Junaid Kamal Ahmad, country director of the World Bank India, delivers the “18th Nurul Matin Memorial Lecture on Ethics in Banking” at BIBM auditorium in Dhaka on Feb25, 2019. Fazle Kabir, governor of Bangladesh Bank, was present. Photo: BIBM

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.

Ethical banking hinges on ethical parliament
A parliament that follows the principles of ethics is important for the growth of an ethical banking system, said Junaid Kamal Ahmad, country director of the World Bank India. “Give me an ethical parliament and I will give you an ethical banking system,” he said while delivering a keynote speech in Dhaka on Monday.

Bangladesh’s default loans soar 26% to BDT 939bn in 2018
The volume of classified loans in the country’s banking system jumped by 26.38 per cent or BDT 196.08 billion in 2018 despite close monitoring of the central bank. The non-performing loans (NPLs) rose to BDT 939.11 billion as on December 31, 2018 from BDT 743.03 billion on the same day of 2017, according to the central bank’s latest statistics, released on Tuesday.

NBR mulls chemical import ban on Old Dhaka shops
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) is considering to impose restriction on import of chemicals by the Old Dhaka-based inventories to avert recurrence of deadly fire incidents in the area, its Chairman Md Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan has said. The revenue board chief said it while responding to the reporters at a programme at NBR conference room in the capital on Tuesday.

Poor wages force RMG workers to skip meals
Most of the readymade garment workers in Bangladesh cannot afford three full meals per day and regularly skip meals due to poor wages, according to a research conducted by Oxfam, Australia. ‘Nine out of 10 workers interviewed in Bangladesh cannot afford enough food for themselves and their families, forcing them to regularly skip meals and eat inadequately, or go into debt,’ the research report said.

BB Governor: Influentials loan defaulters pose risk to economy
Bangladesh Bank Governor Fazle Kabir on Monday said wilful bank loan defaulters, who are influential in the society puts the economy at risk in connivance with a section of unscrupulous bankers. Speaking at a discussion at Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management (BIBM), he also said such irregularities cloud the achievements of the banking sector, caused mainly by over-ambition of wilful loan defaulters.

Dhaka stocks fall on concern about financial sector
Dhaka stocks returned to the negative zone on Tuesday as investors went for selling shares especially financial scrips ahead of their corporate declarations. DSEX, the key index of Dhaka Stock Exchange, lost 0.29 per cent, or 17.15 points, to close at 5,738.64 points on Tuesday after gaining 41.52 points in the previous session.

BD-Indonesia PTA talks begin today
Bangladesh is starting talks with Indonesia today (Wednesday) for signing a preferential trade agreement (PTA) aiming to get duty-free access for its major exportable products to the market of the Southeast Asian nation, officials have said. Bangladesh’s annual exports to Indonesia account for around US$55 million (5.5 crore). Duties ranging between 5.0 per cent and 25 per cent are paid for the products’ entry into the Indonesian market.

Govt plans Tk 3,322cr transmission line
The government is going to construct a 140-kilometre high-voltage electricity transmission line between Barapukuria and Kaliakair to import 1,600 megawatts of power from Indian conglomerate Adani Group. The planning ministry is going to place a mega project involving Tk 3,322 crore at the meeting of the Executive Committee on National Economic Council (Ecnec) today to set up the transmission line. Of the cost, 52 percent will come from a second Indian line of credit.

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