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.

Currency swaps rule forex mkt, cushion reserve
Interbank currency swaps under agreements to exchange cash flows at later dates dominate the country’s foreign exchange market shielding the forex reserve to a great extent from any pressure. Bangladesh Bank, the central bank of the country, recently prepared a note on it elaborating the nature of the forex market.

Sonali, Agrani, Janata, Rupali major customers of US dollar from Bangladesh Bank
Four state-owned commercial banks are the major clients of US dollar sold by the Bangladesh Bank, as the public sector banks alone bought nearly 95% of the total $1.87 billion in the July-March period. To meet the growing demand of greenbacks and stabilize the foreign exchange market, the central bank has been pumping the US dollar in the banking system for long, a top central banker said.

Court asks CID to submit report on May 21
A Dhaka court on Wednesday set May 21 to submit probe report in the case lodged over Bangladesh Bank reserve heist that took place in 2016. Dhaka metropolitan magistrate Sadbir Yasir Ahsan Chowdhury set the date as the investigation agency CID could not submit the report on Wednesday.

NPL biggest headache for banks
Rising non-performing loans will continue to be the biggest challenge for the banking sector in the next one to two years, said Rahel Ahmed, managing director of Prime Bank Ltd, yesterday. “Expansion of money loan courts is needed to avert the crisis,” he said while addressing a press conference organised to mark the 24th founding anniversary of the private commercial lender at the Dhaka Club in the city.

Speculative stocks sap investor confidence
Stocks that rose abnormally at the beginning of the year upon speculation were the ones to crash and burn in the ongoing downtrend of the capital market, leaving their investors devastated. For instance, between the months of January and February, Sonarbangla Insurance rose 346 percent, United Insurance 245 percent, Asia Insurance 117 percent, and United Power Generation 45 percent — for no apparent reason.

BD youth jobless rate nearly doubles
Youth unemployment rate nearly doubled in Bangladesh between 1994 and 2017, according to a UN agency report.The unemployment rate increased to 11 per cent in 2017 from 6.0 per cent in 1994, the “State of World Population Report 2019” said. The UNFPA Bangladesh launched the report in Dhaka Wednesday.

Tax benefits for manufacturers to go up in budget: NBR
Manufacturers of mobile handset, refrigerator and other electrical and electronic products will get higher tax benefits compared with assemblers of the products in the budget for 2019-2020 fiscal year, National Board of Revenue chairman Md Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan said on Wednesday.

Outgoing BGMEA president: Sell success in safety standards to brighten country’s image
Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) outgoing President Md Siddiqur Rahman has advised the new board to sell apparel sector achievement in safety standards, eco-friendly factory and products quality to build the country’s image abroad. The BGMEA president came up with remarks while exchanging views with journalist at BGMEA new headquarters at Uttara in Dhaka on Wednesday.

BBN/SSR/AD