Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)– The Bangladesh Business News (BBN) has prepared the morning business round up compiling reports, published by different newspapers and news portals in Bangladesh.
BSEC passes the buck to DSE: A number of listed companies have gone out of operation for a considerable period of time, thus, depriving the general investors of their due, officials said. Officials at the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) said since the bourses had listed these companies it was their responsibility to safeguard the investors' interests. According to an investigation carried out by the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), four listed companies are presently out of operation, and another one is in partial operation.
BASIC Bank slapped with Tk 10cr fine: Bangladesh Bank has slapped BASIC Bank with a Tk 10 crore fine for failing to control its loan growth within the mutually agreed ceiling. BASIC Bank was supposed to keep its year-on-year loan growth at the end of December 2014 to 20 percent, as per an agreement signed with the central bank last July in a bid to arrest its spiralling loan growth caused by financial indiscipline. The state-owned lender's loan growth overshot to 25.62 percent, which prompted the central bank last week to enforce the penalty stated in the agreement. “The bank has been violating banking norms in many cases. We had no other option but to impose the fine,” said a central bank official asking not to be named.
Bangladesh’s forex reserve crosses $19bn-mark again: Bangladesh’s foreign exchange (forex) reserve crossed the US$19 billion-mark again on Wednesday, thanks to a robust growth of export earnings despite political uncertainty. The reserve rose to $19.05 billion on the day from $ 18.98 billion of the previous working day, according to the central bank statistics. It was $19.05 billion in February 19 last. The country’s forex reserve came down to $18.42 billion on March 10 last from $19.34 billion on the previous working day after making a routine payment of US$960 million to the Asian Clearing Union (ACU) against imports during the January-February period of this calendar year.
ADP spending in tatters: The implementation of the annual development programme continued at a slow pace as only 38 per cent of the ADP funds was used in July-February period of the current financial year compared to 44 per cent in the same period of the previous year. Planning ministry officials said low utilisation of both government allocation and project aid amid intense political unrest during last quarter of the previous year and government’s focus on election continued to affect the ADP progress in the first eight months.
NBR demands Tk 116cr from Hallmark: The National Board of Revenue has suspended the bond license of Hallmark Design Wear Ltd, a sister concern of controversial Hallmark Group, and demanded Tk 116 crore as duties and taxes from the company for not exporting products under bond license, officials of the NBR said. They said that customs bond commissionerate of the NBR had recently suspended the license of the company for violating conditions of bond license and not paying the money. Officials of the commissionerate said that Hallmark Design Wear Ltd imported raw materials worth Tk 92.53 crore under bond license against a total of 349 bills of entries from March 7, 2011 to January 31, 2014, but they did not export the products manufactured using the raw materials.
High hopes for exports: Bangladesh's exports to Asia, Middle East and North Africa will grow 15 percent a year over the three years to 2016 on the back of stronger global economic growth, according to a recent study by a foreign bank. The country will see a major shift on its export destinations over the next 20 years, HSBC said in its Global Connections Report. Bangladesh was also included in the HSBC Trade Confidence Index (TCI) for the first time, and scored 103. This indicates a marginally positive outlook for trade, slightly below China, India, Indonesia and Vietnam. Although the US and Germany will remain Bangladesh's largest trading partners until 2030, rising incomes across emerging markets will help drive strong trade flows from Bangladesh to these markets, the study said.
BB governor seeks Japan's support for Bangladesh to join RCEP: Bangladesh Bank (BB) Governor Atiur Rahman has sought Japan's support for Bangladesh to join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). The governor, who is now visiting Japan, made the request during a meeting with Seiji Kihara, vice minister for foreign affairs, Japan, a BB press statement said in Dhaka on Wednesday. The RCEP is a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) scheme of the 10 ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nation) member states and its FTA partners include Australia, China, India, Japan, Korea and New Zealand.
Mooted at the 2011 ASEAN Summit in Indonesia, the RCEP negotiation process was formally launched during the 2012 ASEAN Summit in Cambodia.
Wednesday’s major market indicators of Bangladesh: The call money rate moved slightly on Wednesday while the Bangladesh Taka (BDT) appreciated against the US currency in the inter-bank market, treasury officials said. The call rate ranged between 5.35 per cent and 8.25 per cent on the day against 5.25 per cent and 8.25 per cent of the previous working day. But most of the deals were made at rates between 7.25 per cent and 8.25 per cent on the day, they added. The BDT appreciated further against the US dollar due mainly to low demand of the greenback in the inter-bank foreign exchange market.
BBN/SSR/AD-20Mar14-9:11 am (BST)
