The National Board of Revenue is set to issue a statutory regulatory order reducing tax at source on export of apparel items to 0.30 per cent from the existing 0.80 per cent for 15 months, officials of the NBR said. They said that readymade garment exporters would get the benefit for maximum 15 months as the ... Read more
Business
NBR unlikely to impose penalty in most cases
7 Lakh Errant Tin Holders NBR unlikely to impose penalty in most cases It is very unlikely that the National Board of Revenue will serve notices and impose penalty on most of the individual taxpayers who failed to submit their income tax returns for the current fiscal year, NBR officials said. According to the latest statistics ... Read more
Factory owners lack Tk 1 lakh to prepare biometric database
RMG Workers Factory owners lack Tk 1 lakh to prepare biometric database Most of the garment factories that represent the multi-billion dollar export sector have failed to complete biometric database of workers in 10 months due to ‘cash crisis’. RMG factory owners claimed that they could not arrange the fund required for the process as ... Read more
Fashion industry needs better policy support to flourish
Fashion entrepreneurs assoc launched The country’s fashion industry should get the government policy support as a priority sector to contribute to the economy in an organised manner, said the fashion house owners at the launching of the Fashion Entrepreneurs Association of Bangladesh in Dhaka on Saturday. They said the FEBA would be the core representative
Process stalled as 1st-phase reports not finalised yet
Govt-Sponsored Rmg Factory Inspection Process stalled as 1st-phase reports not finalised yet The government-sponsored and the International Labour Organisation-supported safety inspection to the readymade garment factories remained stalled for the last two months as the first-phase inspection reports of 200 garment factories are yet to be finalised. It will take over a month more to ... Read more
BB’s dollar purchase spree goes in vain
Containing Taka Appreciation BB’s dollar purchase spree goes in vain The dollar again started to depreciate against the taka from February 26 this year, after a steady run in the previous nine months, despite the fact that Bangladesh Bank in a frantic effort to keep the price of the dollar stable purchased greenbacks worth $3.63 ... Read more
Ginger price shoots up, rice remains pricey
The price of ginger shot up on the retail markets in the city over the week ending Friday due to a supply shortage. Traders said that the country depends mainly on the imported ginger to meet local demand for the spice due to thin domestic production of the item. The price of ginger increased by Tk ... Read more
Boro procurement price set at Tk 31 a kg
10 lakh tonnes of Boro rice to be collected this season The government on Thursday fixed the procurement price of per kilogram Boro rice at Tk 31. The newly fixed price is Tk 2 up from the last season’s price, food minister Qumrul Islam told reporters after a meeting with the national food committee at ... Read more
NBR rejects plea for ticket sales VAT exemption
Icc T20 Cricket NBR rejects plea for ticket sales VAT exemption Organisers of the International Cricket Council T20 World Cup will have to pay value-added tax on sales of tickets as the National Board of Revenue rejected an exemption plea of Bangladesh Cricket Board in this regard, officials of the revenue board said. The VAT wing ... Read more
IDRA forms body to probe Standard Group’s false insurance claim
The Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority on Thursday formed a probe committee to investigate the reported attempt by the Standard Group to embezzle money through false insurance claim following a fire incident in one of its garment factory in Gazipur. A three-member committee, under supervision of IDRA consultant AKM Iftekhar Ahmed, will
DSE inks high-cost deals with 2 US cos today
Trading System Purchase DSE inks high-cost deals with 2 US cos today The Dhaka Stock Exchange has decided that it will strike final deals with two US-based companies today to procure costly trading systems for the bourse keeping in mind its plan of introducing derivative and commodity markets in future. The bourse made the decision at ... Read more
New power connection within 40 days after application: minister
Consumers will get power connections within 40 days after applying instead of waiting for long, said state minister for power, energy and mineral resources Nasrul Hamid Bipu on Thursday. The government is planning to install Fast Track Centre to provide new power connection within 40 days after applying to ease the consumers’ sufferings, said
ADP spending in tatters
The implementation of the annual development programme continued at a slow pace as only 38 per cent of the ADP funds was used in July-February period of the current financial year compared to 44 per cent in the same period of the previous year. Planning ministry officials said low utilisation of both government allocation and project ... Read more
RMG workers to get Tk 50,000 each by April 15
Rana Plaza Donor’s Fund RMG workers to get Tk 50,000 each by April 15 The Rana Plaza compensation coordination committee has decided that a total of 3,639 workers who worked at the five garment factories housed in the collapsed building at Savar will get Tk 50,000 each from the Rana Plaza Donor’s Trust Fund by ... Read more
NBR demands Tk 116cr from Hallmark
Suspends bond licence of Hallmark Design Wear The National Board of Revenue has suspended the bond license of Hallmark Design Wear Ltd, a sister concern of controversial Hallmark Group, and demanded Tk 116 crore as duties and taxes from the company for not exporting products under bond license, officials of the NBR said. They said that ... Read more
Zero progress for 9 banks in farm loan release in 8 months
Nine scheduled banks including six new ones failed to disburse any farm loan in the first eight months of the current financial year 2013-14. The banks are Farmers Bank, Meghna Bank, Midland Bank, National Bank of Pakistan, NRB Bank, State Bank of India, South Bangla Agriculture Commerce Bank, Union Bank and Woori Bank. The BB has already ... Read more
DCCI demands increase of tax-free income limit to Tk 3 lakh
Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Wednesday recommended the National Board of Revenue for increasing tax-free income limit to Tk 3 lakh from the existing Tk 2.20 lakh for individual taxpayer in the coming budget for the next financial year of 2014-15. It also suggested the NBR to increase the rate of tax
96 dev projects may face budget cut in RADP
The planning ministry has identified as least 96 on-going priority development projects involving Tk 1,644 crore under the current annual development programme because of slow implementation, officials said. Of the total 1,245 projects, the planning ministry also identified 281 projects as mid-priority which involved Tk 11,486 crore and another 868 projects as
BB sets charge on clients for inter-bank ATM transactions
Bangladesh Bank on Tuesday set the charge of Tk 10 for each inter-bank transaction for clients through automated teller machines under its National Payment Switch Bangladesh (NPSB) project. The central bank also set charge of Tk 5 for mini statement or balance inquiry in the inter-bank transactions through ATM machines under its
Imports up 13.60pc in Feb
The country’s overall imports increased by 13.60 per cent in February of this year against a negative growth of 12.84 per cent in the corresponding month of the last year due mainly to higher import of food products. According to Bangladesh Bank data, the overall settlement of letters of credit, generally known as actual import, stood ... Read more