Business

Bangladesh Bank on Wednesday warned the scheduled banks that it would impose fine against them if they fail to settle their inland and foreign bills of letters of credit timely. To this end, the BB issued a circular to all banks saying that the country’s banking sector has been facing an image crisis as some ... Read more

The country’s jute production fell for third year to 74.36 lakh bales in 2013-14 season as sliding export hit the price of jute, discouraging farmers to cultivate the cash crop. In 2010-11 season jute production had hit a record high of 84.60 lakh bales as the export of jute and jute products was recorded worth ... Read more

The platform of European retailers, Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, on Tuesday said that it had found faults in all 10 garment units it inspected in a pilot basis late last year. Officials of the Accord said that they found mismatch between structural designs and constructed structures, uncontrolled heavy storage load on floor, ... Read more

Bangladesh Bank on Tuesday allowed foreign companies in Bangladesh to receive term loans in local currency from scheduled banks and non-bank financial institutions. BB officials told New Age that the central bank had relaxed the foreign exchange regulations in accordance with the International Monetary Fund’s recommendations.

4 more border markets The commerce ministry has selected locations along the Bangladesh-India border for setting up four more border haats (markets) to create new economic opportunities and increase business in the products produced in the two countries, officials of the ministry said. They said that the locations are situated along

The two-day trade talks between Dhaka and New Delhi begin today (Wednesday) at the commerce ministry to strengthen trade ties between the two neighboring countries, commerce ministry officials said. A high level Indian delegation led by Arvind Mehta, joint secretary, foreign trade (South Asia), Department of Commerce of India, arrived in Dhaka on Tuesday to attend ... Read more

The country’s export earning growth declined for the third month in February of the current financial year 2013-14 due to sluggish readymade garment export growth caused by the affect of political unrest in previous few months. The export earning in February stood at $2.38 billion growing by 6.36 per cent compared with the same month of ... Read more

The country’s credit growth in the private sector increased slightly in January compared with that of the previous month as businesspeople have taken initiative to expand their business after the general elections which was held on January 5, said officials of Bangladesh Bank. According to Bangladesh Bank data released on Monday,

Bangladesh Bank on Monday decided to double the foreign exchange quota for business travel to $ 10,000 per year. The BB enhanced the amount by $ 5,000 to $ 10,000 per year from the previous $ 5,000 for traveling to foreign countries. To this end, the BB issued a circular to authorised dealer branches of all scheduled ... Read more

The country’s trade deficit narrowed by 35.01 per cent in the first seven months of the current financial year compared with that of the same period of the FY 2012-13 due to a rise in exports against a poor growth in imports. According to the latest BB data, the deficit decreased to $2.78 billion in July-January ... Read more

Clients of 2 banks to get benefit initially The National Board of Revenue is going to launch online tax payment system in early next month facilitating corporate taxpayers to pay taxes direct from their bank accounts, officials of the NBR said. After inauguration of the system, large taxpayers will be able to pay taxes — income ... Read more

The ministry of agriculture has drastically slashed the incentives for marginal aus farmers in the current season. The agriculture ministry has approved Tk 30.68 core for the current aus season down from 43.09 crore in the previous season in 2013, shows official documents. The aus season begins in March and ends in August.

The National Board of Revenue and the Department of Immigration and Passports are at loggerheads over payment of 15 per cent value-added tax on passport and visa fees, officials of the revenue board and DIP said. They said that the dispute began after the NBR had asked the immigration and passports department to pay VAT on ... Read more

Garment Village Owners yet to arrange money for land acquisition The progress of establishment of a garment village at Bausia in Munshiganj is hanging in the balance as the factory owners concerned are yet to provide money for land acquisition. The government has already completed the process of land acquisition and asked the garment owners ... Read more

T+2 Settlement Cycle Launch More delay likely due to foreign portfolio managers’ objection The introduction of the T+2 trading cycle at the Dhaka Stock Exchange will be delayed further because of objections of some foreign portfolio managers to the launch of the system with two-trading session maturity period, DSE officials said. A DSE senior official said, ... Read more

Govt Savings Tools Sales drop by 8.5pc in July-Jan Sales of the national savings certificates and bonds dropped by 8.50 per cent in the first seven months of the current financial year 2013-14 compared with that in the same period of the FY13. The savings instruments worth Tk 12,701.80 crore were sold through banks, national ... Read more

The prices of green chilli, onion, potato and garlic increased on the retail market in the capital over the week ending Friday due to price hike on the wholesale markets. Traders said that the wholesalers increased the prices of onion, potato and garlic and the prices of the items increased by Tk 2-Tk 5 a ... Read more

Production at the two garment factories where Accord, the EU retailers’ platform, found severe faults, have been suspended. Structural inspectors of the Accord detected major structural faults in the building of Hazi Kujrat Ali Mollah Super Market at Pallabi in the city that housed the garment factories — Softex and Fame Sweater. After finding out the

Global food prices rose by 2.6 per cent in February in the sharpest climb since mid-2012 due to unfavourable weather, the United Nations food agency said on Thursday, with the crisis in Ukraine threatening to cause future volatility, reports Reuters. The Food and Agriculture Organisation’s price index, which measures monthly price changes for a basket of ... Read more

Revenue target down by Tk11,000cr in current fiscal year The National Board of Revenue will impose an additional tax in the form of health risk tax on tobacco products to discourage the use of tobacco while reducing corporate tax in the coming fiscal year of 2014-2015, NBR chairman Ghulam Hussain said on Thursday. It will ... Read more