Business

Restoration of GSP facility is not the priority for Bangladesh garment industry rather transformation of the industry for better workplace safety and workers rights are the key issues at the moment, outgoing US ambassador Dan Mozena said on Sunday. ‘Restructuring of the industry for better workplace and building safety and workers rights are the issue. Through ... Read more

EPB fails to send products in Kolkata on time A five-day home and decor fair in Kolkata has virtually turned to be a two-day exposition for five Bangladeshi furniture producing companies as their products could not reach the fair ground in the first three days. The products were supposed to reach the fair venue under the supervision ... Read more

Earnings from vegetable export posted a negative growth of 15.81 per cent in the first five months of the current financial year as the competing countries gained edges in the major export destinations. Vegetable export earnings stood at $49.03 million in the July-November period of the FY 2014-15 against $58.24 million in the same period of ... Read more

Wants favourable investment climate for injecting $80m US-based Coca Cola, a multinational soft drinks maker, has raised concern over increasing supplementary duty on soft drinks in Bangladesh, claiming that its business in the country was being hampered because of the duty hike. The company informed the Bangladesh embassy to the United States that it would invest ... Read more

Low- and mid-priced smartphones and tablets are in high demand at the three-day Grameenphone Smartphone and Tab Expo 2014 that began at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in the city’s Agargaon on Friday. The exposition is also hosting seminars on latest technologies and gaming contests. International brands like Samsung, Asus, Acer, Lenovo,

Commerce minister Tofail Ahmed on Saturday said the government will set up an industrial park – BKMEA Palli – for knitwear manufacturers, on 100 acres of land at Shantir Char in Narayanganj. ‘The government will do everything necessary to achieve the export target of $50 billion from the readymade garments sector by the 50th anniversary of ... Read more

The country’s current account balance registered a deficit amount of $1.26 billion in the first four months of the current financial year 2014-15 against a surplus amount of $793 million during the same period of the FY 2013-14 due to a negative growth in trade balance, services and primary income. The current account balance registered ... Read more

Jump In Number Of Trades DSE likely to review howla charge as trading cost rises The Dhaka Stock Exchange is likely to review its charges on share trading following a jump in the number of trades for share transaction after the introduction of the lot-free trading system on Thursday, DSE officials said. They said the increase ... Read more

The prices of fine varieties of rice remained high in the city’s kitchen markets over the week ending Friday. Coarse varieties of rice, however, saw slight fall in their prices because of new harvest, traders said. The prices of coarse varieties of rice decreased by Tk 4 a kilogram and were retailing at Tk 30-Tk 31 a ... Read more

A three-day computer science and engineering fair, organised by World University of Bangladesh, began in Dhaka on Thursday. Students of 10 universities and 15 colleges are taking part in the event on the World University’s Dhanmondi campus. The fair will host seminar on IT-related issues, gaming contest and IT Olympiad to display the young talents. World University vice-chancellor

The country’s trade deficit increased by 92.44 per cent to $3.71 billion in the first four months of the current financial year 2014-15 compared with that of $1.93 billion during the corresponding period of the FY14 amid a negative export growth. Bangladesh Bank officials said falling exports of readymade garments, the main product, dented the overall ... Read more

Turnover hits 14-month low Dhaka stocks declined on Thursday with the daily average turnover of the bourse hitting 14-month low as investors were uncomfortable with the newly launched trading system. Turnover of the bourse declined to Tk 136.89 crore on the day compared with that of Tk 421.59 crore in the previous trading session. Thursday’s

The telecom regulator has asked mobile phone operator Robi to stop its promotional campaign Dekhiye Dao Quiz Show, one day before ending the campaign, as the offer violated relevant laws. ‘We asked Robi to stop the quiz show offer yesterday [Wednesday] as it violated the BTRC law. Mobile phone companies are not allowed to offer high-value ... Read more

Planning ministry has decided to increase supervision on project directors of annual development programme in a bid to expedite the implementation of development projects, officials said. Planning minister AHM Mustafa Kamal will hold project supervision meetings with project directors every two months to review the ADP implementation status and provide possible

The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry on Thursday urged the retailers to sell bottled soya bean oil as per the maximum retail price that has been set recently. The FBCCI said that recently the refiners have reduced the price of bottled soya bean oil under a joint move of the commerce ministry and ... Read more

Bangladesh will get $40 million in loan from International Fund for Agricultural Development, a specialised financial institution of the United Nations, to provide 4.52 lakh rural people across the country with financial services and technical trainings. The fund will be spent under a $92.82 million project — Promoting Agricultural Commercialisation and Enterprises — for establishing

Economists on Wednesday suggested that the government should cut the value-added tax rate from the 15 per cent flat rate proposed in the new law to reduce the tax burden on consumers. At a roundtable discussion on the concerns and implementation challenges of new VAT and Supplementary Duty Act-2012, they said that a reduced VAT rate ... Read more

The country’s private sector credit growth in October lagged behind the monetary policy target due to dull business amid political uncertainty. According to the latest BB data released on Tuesday, the private sector credit growth plunged again after three months in October from that of the previous month. The BB data showed that the year-on-year credit growth ... Read more

Bangladesh Bank will ask managing directors of scheduled banks to inform it about voluntary their resignation as the central bank has recently received allegations that board of directors of some banks forced their chief executive officers to resign. A BB official told New Age on Wednesday that the central bank would issue a circular in a ... Read more

The Dhaka Stock Exchange will launch a new trading system, replacing its 16-year old system, today that will allow lot-free share trading at the bourse. ‘As we were facing problems with the old trading system and the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission recommended introducing a new one, the bourse