Business

The World Bank on Wednesday said the country’s proposed national budget for the fiscal year of 2014-2015 was bigger than the government’s implementation capacity. The multilateral lending agency, however, said that the budget had some positive aspects as the government included some commitments to

The government on Wednesday imposed a ban on exports of five vegetable items to check price hikes of those in the local market during the month of Ramadan that will start next week. The items are, green chilli, aubergine, cucumber, lemon and coriander leaves. The decision was taken during a meeting between commerce minister Tofail Ahmed and ... Read more

The active mobile phone users of the country reached to 11.62 crore in May as five out of six mobile phone operators added six lakh new subscribers over the month. The active mobile users were 11.56 crore in April after the number had dropped to 11.52 crore in March from 11.58 crore in February. In March,

The government has taken an initiative to import furnace oil (diesel) from India through pipeline, state minister for power, energy and mineral resources Nasrul Hamid said in Parliament on Wednesday. Replying to a star-marked question from Awami League lawmaker Didarul Alam (Chittagong-4), the minister said the terms of reference for a detailed feasibility

Bangladesh Bank on Wednesday asked scheduled banks to keep their all branches open on Saturday to facilitate the government’s revenue collection. The BB issued a circular to managing directors and chief executive officers of all banks asking them to keep open their braches with taking proper security

Dhaka stocks advanced for the third trading session on Wednesday due to investors’ expectation that the government would review capital market-related budget proposals. The 24 per cent increase in foreign direct investment in 2013 was another reason which encouraged investors to participate on the trading floor on the day,

The unit holders of AIMS First Guaranteed Mutual Fund at a meeting on Wednesday decided to extend the tenure of the fund by another 10 years. As per the approval, the tenure of the fund will be extended to June 30, 2025 from July 1, 2015 subject to the approval of the regulatory authorities.

Foreign direct investment in Bangladesh increased by 24 per cent to US$ 1,599 million in 2013 compared with US$ 1,293 million in the previous year, according to the world investment report of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. Board of Investment on Tuesday unveiled the report at a press conference presided over by ... Read more

Regional Seminar On Union Rights Restrictive labour laws deny trade unions’ freedom Trade union leaders of the Asia-Pacific region on Tuesday said that restrictive labour laws denied basic freedom to trade unions, workers and unions in playing a positive and contributory role in the development agenda of the countries in the region. At the inauguration ... Read more

The finance ministry has again rejected a proposal of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission to lower the international call termination charge to 1.5 US cents from the existing 3 cents for the IGW operators. In a letter sent to BTRC on Tuesday, the ministry asked the telecom regulatory body to review the proposal terming it a ... Read more

The government is likely to reduce the proposed taxes on import of mobile handsets to keep the products within purchase capacity of common people, finance ministry officials said. They said that finance minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith might withdraw advance income tax, and reduce customs duties and value-added tax on mobile handsets at import stage. ... Read more

Export Dev Fund Single borrowing limit raised to $15m Bangladesh Bank has increased the limit of borrowing by an exporter from the Export Development Fund to $15 million from the existing $12 million. The manufacturing-oriented exporters of the BTMA, BGMEA and BKMEA are eligible to avail the opportunity of the central bank’s special fund. The ... Read more

Bangladesh Bank on Tuesday sent a letter to Swiss Financial Intelligence Unit expressing interest to sign a memorandum of understanding on exchanging information about money laundering. The BB took the move in a bid to collect information about money deposited by Bangladeshi citizens with the Swiss banks, said officials of the central bank. The recent ... Read more

Dhaka stocks advanced for the second trading session on Tuesday riding on the expectation that the government might revise some budget proposals related with the capital market. The key index of Dhaka Stock Exchange, DSEX, closed at 4,392.94 points, adding 0.57 per cent or 25.04 points. Market operators said that despite the central bank move ... Read more

Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday approved the initial public offering of Khan Brothers PP Woven Bag Industries Limited to raise fund worth Tk 20 crore floating its 2-crore shares at face value. The capital market regulators made the decision at a commission meeting presided over by its chairman M Khairul Hossain, a BSEC ... Read more

To mop up Tk 3,000cr aiming to contain inflation Bangladesh Bank on Monday raised the cash reserve requirement by 50 basis points to 6.5 per cent for scheduled banks to curb inflationary pressure on the economy, said officials of the central bank on Monday. A BB official told New Age that the central bank would ... Read more

NGWF says no letter sent, but info on torture ‘correct’ The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association on Monday demanded action against some trade union leaders accusing them of acting against country’s readymade garment industry by sending letters to the US congressmen with false information about labour standard. BGMEA president Md Atiqul Islam alleged that ... Read more

May reinstate scope for dividend-based tax rebate Tax on realised gains from stock investment is likely to remain unchanged in the next budget as the government decided not to change the provision in the proposed Finance Bill-2014, officials of the finance ministry said. On the other hand, the government may increase the tax exemption on ... Read more

IndustriALL Bangladesh president Nazrul Islam Khan has rejected the commerce minister Tofail Ahmed’s allegation that they had sent a letter to US government agencies complaining about malpractices in Bangladesh’s garment industry. Nazrul, who is senior leader of opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, also accused Tofail of trying to cover up his incompetence

FCA-2014 to replace FIA-1993 Bangladesh Bank will be empowered with the authority to dissolve the boards of non-bank financial institutions in a proposed Finance Company Act that has put stringent restriction on lending by the financial entities, commonly known as leasing companies. BB has drafted the Finance Company Act-2014 to place the existing Financial Institution ... Read more