File photo: debt.org

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.

FBCCI wants end to loan disbursement on political consideration
Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry on Tuesday demanded exemplary punishment of wilful loan defaulters who embezzled and looted bank money. At the 40th meeting of the consultative committee of National Board of Revenue held at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in Dhaka, leaders of the country’s apex trade body also demanded recovery of defaulted loans and an end to loan disbursement on political consideration.

NBR turns down plea for tax cut
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has turned down a fresh plea for exempting Japanese companies from tax and value-added tax (VAT), sources said. The firms cannot be tax-exempt if engaged in the official development assistance (ODA)-funded projects as subcontractors, sub-consultants and sub-suppliers.

Implementation capacity the main hindrance to growth ambitions
Bangladesh’s capacity to implement large volumes of infrastructure projects will be the main stumbling block to realising the country’s growth ambitions, said a top official of the Asian Development Bank. “Your capacity to implement mega projects or many projects is growing but that will be the main bottleneck. Money will never be a bottleneck,” said Hun Kim, ADB’s director general for South Asia operations, in a press briefing on the sidelines of the 52nd annual meeting of the ADB board of governors, which kicked off today.

Banks interest rate spread remains unchanged in March
Interest rate spread in Bangladesh’s banking sector remained unchanged in March, although the banks increased their interest rates equally on both deposit and lending, officials said. The weighted average spread between lending and deposit rates offered by the commercial banks remained unchanged at 4.15 per cent in March 2019 from previous level, according to the central bank’s latest statistics.

Stocks rebound on BSEC move
Stocks rebounded Tuesday, snapping a two-day tumble, riding on Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission’s latest market supportive measures. DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), went up by 27.38 points or 0.52 per cent to settle at 5,202, after hitting a 28-month low in the previous day.

Made in Bangladesh
In the 146 years since Claude Levi-Strauss began marketing denim fabric as durable, sustainable clothing for workers, the world has embraced it as a mainstay in any society in any nation. From the US to Europe, it would be hard-pressed to find someone who does not own a pair of denim jeans.

Bangladesh denim expo begins Thursday to focus circularity
Bangladesh denim expo is set to begin on Thursday aiming to drive the denim industry towards the direction of circularity. The 10th edition of Bangladesh Denim Expo is scheduled to be held in the capital on May 02-03, organized by Bangladesh Apparel Exchange (BAE).

Easy rescheduling for defaulters in the works
The central bank is working to allow defaulters to regularise their classified loans by furnishing 2 percent down payment as it engineers to bring down the high non-performing loan figure. “The initiative will help both the banks and clients,” SM Moniruzzaman, deputy governor of the Bangladesh Bank, said yesterday at the inaugural session of a research almanac organised by Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management.

BBN/SSR/AD