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.

Loan recovery slows in Q2
Banks’ loan recovery momentum slowed down in the second quarter of 2019 as many defaulters showed unwillingness to pay back loans to enjoy the central bank’s relaxed rescheduling facility. Between the months of April and June, Tk 5,454.25 crore was recovered, down 7.22 percent year-on-year, according to data from Bangladesh Bank.

BD to seek better terms for Chinese financing
Bangladesh will seek relaxation of the terms and conditions of Chinese financing and a revision of the list of China-funded projects at the first meeting of the ‘Bangladesh-China Working Group on Investment Cooperation’. China and Bangladesh have recently formed this working group in a bid to promote socio-economic development of both the countries.

Big cos claim higher VAT refund as input definition absent
Value-added tax collection from large manufacturing companies may face a blow as the companies are claiming higher amounts of refund against some ‘unusual inputs’ in absence of definition of inputs required for production of goods in the law. The current VAT law allows manufacturers to get refunds or adjust the VAT they have paid while procuring or sourcing raw materials, known as inputs, to produce finished goods.

Exports to Asian countries almost double in 7 years
Bangladesh’s exports to the Asian markets registered nearly 93% growth in seven years, due mainly to competitive prices, government’s export handouts and market diversification drives of exporters. While the export expansion is better than many Asian economies, lack of product diversification and bilateral trade agreement is thwarting the expected growth, say analysts.

Farm credit disbursement falls by 5.75% in July-Aug
Farm credit disbursement decreased by 5.75 per cent in the first two months of this fiscal year (FY) in the wake of flood as well as seasonal effect. Disbursement of agriculture loans came down to BDT 19.70 billion in the July-August period of FY ’20 from BDT 20.90 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal, according to the central bank latest statistics.

Interest rate spread drops to 4pt
The overall weighted average interest rate spread in the country’s banking sector has come down to 4 percentage points amid a deposit rate rise triggered by liquidity crisis in the sector. The weighted average interest rate is the difference between the weighted average lending rate and the weighted average deposit rate of banks.

28 top remitters, 8 businesses get BB Remittance Award
Bangladesh Bank yesterday awarded 28 individuals and eight businesses for their outstanding contribution to the country’s inward remittance in 2018. Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal handed over the Bangladesh Bank Remittance Award 2018 to the winners at a program at the Institution of Diploma Engineers, Bangladesh (IDEB) in Dhaka.

Higher yield entices foreigners back to bond market
Foreign nationals have renewed their interest in investing in the country’s treasury bonds as the yield rates have gone up on the back of government’s rising appetite for funds. The overseas investors until recently stayed away from investing in the fixed income instruments as the yield rates were much lower, central bankers said.

BBN/SSR/AD