Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) – The BBN has prepared the morning business round up compiling reports, published by different newspapers and news portals in Bangladesh.
PROFIT-RATE CUT OF GOVT SAVINGS TOOLS TO YIELD MIXED RESULTS
The decision taken by the government to cut yield rates of its savings instruments will help lower the cost of doing business. But the move will hurt the interests of small savers, pension holders and insolvent families. An unprecedented surge in the sales of the instruments in recent months, according to sources, has also forced the government to review the rates of profit.
DENIM MAKERS LINK UP WITH RETAILERS IN DHAKA
Denimco Textile, a Turkish denim maker, will open an office in Dhaka soon to sell the fabric to Bangladeshi exporters directly, as Bangladesh is a major exporter of denim products to Europe and US markets. “Everything is ready and we will open the office within one and a half months,” said Oguz Aksoy, marketing officer of Denimco. “Bangladesh is an important market for us because its economy is growing rapidly,” Aksoy said, sitting at his stall at the two-day Bangladesh Denim Expo that began at Radisson hotel in Dhaka yesterday.
BUDGET SESSION TO BEGIN JUNE 1
The 10th parliament goes into its second budget session on June 1. President Abdul Hamid convened the budget session as per the constitutional mandate on Monday evening, a parliament secretariat announcement said. Finance Minister AMA Muhith is likely to place the budget for the fiscal year (FY) 2015-16 fiscal on June 4.
BB TO HAVE POWER TO SEEK INFO
The cabinet has approved the draft of the ‘Foreign Exchange Regulation (Amendment) Act, 2015’ empowering the Bangladesh Bank to seek information on any overseas assets owned by local and expatriate Bangladeshis. The draft also proposes to seek information about assets of foreign citizens living in Bangladesh. The Bangladesh Bank will be given the power to seek information on any overseas assets of Bangladeshi citizens wherever they reside and foreign nationals living in Bangladesh, cabinet secretary Muhammad Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan told reporters after the weekly cabinet meeting.
Bangladesh’s FX, money markets close stable, stocks up
Bangladesh’s both foreign exchange and money markets remained almost stable at closing on Monday while the stocks witnessed upwards trend. The call rate ranged between 5.75 per cent and 7.50 per cent unchanged from the previous level, market operators told the BBN. The overall turnover in the call money market came down to BDT 41.26 billion on Monday from BDT 43.14 billion of the previous working day, according to the Bangladesh Bank statistics.
TRADE GAP JUMPS TO $7.14B IN 9 MONTHS
The country’s trade deficit increased by 56.78 per cent to $7.14 billion in the first nine months of the current financial year 2014-15 compared with that of $4.55 billion during the same period of the FY14 due to a massive drop in export earnings against a higher import payment.
Officials of Bangladesh Bank said falling export growth of readymade garment, the main export product of the country, dented the overall earnings in July-March of the FY15 while import of capital machinery continued to rise significantly during the period.
GOVERNOR SAYS BANGLADESH BANK WORKS FOR ALL NOT A CERTAIN QUARTER
Bangladesh Bank (BB), the country’s central bank, has introduced a new large loan restructuring policy not to extend undue favors to a handful of delinquent large borrowers, but to broaden the toolkit for more effective management of larger loan exposures to good borrowers in the growing economy. “It is quite unfortunate that the central bank has been blamed for being selective rather than universal in its regulatory approaches by some quarters. On the contrary everybody knows that the BB has been championing financial inclusion and providing support for all. Indeed, we work for all not for a certain quarter or group,” BB Governor Dr. Atiur Rahman said in the backdrop of a recent controversy on the issue of restructuring of large loans.
FBCCI SEEKS CHANGES IN TAX FOR INDIVIDUALS, COMPANIES
The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry has urged the government to hike the tax-free income limit for individuals, reduce corporate tax and revise the ceiling and rates on wealth surcharge. The FBCCI called for increasing the tax-free income level to Tk 2.75 lakh from the existing Tk 2.2 lakh a year. It demanded a reduction in corporate taxes for non-manufacturing and non-listed companies to 30 percent from 35 percent at present. For manufacturing companies that are not publicly traded, the FBCCI wanted a tax rate of 27.5 percent tax, down from 35 percent, according to budget proposals sent by the apex trade body to the National Board of Revenue.