Business

AMA Muhith who was sworn in on Sunday as the finance minister again on Monday said he had discharged his duties with pleasure in the last five years although the country’s intelligentsia often criticised him for his various remarks. ‘In the last five years, I discharged my duties with pleasure,’ he said when the officials and ... Read more

Dhaka stocks advance for 5th day Dhaka stocks advanced for the fifth trading session on Monday with the key index of the bourse hitting the highest value since its launch a year ago as investors are anticipating further rise in share prices as the Awami League-led alliance formed government for third time. The benchmark general ... Read more

Bangladesh Bank on Monday said local Umrah service agents will not require to take prior approval from the central bank to provide guarantee up to 1,00,000 Saudi Riyal to their counterpart agents in Saudi Arabia. The authorised dealer branches of the scheduled banks earlier used to take prior approval on mandatory basis from the BB on ... Read more

Three more newly-established commercial banks will be enlisted with the central bank as primary dealers of the government securities from February 1, said Bangladesh Bank officials. The three banks are NRB Bank, NRB Global Bank and Modhumati Bank. Earlier, five newly-established banks — NRB Commercial Bank,

Independent Directors’ Info BSEC provides checklist for banks, listed cos Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission as the implementing authority of Corporate Governance Guideline has provided a checklist for banks and listed companies to get independent directors’ information. The BSEC took the move as per its earlier notification which directed all the listed companies to comply with ... Read more

BRAC EPL Investments and Silicon Valley-based Japanese venture capital firm DEFTA PARTNERS have recently signed a memorandum of understanding to set up a joint venture in Bangladesh for equity-related investment. DEFTA PARTENRS chairman George Hara and BRAC EPL chief executive officer Khaled Yusuf Farazi signed the MOU on behalf of their respective

Income tax collection by the National Board of Revenue in the first half of current fiscal year fell short of the target by Tk 3,432 crore mainly because of slow growth in corporate tax and low collection in advance taxes from different sectors for volatile political situation in the country, officials of the NBR said ... Read more

The central bank has rejected a proposal of finance minister AMA Muhith on giving Probashi Kallayan Bank approval to open exchange houses abroad and allowing it to operate partial commercial banking activities to enable the bank serve the Bangladeshi diaspora. The Bangladesh Bank in its opinion said the

Readymade garment export to the non-traditional markets in the first half of the current financial year soared by 37.27 per cent to $1.36 billion against $996.89 million of the same period of the last financial year 2012-13, Export Promotion Bureau data showed. Terming the export growth encouraging,

Int’l Audit Of Telcos BTRC backtracks on local auditors’ push The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission has recently cancelled its plan to hire international firms for auditing the mobile phone companies following objection from local chartered accountants, said officials. The BTRC called international audit firms in January 2013 to crosscheck various information of six telecom operators —Grameenphone,

Political Unrest Insurers asked to promptly settle claims against damage The Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority has recently asked all the insurance companies to settle clients’ claims promptly as the number of losses increased remarkably due to the ongoing political unrest. IDRA chairman M Shafeque Ahmed made the call on January 9 following allegations of non-cooperation ... Read more

Suggests creation of Tk 203.45cr refinance scheme The government has asked Bangladesh Bank to give bank loans at five per cent interest rate to the owners of tea estates by creating a refinance scheme. BB officials said the government’s move contradicted the central bank’s agriculture and rural credit policy which allows loans at low interest ... Read more

Dhaka stocks rallied for the fourth trading session on Sunday, the opening day of the week, as investors remained optimistic in anticipation of another bubble at the market amid the formation of government by the Awami League-led alliance for a fresh term, market operators said. They also said the market maintained gain with an increased turnover ... Read more

The Dhaka Stock Exchange has formed an enquiry committee to investigate an unusual surge in the price of shares of Meghna Condensed Milk Industries, a DSE web post said. The company is listed under ‘Z’ category which groups low profile securities. In the last one month, the share price of Meghna

Mohammad Masum Kamal Bhuiyan has recently been promoted to executive director of Bangladesh Bank, said a news release. He is now discharging duties in the Bangladesh Bank Chittagong branch. Bhuiyan, who joined Bangladesh Bank as an assistant director in 1984, took part in different courses on banking and finance in home and abroad, the release said.

The government is likely to compromise the development budget in the current fiscal year because of a sharp rise in non-development expenditure. Finance ministry officials said an amount of Tk 10,000 crore was likely to be slashed from the projected annual development programme worth Tk 65,780 crore

The government has taken a move to resolve a prevailing dispute over the payment of piece-rate basis for the sweater factory workers. The government has recently formed an 11-member committee comprising the representatives from factory owners and workers headed by a joint secretary to identify the problems and decide on the next path of solution, labour ... Read more

The government has sharply cut the interest rate on the short-term government securities over the last few months as scheduled banks with huge idle fund continue to submit a large number of bids in the auction of treasury bills and T-bonds with a view to invest their fund. The banks are now holding huge amount

Cyber Security Ministry rejects BTRC bid to appoint consultant The posts and telecommunications ministry has turned down a proposal by the telecom regulator to appoint a consultant for overseeing cyber security of the country, said officials. The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission sent the proposal three months back after commission’s designated officer for Bangladesh

The prices of rice and vegetables increased on the retail market in the capital over the week ending Friday due to high transportation cost. Retailers said that wholesale prices of rice and vegetables increased on the retail markets as wholesalers increased the prices in the name of high truck fare.