Business

Representatives of energy regulatory bodies of the SAARC countries on Monday agreed to form a common forum to facilitate trans-border energy trade in the region. Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission chairman announced the decision taken on the last day of a two-day first SAARC energy regulators’ meeting which

Bangladesh Bank on Sunday reduced the interest rate on farm loan to 11 per cent from 13 per cent after the farmers had showed reluctance to receive agriculture loans from the scheduled banks and non-government organisations due to the high rate of interest. The BB issued a circular to managing directors and chief

Cittagong Port Imported cargo release time to be slashed to 7 days The National Board of Revenue has decided to cut down the existing lengthy time for clearing imported goods at Chittagong port by more than 40 per cent by June 2015 to reduce the cost of international trade, officials said. They said that the revenue ... Read more

Energy regulatory bodies of the SAARC countries are likely to form a common forum to facilitate trans-border energy trade in the region, officials said. The decision is likely to be finalised today at the first SAARC energy regulators’ meeting which began on Sunday at a hotel in Dhaka, they said. ‘We are trying to create a ... Read more

Plantation Employment In Sarawak BMET takes consent of selected workers for Malaysian jobs Hundreds of selected workers for Malaysian jobs started submitting ‘consent papers’ to the manpower bureau office at Kakrail to get employment in plantation sector in Sarawak province of Malaysia, said officials. The workers were gathering at the bureau after getting SMS from Bureau ... Read more

The telecom ministry has asked the telecom regulator to explain the media reports that said that Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission topped in the financial irregularities among government agencies, said officials. BTRC officials said the telecom ministry asked to explain and give the regulator’s opinion about such report. The Comptroller and Auditor General,

The government has imposed an 11-day ban in October each year on catching all kinds of fish in the rivers and estuaries of 14 districts in the country along with four hilsa spawning grounds for ensuring safe breeding of mother hilsa. The fisheries and livestock ministry on November 27 imposed the ban through amending the Protection ... Read more

Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission is set to sign a memorandum of understanding with Indian Securities and Exchange Board for greater cooperation in diverse areas including tackling the market manipulation and insider trading, a senior finance ministry official said. The signing is expected to take place sometime in January 2015

The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission is amending the relevant rules to bar the partner-based promotional campaigns of the mobile phone companies, said BTRC officials. In a draft amendment of the Interim Directive on Marketing and Promotion, a new clause has been added to bar the telecom companies from promoting their offer paring with partners from other

At least six people including a policeman were killed and seven others injured in separate road accidents in Bogra, Barisal and Narsingdi on Friday. Heavy vehicles hit lighter vehicles in every incident that left three people dead in Bogra while one was killed in Barisal and two in Narsingdi. Our correspondent in Barisal reported that a ... Read more

Scheduled banks and non-bank financial institutions continued to ignore rural entrepreneurs in disbursing small and medium enterprise loans as they distributed to them (rural entrepreneurs) only 24.17 per cent of the total SME loans they sanctioned in the first nine months of this year. According to the latest Bangladesh Bank data, the banks and NBFIs disbursed ... Read more

The special tribunal to deal with stock market-related cases is yet to start functioning even after ten months of appointment of a judge for the tribunal. The government in February this year appointed Humayun Kabir Manik as judge to the tribunal. The government on December 10, 2012, amended the Securities and Exchange Ordinance 1969, making provisions for ... Read more

The prices of egg and unpacked soya bean oil went high in the city’s kitchen markets over the week ending Friday due to a supply shortage, traders said. The prices of unpacked soya bean oil increased by Tk 4 a litre and the item was being sold at Tk 92 a litre in the city’s ... Read more

The government is weighing different options to mobilise nearly Tk 3,000 crore soon as Bangladesh economic zones authority sought the fund for land acquisition required to build four special economic zones in the country for local and foreign investment. The BEZA early this month sought the amount from the

The country’s foreign exchange reserves posted a new record of US$ 22.40 billion for the first time on Thursday due to upward trend in inward remittance and buoyed by the release of funds from development partners, said Bangladesh Bank officials. The foreign exchange reserves stood at US$ 22.40 billion on Thursday from US$ 22.33 billion on ... Read more

Non-Payment Of Tk 24cr Citycell denies it violated conditions Mobile phone operator Citycell has denied any violation of conditions to pay Tk 246 crore dues on account of breach in licensing conditions. Citycell came up with the denial plea in reply to a notice of the telecom regulator asking the mobile operators to pay Tk 246 ... Read more

B’desh Sanchayapatra NBR nod must for investment of corporate gratuity fund Bangladesh Bank has asked scheduled banks not to invest in the five-year Bangladesh Sanchayapatra the gratuity fund of corporate bodies without taking approval from tax commissioners in line with the government directives. The BB issued a circular to managing directors of all banks and executive ... Read more

The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday formed an inquiry committee to investigate alleged illegal activities done by Md Zahidul Haque, managing director of Shurwid Industries Limited, a newly-listed company at the capital market, a BSEC news release said. The two-member committee has been asked to submit its report within 10 working days,

Bangladesh Bank on Thursday asked scheduled banks to set up closed-circuit television cameras at their all types of information technology-related rooms to ensure adequate security, said officials of the central bank. The BB issued a circular to managing directors and chief executive officers of all banks asking them to ensure implementation of the directive under the ... Read more

Dhaka stocks ended a five-day losing streak on Thursday after the Dhaka Stock Exchange Wednesday evening had scrapped howla charge, charge per trade, to reduce investors’ trading cost that rose since the introduction of the lot-free trading system at the bourse on December 11. The DSE key index, DSEX, closed at 4,856.41 points,