Business

Mercantile Bank disbursed Tk 162.59 crore to Chittagong-based three little-known companies violating the banking rules and regulations and the bank is now struggling to recover the loans, an investigation by Bangladesh Bank found. BB officials told New Age that the bank might not be able to recover the loans as it had no control and monitoring ... Read more

Clients are still facing liquidity shortage in automated teller machines and branches of the scheduled banks as the police could not provide the banks with enough protection in transporting their cash-bearing vehicles, said officials of the commercial banks. The clients of many banks plunged in a severe

The export of raw jute has plunged in the current fiscal year due to devaluation of currency of neighbouring India, a major raw jute importer from Bangladesh, jute department officials said. They said the drastic fall in the raw jute export would discourage the growers from cultivating more jute and they (the growers) would also be ... Read more

Sim Replacement Tax Govt in hurry to settle dispute with 4 telcos The SIM replacement tax review committee is under huge pressure from the government to submit its (committee) report on the Tk 3,100-crore SIM replacement tax claimed by the National Board of Revenue from four mobile phone operators within a week though the committee ... Read more

The cost of migration for each Malaysia bound worker has further dropped under the government to government arrangements, officials said Wednesday. Henceforth, each worker has to pay Tk28,500 as migration cost, down from existing Tk33,500, Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training

The tenure of National Board of Revenue chairman Ghulam Hussain has been extended for two years, officials said. They said a proposal in this connection was approved by finance minister recently. The public affairs ministry is expected to issue a notification this connection soon. Ghulam was appointed as the chairman of the NBR in October last year after

The Bangladesh Bank has directed the scheduled banks to keep branches open in Dhaka city, Ashulia, Tongi, Gazipur, Narayanganj and Chittagong industrial area on December 7 (Saturday) to facilitate payment of salaries and bonus to garments employees. Following a request from the Bangladesh

Dhaka stocks declined on Wednesday after rising in the earlier two trading sessions as investors remained skeptical about the political prospect amid violence surrounding the coming election. The benchmark general index of Dhaka Stock Exchange, DSEX, declined by 0.38 per cent, or 16.49 points, to close at 4,294.22 points on the day.

The government’s tax collection from the Dhaka Stock Exchange increased by 78 per cent in November compared with the previous month due to sharp increase in turnover as low-priced shares attracted investors during the month. The DSE paid government Tk 14.42 crore in November, which was Tk 8.11 crore in the previous month. Of the taxes,

Potentials of mobile internet growth is widespread in coming days across Asia including Bangladesh, as the alternatives to using mobile data are not widely available, according to a study. The study report found affordability of smart devices is the key to spreading the smart technology, especially mobile broadband connectivity

Tax Evasion By Foreigners Working In B’desh Home ministry wants NBR desks at immigration posts The home ministry has requested the National Board of Revenue for setting up offices at immigration check posts to identify tax evading foreign nationals leaving Bangladesh, officials of the revenue board said. The request was made at an inter-ministerial meeting held ... Read more

The country’s mobile phone operators added 11.17 lakh subscribers in October, which is lowest in nine months despite the launching of 3G services by four leading operators in the month. The total subscriber base of six operators stood at 11.17 crore at the end of October. Despite the 3G service launch in October the subscriber

Finance minister AMA Muhith backs a longstanding demand of Probashi Kalyan Bank to upgrade its current status to a partial commercial bank so that the nascent bank is enabled to provide optimum services to Bangladeshi Diaspora. Muhith asked Bangladesh Bank last week to allow the principal branch of PKB to pursue all types of commercial banking ... Read more

The price of onion shot up to Tk 110 a kg on the retail market in the city as supply chain disrupted due to frequent blockade enforced by the opposition alliance. Traders said that both wholesale and retail markets faced severe supply shortage in last three days as supply of the item decreased by 80 ... Read more

Scientists have discovered a wonder rice gene that could dramatically increase yields of one of the world’s most important food crops, the International Rice Research Institute said Tuesday. Preliminary tests show that yields of modern long-grain ‘indica’ rice varieties, the world’s most widely grown types of rice, can rise by 13-36 per cent when

Unrealised Losses BSEC gives M-banks, brokers more time to keep provision Fines five brokerage, one company for violating rules The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday extended the loan provisioning deadline by one year to December 31, 2014 of the unrealised losses that merchant banks and brokerage firms incurred in 2012. The decision was made ... Read more

The Dhaka Stock Exchange on Tuesday urged the authorities concerned to take immediate step to disburse the first Tk 300 crore tranche of the government refinance fund worth Tk 900 crore for the investors affected by the stock market crash in 2010-2011 and to inject the fund into the capital market within this year. DSE present ... Read more

Dhaka stocks soared on Tuesday with rising turnover due to increased participation of investors anticipating that the capital market regulator might relax some provisioning rules for merchant banks and brokers against their capital market investment. The benchmark general index of Dhaka Stock Exchange, DSEX, finished at 4,310.72 points, adding 2.68 per cent or 112.79 points. DS30, the

Branches, ATM booths face cash shortage Clients are facing acute liquidity shortage at automated teller machines and branches of scheduled banks as they (banks) failed to replenish cash in their ATM booths and branches due to ongoing blockade called by the opposition parties. Senior officials of commercial banks said they failed

Uzbekistan has made a proposal to Bangladesh for creating a hub of trading Uzbek cotton in the region by setting up a free warehouse in the country under the much talked about cotton agreement between the two countries, officials of the commerce ministry said. They said that Uzbekistan had recently sent