking by the risk-averse investors. The market started with a positive note, the key index of the DSE gaining around 28 points within first 40 minutes of the day’s trading, but rest of the session fell steadily, eventually ended marginally lower.

Bangladesh employment structure sees massive changes in decades
The employment structure in Bangladesh has changed considerably over the recent decades as industry sector outpaces agriculture significantly in job creation during the period, says a new study. “In 1972, about 75% of the workforce was in primary industry (mostly agriculture) and 25% in non-agricultural sectors while in 2010 these ratios had changed greatly in which 47% were in agriculture and 53% in non-agriculture,” reads the study conducted by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

$2.76b Chinese Fund: Quick move to execute 3 projects
The government is acting fast to implement the projects China agreed to fund during President Xi Jinping's Dhaka visit last week. Only four days into the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the two sides, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs yesterday selected three Chinese firms to implement three mega projects with an estimated $2.76 billion of Chinese soft loan, officials said.

CAAB bans carrying Galaxy Note 7 phones in all flights
The Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh has banned carrying Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphones by passengers of all domestic and international flights. Following similar steps by many countries, the CAAB made the announcement on Wednesday after worldwide controversy over the smartphone that poses security threats.

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