Business

The National Board of Revenue has relaxed the condition for the local air conditioner manufacturers for availing exemption of value-added tax in a bid to promote production of air conditioners in the country, officials of NBR said. The revenue board has reduced by 50 per cent the number of machinery an air conditioner manufacturing factory must ... Read more

Another rating agency, Fitch Ratings, is set to be appointed for rating the country’s economy for two years (2014-2015), alongside the existing two agencies—the Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s, a senior official at the finance ministry said.  The ministry of finance on Wednesday gave its go-ahead to Bangladesh Bank for appointing the three rating agencies ... Read more

The Dhaka Stock Exchange is unlikely to meet its target to introduce the T+2 trading cycle, shares maturity in two trading session, this month as the bourse is yet to get a published gazette notification in this regard. In the existing transaction system, the DSE settles the transactions within three days of trading, which is called ... Read more

Stressing the need for strengthening internal supervision and control in the state-owned banks to ensure good governance, finance Minister AMA Muhith on Saturday said Hallmark scam took place in 2012 due mainly to weakness in internal control. ‘The SoBs must give due attention to their internal supervision and control to stop recurrence of such incidents,’ the ... Read more

RMG Unit Inspection Series slips through Tigers’ fingers Bangladesh’s batting and fielding woes refused to go away as they conceded the one-day international series against Sri Lanka, going down by 61 runs in the second one-dayer at Mirpur on Thursday. Chasing a competitive 290 for victory on a good batting wicket, Bangladesh lost wickets at ... Read more

Ungradation, transformation required to ensure growth, experts say at CPD dialogue Experts at a programme on Thursday said that the garment sector in Bangladesh was at a crossroads and it was the right time for an upgradation and structural transformation of the sector to ensure sustainable growth. At a dialogue organised by Centre for Policy Dialogue, ... Read more

The world’s last operating passenger DC 10-30 aircraft, which Biman Bangladesh Airlines had christened the New Era, made its farewell flight on Thursday for Birmingham in United Kingdom after serving 25 years in the fleet of the national flag carrier, marking the history of aviation industry. The 314-seater New Era departed Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport for

US ambassador in Dhaka Dan W Mozena on Thursday said the defiant owners of the readymade garment who are ‘unwilling’ to meet the international safety and labour rights standards should ‘close and leave’ their businesses to keep the vibrant export-earning sector free from further risk. ‘I think they’ve no right to make their profits by exploiting ... Read more

Sim Replacement Tax Dispute Telcos seek Muhith’s intervention Country’s four mobile phone operators have sought urgent intervention of finance minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith in resolving their dispute with the National Board of Revenue over SIM replacement tax worth Tk 3,062 crore that the NBR has been demanding since early 2012. In a joint letter wrote ... Read more

Defaulted farm loans increase by Tk 818.77cr in January Bangladesh Bank’s relaxed rescheduling loan policy has brought no boon for farmers as the defaulted loans in the agriculture sector increased by Tk 818.77 crore in January, said officials of the central bank. The loan defaulting trend in the agricultural sector increased while overall defaulted loans declined ... Read more

The country’s foreign exchange reserve crossed $19-billion mark on Wednesday for the first time as Bangladesh Bank purchased US dollars worth $7.72 billion in the last fiscal year and seven months and 19 days of the current FY 2013-14. Higher export earnings against a lower import payment in the last few months played a significant role ... Read more

Kamal against ADP downsising The rate of implementation of the annual development programme dropped by 5 per cent in July-January of the current fiscal year of 2013-2014 compared with that in the same period of the last fiscal year due mainly to political unrest and the government’s engagement in election-centred activities, officials of the planning ... Read more

The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission has asked mobile phone operators Grameenphone and Airtel to stop BlackBerry mobile phone services after its Canadian maker declined to set up a decoding system in Bangladesh, said officials concerned. As call details and text messages of the handset

International rating agency Standard & Poor’s on Wednesday warned that political uncertainties would remain high in Bangladesh for some time hurting investor confidence and weakening economic activity. It said that the new government of Bangladesh would face questions about its legitimacy as the main opposition parties boycotted the national elections on January 5.

Asian Development Bank on Wednesday said pre-election political unrest affected private consumption and investment to send Bangladesh’s economy down in the current fiscal year. ‘Lower GDP growth is expected in FY2014 as private consumption and investment were affected by pre-election political unrest,’ said the ADB in its

Seeking BB Loan Biman MD asked to show cause for bypassing ministry Ministry of civil aviation has sought clarification from the Bangladesh Biman managing director after the latter corresponded with the Bangladesh Bank for loans bypassing the ministry, officials said. Biman MD Kevin John Steele, a UK citizen, has been made accused by the civil ... Read more

The world’s last operating passenger DC 10-30 aircraft that Biman Bangladesh Airlines owns will make its farewell flight for Birmingham today, spending nearly Tk five crore for the week-long round trip. The officials said the last flight of the 314-seater DC 10 will depart Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport for Birmingham at 8:30am today along with 23 ... Read more

Dhaka stocks advanced on Wednesday after a four-day fall as investors became optimistic after Bangladesh Bank governor Atiur Rahman in the previous day asked banks not to reduce capital market exposure all of a sudden, but gradually. The market started on a positive note on Wednesday and sustained the vibe throughout the session as investors became ... Read more

Mobile phone operator Robi Axiata and ONE Bank on Wednesday signed an agreement to facilitate the bank’s clients in getting ‘OK’ Mobile Financial Services, said a news release. Robi managing director and chief executive officer Supun Weerasinghe and ONE Bank managing director M Fakhrul Alam signed the agreement on behalf

Myanmar Bimstec Summit 4 negotiated trade deals not in agenda A number of agreements on trade and commerce already negotiated among BIMSTEC member states have not been included in the agenda of the 7-nation summit of the economic cooperation group, slated to be held in Myanmar on March 4. Prime minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to ... Read more