Garment Factory Inspection Retailers’ teams to talk pledges, conspiracy theory in April High-ups of North American and European retailers groups are coming to Dhaka in early April to discuss garment factory safety inspection issue following government’s and factory owners’ criticism of strict inspection standards and allegation of conspiracy. Garment factory owners and commerce minister Tofail Ahmed recently ... Read more
Business
BB asks banks to give plan on stock investment cuts
Bangladesh Bank has recently asked scheduled banks to submit business plan on how to bring down their excess investment limit in the capital market by July 2016. To this end, the central bank issued separate letters in the last few weeks to managing directors and chief executive officers of the banks, whose investment
Primark to give $10m more to Rana Plaza victims
Primark, an Irish clothing retailer, on Monday announced to pay out $10 million in compensation to victims or their dependents of the Rana Plaza factory collapse weeks before the anniversary of the disaster in which more than 1,100 garment workers lost their lives. The retailer has agreed to pay $9 million to
ADR in banking sector continues plummeting
The credit- or advance-deposit ratio in the banking sector declined to 70.83 per cent as of February 6, 2014 compared with that of 76.28 per cent as of February 7, 2013 as credit demand in the private sector had not increased much following the recent political turmoil, said Bangladesh Bank officials. The ADR was 76.59 per ... Read more
First TICFA meeting in end of April
The first meeting under the Trade and Investment Cooperation Forum Agreement between Dhaka and Washington will be held in the last week of April next, said an official on Monday. ‘The meeting will be held in the last week of April as proposed by the US side,’ Commerce secretary Mahbub Ahmed told the news agency. The ... Read more
Fire dept assesses Tk 531cr in loss, half the sum estimated by owner
Standard Group Factory Fire Fire dept assesses Tk 531cr in loss, half the sum estimated by owner An investigation committee formed by the Fire Service and Civil Defence to investigate fire in the garment factory of Standard Group at Konabari in Gazipur estimated Tk 531 crore in losses in the factory fire. The committee said in ... Read more
All banks to go for real-time settlement next year
Banks will be able to make instant settlement of foreign currency and government securities-related transactions as well as local currency transactions when Bangladesh Bank will introduce the ‘real-time gross settlement’ system by July next year. According to a BB report, the RTGS system will replace the existing deferred net settlement system under which banks settle
Power price hike to hit competitiveness of RMG sector: BGMEA
The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association on Sunday said the latest power price hike would put adverse impact on the readymade garment sector and the industry would lose its competitive edge. In a news release the trade body expressed its deep concern over the power price hike and said the 6.96 per cent increase in ... Read more
DSE to launch T+2 settlement time on April 16
Dhaka Stock Exchange is going to introduce T+2, which will allow maturity of shares in two trading sessions, from April 16 scrapping its existing T+3 trading cycle, according to a DSE web post published on Sunday. DSE officials said after the introduction of T+2 trading cycle investors would be able to sell shares after two trading ... Read more
Judge Humayun Kabir joins special tribunal for stocks
Humayun Kabir Manik, a district judge, on Sunday joined as the judge in the first-ever special tribunal to deal with the stock market-related cases. ‘Humayun Kabir has submitted his joining letter to the Supreme Court, law ministry and the BSEC on Sunday,’ BSEC executive director Saifur Rahman
Many RMG units yet to execute new wage structure in 3 months
DIFE official says they have no info A good number of garment factories are yet to implement the new wage structure for workers after more than three months of its announcement. Labour leaders said less than 50 per cent of the factories implemented the new wage announced by a government-formed wage board on December 5 ... Read more
Body on piece-rate workers’ problem moves very slow
Sweater, Knitwear Factory Body on piece-rate workers’ problem moves very slow The working committee formed on January 28 to identify the problems sweater and knitwear factory workers are facing has begun its operation after one month of its formation, frustrating the workers who work under piece-rate system. The committee was supposed to submit its report within ... Read more
Rice, wheat production costs increased
Production cost of rice and wheat in the current Rabi season increased due to higher input prices, agriculture ministry said. The government would take this into account while fixing the procurement prices for boro paddy, rice and wheat, said officials. The growers will not get fair prices unless the government buys directly from them taking the increased ... Read more
3,500 factories on govt list for RMG sector database
The government has finalised a preliminary list of about 3,500 garment factories to include the name of the factories and their workers in a publicly accessible database for RMG sector. As per the requirements of the GSP action plan set by the US as well as the requirement of Sustainable Compact of EU, the government ... Read more
BSEC set to waive MFs’ mandatory investment in stocks
The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission is likely to amend the Mutual Fund Rules-2001 again waiving a condition which made 60 per cent investment in the stock market mandatory for the mutual funds, a senior official of BSEC said. The capital market regulator took the move in a bid to shape the mutual fund rules as ... Read more
Rice import increases on int’l price fall
The country’s rice import increased significantly in the recent months following the lower prices on the global market, according to a Bangladesh Bank finding report. The BB has recently conducted an investigation to know the cause of the increased trend in rice import. The central bank prepared a finding report in this
India offers another $1b loan with high interest rate
India has offered another $ 1 billion line of credit to Bangladesh at higher interest rate for implementing Bangladesh’s priority development projects. The country has also offered to provide an additional 500 megawatt electricity to Bangladesh if infrastructures are improved. The offers were made during
BSEC asks bourses to probe unlawful short-sales
The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission has asked the Dhaka and Chittagong stock exchanges to investigate short-selling of securities by certain stockbrokers detected by the regulator’s surveillance system. The BSEC on Wednesday directed the Dhaka Stock Exchange and the Chittagong Stock Exchange to look into the unlawful activities. Short-selling is a
More access of women entrepreneurs to bank, NBFI funds stressed
Banks and non-bank financial institutions should come forward to finance the women entrepreneurs as only 30 per cent of them have so far got access to credit facilities. Lack of adequate financing hinders women empowerment although loan recovery from women entrepreneurs is almost hundred per cent, speakers at a daylong
IT firms eye Europe market with tech summit
The Europe-Bangladesh Technology Summit 2014 began in Hanover of Germany on March 10 to explore business opportunities in the European market for the country’s IT firms, said the Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services on Thursday. The Hanover summit ends today and the next gathering