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.
Factories continue job cut amid virus
Industrial units across the country barring those in Dhaka metropolitan area terminated nearly 11000 workers in the past two weeks, according to reliable sources. The factory owners took recourse to shedding jobs as part of their move to dilute the adverse impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on their businesses.
Heavy bank borrowing to weigh on private investment, say experts
If the government borrows heavily from the banking sector, it will affect credit flow and investment in the private sector, according to AB Mirza Azizul Islam, an economist and former adviser to the caretaker government. The government plans to borrow Tk 85,000 crore from banks in order to meet the deficit in the proposed budget for fiscal 2020-21.
BB: FDI in Bangladesh fell 20.46% last year, not 56%
Bangladesh received $2.87 billion in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in 2019, down by 20.46% on last year’s overseas investment inflows, the Bangladesh Bank (BB) has claimed. The figure, however, contradicts the amount of $1.6 billion in FDI, as mentioned in Tuesday’s report of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The FDI in the country fell by 56% year-over-year to $1.6 billion in 2019, according to UNCTAD.
NBR moves to realise VAT from streaming site subscriptions
The National Board of Revenue has moved to realise value-added tax from subscriptions of online streaming sites such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, ZEE5, Hoichoi and HBO Now. A 15-per cent VAT is applicable on the fees that subscribers pay to the online entertainment sites.
Why is Bangladesh’s stock market bearish when global stocks are on bull run?
Global stock markets saw almost a V-shaped recovery during the coronavirus pandemic. But Bangladesh’s stock market is an exception. A V-shaped recovery refers to a sharp fall in economic activity, which is then matched by an abrupt rebound. In fact, Bangladesh’s stock market followed suit when the global stocks dropped. But it has refused to make a turnaround when the global stocks rose.
BB prods banks over stimulus
The central bank has asked the commercial banks to take effective measures to implement the government-announced stimulus packages immediately to help revamp the country’s overall economic activities. The advice was given at a meeting of the bankers online on Wednesday with Bangladesh Bank (BB) Governor Fazle Kabir in the chair.
Banks warned against misrepresenting country’s trade policy
The central bank accused banks – dealing with foreign customers – of putting the economy at stake by misrepresenting the country’s liberal trade policy to potential investors. The Bangladesh Bank, in a circular on Wednesday, said that a liberal trade policy was adopted in the 1990s and is still in place, plus the central bank has been issuing guidelines to the authorised dealers when required.
Increased excise duty on deposits to fuel liquidity crisis in banks
The Bangladesh Association of Banks has demanded the scrapping of the proposed hike in taxes on the bank balance above Tk 10 lakh as the implementation of higher tax rates would intensify the existing liquidity crisis in the banking sector. The BAB, an association of the bank owners, on Monday placed the demand before finance minister AHM Mustafa Kamal, mentioning that the increased taxes on the bank balance would make depositors reluctant to keep money in banks.
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