Month: June 2014

The World Bank on Wednesday reaffirmed Bangladesh’s GDP growth projection at 5.4 per cent for the financial year 2013-14 despite the government’s claim of achieving 6.12 per cent growth. The WB in its flagship report, World Economic Prospect, released on the day said that unrest and disruption centring the January 5 elections caused the

Department of Agricultural Extension has estimated that about 1,96,85,000 tonnes of boro rice were produced in the country during the current 2013-14 season, apparently crossing the official production target. A dry weather condition and lack of natural calamities favored the farmers to get a good harvest of boro paddy, despite the growers suffered

Handset importers want 5pc VAT rise to go Country’s mobile phone operators on Wednesday demanded withdrawal of Tk 100 flat tax on SIM replacement proposed in the national budget for the 2014-15 financial year. Finance minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith on June 6 placed before parliament the proposed budget for the coming fiscal year. At a ... Read more

Taxpayer’s identification number holders without having taxable income in three years in a row will not have to submit income tax returns from the next fiscal year, officials said. They said that the Finance Bill-2014 relaxed some conditions of the Income Tax Ordinance-1984 related to the mandatory submission of income tax

The trade ministers from South Asian nations including Bangladesh are scheduled to meet in Thimpu next month to kick-start the stalled trade liberalisation process in goods and services among the member countries under the Safta agreement. Officials of Bangladesh’s commerce ministry were

Export-import activities through the Internal Container Depot at Kamalapur in Dhaka still remained stalled for the third day in a row on Tuesday due to strike enforced by a section of clearing and forwarding agents for indefinite period. The government is also losing significant amount of revenue due to the strike, officials of the National Board ... Read more

The Trading Corporation of Bangladesh on Tuesday started selling four commodities in the open market in a bid to keep the prices affordable to consumers during the coming Ramadan but the sales were yet to get momentum. The TCB officials said that the corporation would sell five essential commodities in the open market across the country ... Read more

Dhaka stocks declined on Tuesday after sharp rise in the previous trading session as some investors sold shares to make profit, while some others decided to wait until any further direction from the government regarding newly imposed gain tax on individual investors. The key index of the bourse, DSEX, declined to 4,401.88 points,

The country’s current account balance dipped by 36.81 per cent to US$ 1.38 billion in July-April of the outgoing financial year against US$ 2.18 billion during the same period of the FY13 due to a lower growth in remittance and higher payments for import in the recent months. Experts and BB officials told New Age on ... Read more

Hasina urges China businesses to increase trade, investment The Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding with Orion International Holding Company of China for setting up a garment village at Gazaria in Munshiganj. Under the agreement, the Orion Holding will construct the garment village at Gazaria. BGMEA president Md Atiqul Islam

Finance minister AMA Muhith on Tuesday said the government would decide on June 26-27 whether the gain tax proposed by him in the budget for 2014-15 fiscal year would finally be passed or not in parliament. He said this while talking to reporters after a meeting with the officials of the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission ... Read more

Declares 5pc interim cash dividend The Lafarge Surma Cement, a multinational company, for the first time after its enlistment with the stock exchanges in 2003, has turned into a profitable company. The company on Tuesday declared 5 per cent interim cash dividend for 2014 based on its first five-month (January-May) earning, after becoming profitable.

The Bangladesh-Malaysia Chamber of Commerce and Industry has awarded three businessmen for their significant contribution to respective fields. The BMCCI Excellence Award 2013 was given at a ceremony at Westin Hotel in the capital on Monday. BMCCI president and Green Delta Insurance adviser

‘I don’t buy any fruit from market fearing formalin’ Commerce minister Tofail Ahmed on Monday said there was no reason for price hike of essential commodities in the coming months, particularly during Ramadan, the fasting month for Muslims, as the country had sufficient stock of the items. ‘Businessmen and importers of essentials items have