Business

Global Competitiveness Index Bangladesh advances by one notch to 109th position Bangladesh has progressed one notch forward in Global Competitiveness Index as it secured the 109th position among 144 countries, according to the Global Competitiveness Report published on Wednesday globally and to be released today in Dhaka. In last year, Bangladesh’s position was 110th,

Pharmaceuticals companies engaged in contractual manufacturing will have to pay tax at source at the rate of 10 per cent on their total receipts that they get as service charge for manufacturing products for others, officials of the National Board said. They said that producing products for other pharmaceutical

Dhaka stocks advanced for the third trading session on Wednesday with its key index, DSEX, hitting four-month high. The key index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange rose by 0.65 per cent, or 30.02 points, to finish at 4,632.46 points on the day — the highest after it was at 4,666.41 points on April 28. Market operators attributed ... Read more

Government’s tax collection from the Dhaka Stock Exchange rose by 208 per cent to Tk 20.14 crore in August compared with that in the previous month, thanks to the increased turnover at the bourse, DSE data released on Wednesday showed. In August, the DSE paid Tk 12.65 crore as tax on

The National Board of Revenue on Tuesday sent a proposal to the finance ministry on imposing 1 per cent surcharge on mobile phone talk-time and other services for approval of the cabinet, officials said. They said that the ministry would soon place the summary for the cabinet meeting. The government will have to enact a law for ... Read more

The National Board of Revenue on Sunday turned down a plea of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission seeking exemption from paying tax on its income and asked it to pay tax, officials said. They said that BTRC was asked to pay tax at the rate of 25 per cent on its total income. BTRC has repeatedly declined to ... Read more

Dhaka stocks advanced on Tuesday with the blue-chip index of Dhaka Stock Exchange, DS30, hitting all time high as reduced political tension helped investors in increasing their participation at the trading floor. The blue-chip index of the bourse rose by 1.35 per cent, or 23.31 points, to close at 1,745.99 points, the highest after its inception ... Read more

Bangladesh Bank on Tuesday requested 39 private and foreign commercial banks to extend relief activities for the flood affected people by using their corporate social responsibility (CSR) fund. The central bank issued separate letters to the managing directors and chief executive officers of the 39 banks asking them to submit report by September 11 to the ... Read more

As banks around the world gear up to meet tough Basel III regulatory standards, Islamic lenders face a source of uncertainty that could prove expensive for them — how regulators will treat their deposits, reports Reuters. In most ways, Islamic banks look well-placed to cope with Basel III, which will be phased in across the globe ... Read more

The National Board of Revenue has asked the customs authorities to immediately drive out the outsiders engaged as brokers in different customs houses, mainly in Chittagong Customs House, officials said. The revenue board advised the customs houses to take legal action against the outsiders, locally known as ‘Faltu’, and if necessary take help of law enforcing

Hamid Fabrics is going to be the first company to collect initial public offering subscription fees through brokerage houses and merchant banks as it will offload shares this month, BSEC officials said. Merchant banks and brokerage houses will start the IPO fee collections of Hamid Fabrics on September 28 and will continue till October 2. As many ... Read more

Bangladesh Bank governor Atiur Rahman on Tuesday said that the central bank would take initiative to ensure transparency, good governance and accountability in the banking sector in the next five years. The central bank would implement the initiative using the latest technology, he said at a press conference at the BB headquarters in the capital. Atiur presented ... Read more

E-travel venture shohoz.com has brought e-ticketing service for bus travellers of long distance, said a news release. Shohoz.com serves passengers through both online and offline solutions. One can purchase his tickets at the web site or by calling its call centre at 09613101010. Payments are taken by cash, mobile banking or credit cards. Tickets are delivered

A committee comprising of representatives of the shipping ministry, department of shipping, BIWTA, district administration and launch owners has been formed to re-survey launches. Shipping minister Shahjahan Khan on Sunday told New Age that they formed the committee as people do not have trust on the survey carried out by the officials of the

Loan From Islamic Banks Govt to issue Islamic bonds The government has revised its Islamic Investment Bonds Regulations, 2004 to allow itself to borrow from the Shariah-based banks and non-bank financial institutions by floating Islamic investment bonds. The government will borrow from the Shariah-based banks and NBFIs to implement its Shariah approved projects. The regulations were revised

Activists of the Chittagong University unit of Islami Chhatra Shibir on Monday attacked the university-bound shuttle-train, at two railway stations, with crude bombs. At least six students sustained injuries during the attack. Two of the students received primary treatment from the university’s medical centre.

The operations of state-owned Ruposhi Bangla Hotel were shut down on Monday for a 16-month renovation work after which the hotel will reopen and run as Intercontinental Dhaka. The historical hotel, which Intercontinental Hotel Group earlier had run from 1966 to 1983, was announced closed on Monday noon. ‘We had 42 guests last night and all of ... Read more

The net overseas investment at the Dhaka Stock Exchange declined to a 31-month low at Tk 12.45 crore in August due to increased share sales by foreign investors to make short-term profit. August figure was the lowest since January, 2012 when foreign investors’ net investment at the bourse was Tk 5.02 crore. In August, overseas investors bought ... Read more

The Alliance, a platform of North American retailers’ group, has termed the European retailers’ group’s announcement of rejecting inspection in common factories by individual retailers in Alliance as ‘a setback for garment factory safety efforts in Bangladesh’. Allen Tauscher, the chair of the Alliance for

Scheduled banks further cut rate of interest on their deposit products in July due to an increasing trend in excess liquidity in the banking sector, according to the latest Bangladesh Bank data. The BB data showed the weighted average interest rate on the deposit in the banking sector declined to 7.71 percentage points in July from ... Read more