Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) – The BBN has prepared the morning business round up compiling reports, published by different newspapers and news portals in Bangladesh.
Muhith defends bigger budget
Finance Minister AMA Muhith yesterday defended the size of the budget for the next fiscal year, saying the government cannot provide services if it does not have money. The outlay will be about Tk 300,000 crore for fiscal 2015-16, up about 20 percent from the current year, he said. “In the last three years, the ministries did not have to lobby for funds. All of them are more or less happy with the allocation,” Muhith said at a meeting of the budget consultation committee at Sonargaon Hotel in Dhaka. The meeting was co-organised by the National Board of Revenue and the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce Industry.
Bangladesh kept outside US GSP list
Bangladesh has been kept outside of a GSP renewal move by the US senate to return back the trade privilege for about 125 developing nations by next month, officials in the foreign ministry said. The move would impact the country’s merchandise exports to its largest export destination badly and hurt the competitive edge of exporters over those in the rival economies, a trade expert in the commerce ministry said. On April 22 and 23, the Senate finance and House ways and means committees approved legislation to renew the GSP, a trade programme that removes tariffs on nearly 5,000 products from 126 developing countries including Bangladesh, a senior commerce ministry official said, quoting a diplomatic communication.
Finally govt backtracks on its plan to establish FSC
The government has backtracked on its plan to establish a fuel supply company (FSC) with dominance of a private firm for import and supply of furnace oil to country’s oil-fired power plants, said officials. State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid cancelled last week the tender process through which the FSC was set to be formed and a private firm was to get the authority for import and supply of furnace oil to power plants, a senior official of Power Division told The Financial Express (FE) Tuesday.
Bangladesh Bank purchases $20m more from banks
The central bank of Bangladesh purchased $20 million more from two commercial banks on Tuesday aiming to help keep the inter-bank foreign exchange (forex) market stable, officials said. “We’ve bought the US currency from the banks directly to protect the interests of both exporters and migrant workers by keeping the exchange rate of Bangladesh Taka (BDT) against the greenback stable,” a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told BBN in Dhaka. He also said the BB may continue purchasing the greenback from the banks in line with the market requirement.
Export earning set to fall $2b short of target
The country’s export earnings in the financial year 2014-15 is set to fall around $2 billion short of target as readymade garment exports witnessed sluggish growth because of restructuring of the garment sector and also political turmoil, economists and exporters said. The export earnings in the first 10 months of the FY15 stood at $25.30 billion, which is 5.71 per cent short of the target of $26.83 billion, according to the Export Promotion Bureau data released on Tuesday.
Bangladesh’s FX market close stable, call money falls
Bangladesh’s foreign exchange market remained almost stable while the inter-bank call money rates fell slightly on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the stocks returned to the red at closing, breaking five sessions’ gaining streak. The call rate ranged between 5.50 per cent and 7.50 per cent on the day against the previous range between 5.75 per cent and 7.50 per cent, market operators told the BBN. The overall turnover in the call money market came down to BDT 37.90 billion on Tuesday from BDT 41.26 billion of the previous working day, according to the Bangladesh Bank statistics.
MasterCard extends financial literacy programme
MasterCard in association with BURO Bangladesh and NRB Global Bank will provide financial and business literacy training to 10,000 people who have 10-taka accounts. Under the programme launched by the central bank governor at a function in Dhaka yesterday, the 10-taka accountholders will receive education on the use of financial services in a smart and responsible way. This is the second phase of a financial literacy programme introduced by MasterCard in Bangladesh in 2013.
Bangladesh’s stocks fall amid profit taking
Bangladesh’s stocks returned to the red on Tuesday, breaking five sessions’ gaining streak as investor bagged profit. The market opened with a mixed trend and landed on the red zone as the session progressed amid choppy trading. DSEX, the prime index of the DSE went down by marginally by 22.60 points or 0.52 percent to close at 4,326.61 points. The two other indices also closed lower. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips lost 2.22 points or 0.13 percent to close at 1,622.49 points.