Wednesday’s morning business round up of Bangladesh

Last updated: January 16, 2013

Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- Dhaka and Moscow yesterday signed a $1 billion deal under which Bangladesh would procure military equipment and arms from Russia. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Russian President Vladimir Putin witnessed the signing ceremony held at the Kremlin in Moscow.

The anti-corruption expert panel formed by the World Bank (WB) Tuesday expressed its concern over the 'current scope' of the investigation by the Bangladesh's Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) on the alleged graft conspiracy involving the US$2.9 billion Padma Bridge project.

Trade deficit in the first five months of fiscal 2012-13 narrowed by 22 percent on the back of falling imports.In July-November, imports fell by 4.31 percent year-on-year to $13.47 billion. In the month of November itself, imports fell by 5.25 percent.

The country's overall import orders have increased slightly in December over the previous month, as a significant number of letters of credit (LCs) for scrap-vessels were opened, officials said.

Turnover on the country’s premier bourse--- Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) dipped to 5-year low to BDT 1.04 billion on Tuesday since January 8, 2008. DGEN, the benchmark general index of DSE, however, managed to close flat to stand at 4,113.16, after gaining slightly by 1.55 points or 0.03 per cent. On January 8, 2008, the DSE turnover was BDT 815.47 million which was lower than Tuesday’s turnover value. The premier bourse’s turnover hit a record BDT 32.49 billion on December 5, 2010, when its general index also hit a record 8,918 points.

In another blow to the government projection, the World Bank on Tuesday in a new estimate said that the country’s GDP growth would decline to 5.8 per cent in the current fiscal year.The WB earlier in October projected that Bangladesh’s growth in the current FY 2012-2013 would be around 6 per cent, much below the government projection of 7.2 per cent.

The state-run Bangladesh Sugar and Food Industries Corporation (BSFIC) plans to export 50,000 tonnes of locally-crushed sugar to Europe under the region's duty-free and quota-free scheme. The corporation has already floated an international tender for buyers/importers for the exports.

BBN/SSR/AD-16Jan13-10:20 am (BST)