The country’s inward remittance increased by 11.42 per cent to $6.19 billion in the first five months of the current financial year 2014-15 from $5.56 billion in the corresponding period of the FY14. Bangladesh Bank officials attributed the increase to expatriate Bangladeshis’ sending of significant amount of foreign exchange on the occasions of Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Azha ... Read more
Business
EU business council in B’desh soon
European Union will establish a business council in Bangladesh in a bid to expand and strengthen economic and trade relations between the country and the region, EU ambassador and head of EU delegation to Bangladesh Pierre Mayaudon told reporters on Tuesday. After a view exchange meeting with commerce minister
Sexual violence-free environment overlooked in RMG sector: expert
A gender expert on Tuesday said that sexual violence free work environment is often overlooked in the readymade garment sector in Bangladesh although factory compliances focused more on occupational health and hazards. ‘Bangladesh is still ranked 129 out of 169 countries in the gender inequity index… Women labour force participation rate is among the lowest
Coca-Cola under fire for ‘sexist’ new ad campaign
An advertising campaign for Coca-Cola’s new high-end milk has drawn huge criticism on charge of apparent ‘sexism’, reports Daily Mail. Featuring pictures of naked women dripping in barely-there dresses made of milk, Fairlife is being launched to much fanfare this month in the United States. The photographs, which appear to be working under the logic
Tofail criticises CPD for doubting country’s graduation from LDC status by ’21
Commerce minister Tofail Ahmed on Tuesday came down heavily on the Centre for Policy Dialogue for its latest statement in which CPD distinguished fellow Debapriya Bhattacharya had said that Bangladesh needed at least 10 more years for coming out from the list of least developed countries. At a press briefing at his secretariat office, he severely ... Read more
Stocks surge for 2nd day as large investors eye year-end boom
Dhaka stocks surged for the second trading session on Tuesday with investors focusing on large capitalised companies’ scrips amid institutional investors’ increased participation at the trading floor ahead of the year closing of the entities. The key index of Dhaka Stock Exchange, DSEX, increased to 4,932.89 points, adding 1.31 per cent or 64.24 points. Large capitalised
No rise in individual taxpayer number in a year
Only 8.35 lakh people paid income tax by Nov 30 deadline The National Board of Revenue found the number of individual income taxpayers for the current fiscal year totally unsatisfactory, officials said. They said there was virtually no growth in the number of income tax returns submitted by the taxpayers by the deadline that ended on ... Read more
Money changers must report real-time transactions to BB
Central bank to introduce software to check money laundering Bangladesh Bank is going to take strict regulations for currency exchange firms from this month to check money laundering, said officials of the central bank. The BB will introduce a software in this regard and will initially operate it on test-run basis by this month. After ... Read more
B’desh should increase co-op with East Asia: Tofail
Bangladesh should increase its bilateral and regional cooperation activities in the East Asian countries as the Western countries were not keeping their promises, commerce minister Tofail Ahmed said on Monday. ‘Those who are vocal about our labour rights and workers’ safety, they are not giving us tariff-free facilities which would help the country and our workers. ... Read more
BTRC must pay Tk 269cr VAT of 4 telcos, decides NBR
2G Spectrum Charge BTRC must pay Tk 269cr VAT of 4 telcos, decides NBR The National Board of Revenue has decided that Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission would have to pay Tk 269.17 crore in value-added tax on the third instalment of spectrum charge paid by four mobile phone operators to the telecom regulator for renewal ... Read more
Buyer groups promoting certain fire door vendors
Allege garment factory owners but Alliance, Accord deny Garment factory owners have alleged that in the name of ensuring fire and structural safety in the country’s apparel units the two platforms of North American and European buyers — Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety and Accord on Fire and Building Safety — are promoting certain vendors ... Read more
IDRA fines five insurers Tk 1.35cr
Policy Opening On Credit IDRA fines five insurers Tk 1.35cr The Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority has fined five insurance companies Tk 1.35 crore for opening policies on credit for clients and providing margin to unlicensed agents, violating insurance laws, said an IDRA news release issued on Sunday. The penalised companies are Standard Insurance Company,
50 orgs get ICAB awards
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh on Sunday awarded 50 organisations including banks, financial institutions, manufacturing companies, non-government organisations and public sector entities for their ‘best presented annual reports’ in 2013. The 14th ICAB National Awards were handed over to the winners
Rush for income tax returns submission as deadline ends
Scope for filing income tax returns by individual taxpayers for the current fiscal year ended on Sunday as the National Board of Revenue did not extend the deadline. Officials of the revenue board said that they faced huge rush of the taxpayers as many people crowded the field-level income tax offices at the last moment ... Read more
Fuel oil price slide boon for govt, consumers get no benefits
The fuel oil price slide on the international market has eased the government’s budgetary pressure as cost of its petroleum import would be reduced by up to 30 per cent, experts said. They, however, said that the benefit of the downtrend in the fuel price on the international market, which began in June this year, ... Read more
Strong financial mechanism needed for real estate sector recovery
Business leaders, government policy makers and experts on Saturday said that there should be a strong financial mechanism including bank loans with low interest rate and secondary market system for the real estate sector to make the business vibrant and ensure affordable housing for all. At a seminar on housing for public welfare organised
RMG exporters feel a pinch of US, EU sanctions on Russia
The country’s apparel exporters are feeling a pinch of the sanctions imposed on Russia by the United States and the European Union over Ukraine issue. The sanctions have no direct impact on the export of Bangladesh but they have an indirect impact as some of the Russian importers are facing hassle following some
Law ministry questions revenue board’s SRO authority
The law ministry has raised questions over the National Board of Revenue’s authority to issue statutory regulatory order on behalf of the government, NBR officials said. They told New Age recently that the revenue board could not issue over 10 SROs as the ministry either sent back or kept hold the draft of the SROs ... Read more
12 banks hold 69pc of total defaulted loans
Twelve scheduled banks including eight state-run banks held 69.17 per cent of the total defaulted loans in the banking sector as of September 30, 2014 as they disbursed significant amount of loans unlawfully to their clients, said Bangladesh Bank officials. Five out of the 12 banks also failed to keep required
Egg price goes up in capital
The price of egg went up in the city’s retail markets over the week ending Friday due to its increased demand. Traders said the egg price increased a bit as the demand for the item increased compared to the supply over the week. The price of egg increased by Tk 2 a hali (four pieces) and the ... Read more