Business

Political turmoil dents RMG export growth in December, January The country’s total export earnings stood at $17.43 billion in the first seven months of the current financial year 2013-14 with a growth of 15.08 per cent year-on-year, despite last two months’ sluggishness due to political unrest. Riding on the performance of readymade garment sector, the export ... Read more

Credits For Import-Replacing Crops 18 banks disburse no loan in 7 months Eighteen scheduled banks did not disburse any loan to farmers to cultivate four types of import-replacing crops — pulses, oil seeds, spices and maize — in the first seven months of the fiscal year 2013-2014 as they were reluctant to distribute the credit ... Read more

The home ministry on Sunday once again asked the mobile phone operators to ensure that vendors do not sell any subscriber identification module (SIM) cards without proper identification in a bid to curb crimes through cell phones. ‘We will go tough against the sale of unregistered SIMs. A subscriber must submit copies of either national identity ... Read more

Biman Bangladesh Airlines is going to launch duty-free service onboard of its aircraft on all international routes in a bid to improve its customer service standard and provide its passengers with sky shopping facilities, officials of the airlines said. The national flag carrier has already obtained approval from the commerce ministry and the National Board of ... Read more

Finance minister AMA Muhith on Sunday hinted that the organised private sector would be covered under the pension schemes in future alongside the existing national pension scheme for government officials and employees. ‘There are some 20 lakh government officials and employees under the national pension scheme and if it is implemented at the organised

The National Board of Revenue has reduced value-added tax on sales at super shops in the country by 50 per cent to help the sector grow and ease burden of VAT on consumers, officials of the revenue board said. The NBR on January 27 issued a statutory regulatory order in this connection, they said. From now on ... Read more

Bangladesh Bank governor Atiur Rahman on Saturday suggested authorities concerned to ease the rules and regulations so the microcredit activities can get a further boost. Some 732 microfinance institutions with over 19,000 branches country- wide are now serving 3.5 crore people in self-employment and income

Next Budget Preparation Govt eyes 7.5pc GDP growth The government is preparing the next annual budget targeting 7.5 per cent growth in the gross domestic product in the fiscal year 2014-15. Finance ministry officials involved with the budget preparation said inflation was likely to be set at 7 per cent for the upcoming fiscal year because ... Read more

Export earnings from the country’s accessories and packaging manufacturing sector decreased by 30 per cent in November-December and the sector incurred a loss of $205.00 million in the period due to political turmoil, manufacturers said. They said that the political unrest had disrupted business of Tk 2,000 crore, or around $250 million, in the sector

Cancellations of the import-related letters of credit increased by 16.90 per cent in the first half of the current fiscal year because of disagreement between importers and exporters and dull business situation in the country amid political unrest in the period, Bangladesh Bank officials said. The BB data released recently showed that LC cancellations rose by ... Read more

23 banks fail to keep the gap at required level Interest spread rate in the banking sector crossed five percentage points in December last year as 23 scheduled banks failed to maintain the rate in accordance with the central bank’s directions. According to the latest BB data, the overall interest spread, the gap between the ... Read more

The prices of egg and edible oil increased on the retail markets in the capital over the week ending Friday. Traders said the price of egg increased by Tk 2 a hali (four pieces) due to a supply shortage and that of palm oil rose by Tk 3 a litre as mill owners raised the price ... Read more

The first demutualised board of Dhaka Stock Exchange on Friday elected former justice Siddiqur Rahman Miah as chairman of the bourse for a three-year term, DSE officials said. Siddiqur is an independent director of the DSE. The 12-member board on the day elected

India may allow vehicles from Bangladesh to enter and ply its territory when they bring goods, to improve bilateral ties and facilitate trade by reducing freight costs and decongesting borders. Indian commerce department has now proposed a unilateral offer, government officials said, reports the Economic Times. The commerce department

The government has decided to bring its 18,000 offices at upazila and district levels under a single internet network by June next year, using fibre optic and microwave connectivity of Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited. Officials said that the decision came at a meeting of the steering committee of Infosarkar project held at the conference room of

Misuse Of Transfer Pricing NBR forms cell to stop capital flight by MNCs After 18 months of incorporation of transfer pricing provision in the law, the National Board of Revenue has at last taken a move to make the provision operational as it has formed a cell to prevent tax evasion and capital flight mainly ... Read more

Drops CPD’s Mustafiz from DSE list The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday selected seven independent directors to form first demutualised board of the Dhaka Stock Exchange from the list of 14 submitted by the bourse, dropping the name of Centre for Policy Dialogue executive director Mustafizur Rahman. The BSEC made the decision at an ... Read more

The National Board of Revenue has found gross irregularities in documentations for replacing SIM by the country’s four major mobile phone operators. An investigation of a committee of the country’s revenue authorities revealed around 79 per cent of the documents submitted for replacing SIM do not

Many of the customers of the mobile financial service provider, bKash, across the country faced trouble in the last two days as they failed to transfer money using its service after the company started upgrading its network without giving any prior notice. bKash customers and agents alleged that they could not transfer money on Wednesday and ... Read more

The Bangladesh Bank on Thursday said that all scheduled banks will keep open their branches at 83 upazilas under 42 districts on Saturday for elections purposes. The central bank issued a circular on the day directing the banks to keep the branches open in those selected areas with proper security for receiving