Wednesday, January 21, 2026

Govt to review VAT act bowing down to businesses’ pressure

In the face of strong criticism from the business community, the government on Wednesday decided to review the new Value-Added Tax and Supplementary Duty Act-2012 which are supposed to be implemented from July next year. At a seminar on the law, finance minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith instructed the National Board of Revenue to form a ... Read more

Non-tariff barriers key problems for B’desh export to S Asian countries

Tofail urges India to remove trade barriers Non-tariff barriers are the key problems for boosting Bangladesh’s export in the South Asian countries despite having duty- and quota-free access facility, a minister and business leaders said. The barriers will continue to hinder the country’s export growth in the region in future unless effective and integrated efforts ... Read more

50pc of Alliance-listed units finish remediation

Rmg Factory Safety Inspection 50pc of Alliance-listed units finish remediation Alliance, a platform of North American brands and buyers, on Wednesday said that remediation work at 50 per cent of garment factories it inspected had been completed at an average cost of Tk 2 crore a unit. The authorities of the garment factories conducted the remediation ... Read more

DSE decides to enlist Saif Powertec, RSRM

The Dhaka Stock Exchange on Wednesday decided to enlist two companies — Saif Powertec Limited and Ratanpur Steel Re-Rolling Mills Limited. The DSE made the decision at a board meeting presided over by its chairman Siddiqur Rahman Miah. The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission this year allowed the companies to raise capital from the capital market. Ratanpur

ACC drops graft charges against energy secretary, 10 others

The Anti-Corruption Commission on Tuesday dropped charges against 11 government officials, including three secretaries, who had been investigated in three graft cases involving embezzlement of around Tk 395 crore. The officials include energy and mineral resources secretary Abu Bakar Siddique, also former Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation chairman, Anwarul Karim, the additional

NBR to reject proposal to set fixed income tax

Foreign Artistes Coming To B’desh NBR to reject proposal to set fixed income tax The National Board of Revenue has decided to reject a proposal of cultural affairs ministry for fixing tax of foreign artistes at the highest Tk 3.5 lakh on their income derived through performing in Bangladesh, officials said. They said that the revenue ... Read more

Fin min seeks BB opinions on JS body suggestions

Hallmark Scam Probe Fin min seeks BB opinions on JS body suggestions The finance ministry has sought opinions from Bangladesh Bank about implementation of the parliamentary standing committee’s recommendations those include giving the central bank full regulatory power in the banking sector. The standing committee on the finance ministry, after conducting an investigation into the Hallmark ... Read more

Telcos, e-commerce demand equal business scope in MFS

The country’s mobile phone operators and e-commerce business on Tuesday demanded equal business opportunity in the field of mobile financial service from their respective roles. The MFS in the country is at an early stage and finalising the correct approach for the service is crucial for the future, they said in a session on the ... Read more

Bangladesh market not ready for LTE: CTO discussion

The country is not ready for the faster data technology like long-term evolution as the proper infrastructure is yet to be developed, said speakers in a session of Commonwealth Telecommunication Organisation conference in Dhaka on Tuesday. The LTE-enabled handsets are very costly and only 3 per cent mobile users currently use such high-end handsets, they said. The ... Read more

BSEC slaps ‘meagre’ fine on FAR Chemical for hiding IPO info

The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday fined FAR Chemical Industries Limited and its issue manager, First Security Services Limited, Tk 5 lakh respectively for hiding directors’ information in the initial public offering documents. The capital market regulator made the decision in

Brick kilns top on list of polluting industries

Surcharge Imposition By Nbr Brick kilns top on list of polluting industries The National Board of Revenue is likely to put brick kilns sector on top of its list for imposing environment surcharge as the industry has been identified as the highest in terms of numbers among the sectors that pollute environment in the country, ... Read more

CTO eyes technology affordability for underprivileged people

3-day Commonwealth telecom forum begins in Dhaka The 54th annual telecommunication forum of the Commonwealth countries started in Dhaka on Monday with a vision of ensuring technology affordability for the underprivileged population and cyber security for the users. Telecom minister Abdul Latif Siddique inaugurated the three-day Commonwealth Telecommunication Organisation 2014 forum at Radison Blu Hotel in

Gas to be diverted to RMG units from power plants

The power and energy ministry on Monday decided to divert 58 million cubic feet of natural gas a day from three power stations to the RMG factories in Gazipur. The decision came from a meeting with state minister for power and energy Nasrul Hamid in chair after the owners of readymade garment factories on Sunday ... Read more

Shurwid share price up 400pc on debut despite low earning

Shurwid Industries on its debut on Monday saw a 400-per cent or Tk 40 rise in its share prices despite having lower earning per share. Market operators termed the investors’ much attention to the newly-listed companies’ shares as irrigational and speculative. The earning per share of the company was

Foreign loan release rises slightly in July

Disbursement of foreign loans and grants increased slightly to US$ 175.95 million in July, the first month of the current fiscal year, compared with that of the same month of last year, according to the latest statistics of Economic Resources Division. In July last year, international lenders and development partners had disbursed US$ 171.35 million, the ... Read more

Micro lenders asked to suspend loan recovery from flood-hit people

Microcredit Regulatory Authority has asked lending organisations of such loans to keep withheld recovery of instalments of existing loans from the flood-affected borrowers in 17 districts for at least two months during and after the calamity. The MRA issued a circular to chief executive officers of all certificate-owned microcredit lenders on Monday asking them to provide ... Read more

Export earnings fall 9pc short of target in Jul-Aug

Export earnings in the first two months of the current financial year fell 9.16 per cent short of the government-set target of $5.66 billion, according to the Export Promotion Bureau data released on Sunday. Country’s export earnings in the July-August period of the FY 2014-15 fetched $5.14 billion with a 2.07-per cent growth from $5.03 billion ... Read more

ILO gives 95 motorbikes for RMG factory inspections

The labour ministry on Sunday received 95 motorcycles in Dhaka to carry out inspections in garment factories. State minister for labour and employment Mujibul Haque Chunnu received the motorcycles at the CIRDAP compound on behalf of the government. Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments