Business

The prices of broiler, red lentil and ginger increased in the city’s kitchen markets over the week ending Friday. Traders said an increased demand pushed up the broiler price and the price of imported red lentil rose as the import of the item declined. Retailers blamed wholesalers for the ginger price rise.

US-Japan talks aimed at a trade deal seen as vital to a broader regional pact are in stalemate, Japan’s economy minister said, as negotiators struggle to narrow gaps ahead of a summit between the countries’ leaders. A US-Japan agreement is critical to the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership, a 12-nation grouping that would stretch from Asia to Latin ... Read more

China’s property market could threaten Beijing’s plan to manage a slowdown in growth, as evidence mounts of a rapid cooling in what had been one of the few strong spots in the world’s second-largest economy. So far, the economic story is going to script, with growth of 7.4 per cent in the first quarter from a ... Read more

The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission has tightened the rules empowering itself to conduct special audit of the banks, non-banking financial institutions and insurance companies in a bid to prevent manipulative audit-reporting of the listed companies. As per the latest amendment to the Securities and

The credit- or advance-deposit ratio in the banking sector continued to decline in February this year due to a dull business environment, said Bangladesh Bank officials. According to the latest BB data, the ADR in the banking sector dropped to 70.35 per cent as of February 20, 2014 compared with that of 76.20 per cent

The country’s export earning growth slumped for fourth month in March as most of the export sectors, including garment, continued to struggle to pick up pace following the political violence surrounding the national elections and global buyers’ uneasiness over factory safety issue. The earning in March of the current financial year 2013-2014 registered

Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, a group of North American retailers, on Thursday said that it would pay 50 per cent of wages to workers for two months if production at any of the garment factories is suspended because of its safety inspection. The Alliance chair Ellen Tauscher made the

The Asian Development Bank has appointed Kazuhiko Higuchi as the new country director for its Bangladesh resident mission. ‘I am looking forward to working for Bangladesh, and the people of Bangladesh,’ Kazuhiko Higuchi was quoted as saying in a statement by the ADB in Dhaka on Thursday. ‘Bangladesh is progressing fast and ADB will continue to make

Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association president Atiqul Islam on Thursday alleged that international buyers were pulling out their business from readymade garment factories situated in shared buildings. He cited that in last six months they cancelled export orders worth US$ 110 million from 57 such factories. At a pre-budget

Farm loan disbursement posted a 12.21-per cent growth in nine months of the current financial year 2013-14 compared with that in the same period of the FY13 even though seven scheduled banks including four new banks did not disburse any loan to the farmers in the period. According to the Bangladesh Bank data released on Thursday, ... Read more

The government has set a revenue collection target of Tk 1,49,000 crore for National Board of Revenue for the next fiscal year of 2014-15, the NBR chairman Ghulam Hussain said on Wednesday. At a pre-budget discussion with export-oriented sectors without bond facility, automobiles and transport sectors (land, waterway and airways), he said that

Formulating guidelines for such campaigns The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission has initiated a move to formulate guidelines for recharge-based promotional campaigns of the mobile phone companies operating in the country, said officials. The mobile phone companies often offer bonus on mobile talk-time recharge and such offers are not properly regulated, they said.

The Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority has tightened immovable asset purchasing rules to check fraudulent activities by insurance companies in buying such assets, particularly land, an IDRA official told New Age on Wednesday. The insurance regulator this week issued separate letters to all the insurance companies in the light of its

North American retailers’ group on Wednesday assured the garment factory owners that its members would not pull out their business they are doing with the Bangladesh apparel factories housed in shared buildings. The group also assured of its all-out support towards improving the working condition in Bangladesh’s readymade garment sector. The

A UN-backed scheme to compensate victims of Bangladesh’s Rana Plaza factory collapse is barely one-third full, despite pressure on dozens of western brands to assume some financial responsibility for one of the world’s deadliest industrial accidents of modern times, reports The Guardian. A year after the tragedy, which killed more than 1,100 workers and

The Asian Development Bank has asked the central bank to consult with the capital market regulator before it issues directives to banks on regulating their investment in stock business, a suggestion aimed at averting any panic among investors. The recommendation of the manila-based regional development bank came after Bangladesh Securities and

The Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, a platform of North American retailers, on Tuesday informed the government that it would make payments for workers’ wages for two months if any of the garment factories was closed as per the suggestion of the Alliance experts during safety inspections. The visiting chair of the Alliance, Ellen O Tauscher, ... Read more

The country’s trade deficit narrowed by 22.57 per cent in the first eight months of the current financial year 2013-14 compared with that of the same period of the FY13 due to a rise in exports against a poor growth in imports. According to Bangladesh Bank data to be released today, the deficit decreased to $3.56 ... Read more

Tour operators and people involved in tourism sector on Tuesday demanded that the National Board of Revenue should provide some tax and duty benefits in the next budget including duty-free import of tourist vehicles to help the sector to flourish in the country. At a pre-budget discussion with the NBR, they

Dhaka stocks advanced on Tuesday after a decline in the previous trading session due to increase in prices of shares of large capitalized companies, including multinational companies. The key index of Dhaka Stock Exchange, DSEX, finished at 4,606.75 points, adding 0.72 per cent or 33.18 points. The DSEX from the begging till the