Business

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

Dhaka stocks ended flat for the second trading session on Thursday, the last trading session of the week, with a decreased turnover due to a lower participation of institutional investors. The benchmark general index of Dhaka Stock Exchange, DSEX, finished at 4,759.32 points, shedding 0.09 per cent or 4.38 points. DS30, the

MCCI tells govt, warns political calm may be short-lived The present calm after the January 5 elections may be short-lived and economic activities could be affected again if the government fails to take the opposition political parties into confidence, said the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Wednesday. In the second quarter economic review ... Read more

Industries minister Amir Hossain Amu on Wednesday said the government would not sell out any more state-owned mills and factories for the sake of sustainable industrialisation in the country. He said this at a meeting with the leaders of the sugarcane farmers’ federation at his secretariat office at Motijheel, said industries ministry officials.

The National Board of Revenue on Wednesday enforced 10 per cent tax at source on banks, mobile phone operators and service delivery agents on their income derived from mobile banking services, officials of the NBR said. According to NBR decision, banks, mobile phone operators, technology service providers and service delivery agents involved with mobile

The government will soon reduce the internet price to facilitate country’s growth, said post, telecom and ICT state-minister Zunaid Ahmed on Wednesday. ‘We are working with sincerity on the issue and hope to deliver a good news soon,’ he told reporters at his office on the day. He said that the growth of