Business

The country’s import of consumer goods increased by 43.78 per cent in the first nine months of this financial year from that of the same period in the FY 2012-13 due mainly to higher import of rice, wheat, soya bean oil and onion in the period. According to the Bangladesh Bank data released on Monday, settlement ... Read more

The board of directors of ONE Bank Limited has recently re-elected Sayeed H Chowdhury as its chairman for another one-year term with effect from May 15. The board has also re-elected Asoke Das Gupta as its vice-chairman and Zahur Ullah as its executive committee chairman, said a news release. British educated

Dhaka stocks fell for the seventh trading session on Monday with the turnover of the bourse hitting its seven-month low as many of the retail investors, panicked by the downward trend at the market, continued to sell their shares while institutional investors remained almost inactive. Turnover of the Dhaka Stock Exchange declined to Tk 217.07 crore ... Read more

Financial Scams BB grills BASIC Bank MD Bangladesh Bank on Monday asked BASIC Bank managing director Kazi Faqurul Islam to give evidence in support of his claim that he is innocent of the financial scams occurred at his bank in the last few years. Earlier on May 12, The BB issued a letter to the MD ... Read more

Bangladesh’s export earning from Israel stood at $2,576 in the July-April period of current financial year despite having no diplomatic relation with the country, showed Export Promotion Bureau data. EPB data showed that Bangladesh has been earning a certain amount from exporting to Israel in last few years but the products are not specified. According

Clearing Corporation Bourses unlikely to be allowed to hold over 10pc shares The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission may not allow the Dhaka and Chittagong stock exchanges to hold more than 10 per cent shares respectively in forming Clearing Corporation for the capital market, said a BSEC high official. The two bourses earlier decided to form ... Read more

The Asian Development Bank will lend $350 million to Bangladesh to help public and private institutions scale up skills-training for 1.25 million young workers to equip them to find jobs and meet the changing needs of today’s labour market. The total cost of the government’s Skills for Employment Investment Program is estimated at $1.07 billion. ADB loans ... Read more

Individual Taxpayer NBR plans to reduce tax rebate on investment The National Board of Revenue is likely to reduce the rate of tax rebate on investment by individual taxpayers in different sectors including in stock markets in the coming budget for fiscal year 2014-15, officials of the revenue board said. They said that the rate of ... Read more

Drops by 3.64pc in 9 months The industrial term loan disbursement registered a negative growth of 3.64 per cent in the first nine months of the current financial year 2013-14 compared with that of 27.75 per cent growth in the corresponding period of the FY13 due to the political unrest. Bangladesh Bank officials told New ... Read more

Can fetch $16b a year in a decade Bangladesh should capitalise business shifting of Chinese leather industry which could increase manifold the export earning from the sector, said speakers at a seminar in Dhaka on Sunday. If Bangladesh can attract merely 10 per cent of business shifting from China, its yearly export earning from the leather ... Read more

The bank and financial institution division of finance ministry has approved the proposed organogram of the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission to create 456 additional posts from the existing 164, said a BSEC official on Sunday. The BSEC official also said, ‘The finance ministry has recently sent the proposed organogram to the public administration

Dhaka stocks declined for the six trading session on Sunday with the key index of Dhaka Stock Exchange, DSEX, hitting four-and-half-month low as most of the investors refrained from trading fearing further fall. The DSEX on Sunday, the first trading session of the week, fell by 0.32 per cent, or 14.44 points, to close at 4,402.50 ... Read more

Specialised banking service for tourism industry will help Bangladesh to explore the potentialities of the sector, speakers at a meeting on tourism and banking on Sunday. Bangladesh has enormous potentials in the tourism industry as the country is bestowed with natural beauty and rich in cultural heritage, they observed.

An electric guitar played by George Harrison on British television before the Beatles’ US ‘invasion’ fetched $657,000 at auction on Saturday in New York, topping pre-sale estimates, Julien’s Auctions said, reports Reuters. Harrison, who died in 2001 at age 58, played the black-and-white 1962 Rickenbacker 425 electric guitar on 1963 appearances on the

Fin min firm on divestment plan Three public sector gas companies have declined to offload their shares in the capital market, in defiance of a directive of the highest authority of the government, finance ministry officials said. The state-owned companies — Bangladesh Gas Fields Company Ltd, Gas Transmission Company Ltd and Sylhet Gas Fields Ltd — ... Read more

Govt mulls legal actions if order ignored The Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments has asked over 600 unauthorised RMG factories across the country to get approval as soon as possible. It also warned that legal actions would be taken if the order was ignored, said officials concerned. The DIFE also asked its 23 offices ... Read more

Local think-tank Unnayan Onneshan has said short-sighted fiscal management and inappropriate monetary policies led to stagnation in investment and weak performance in the real economy of the country. The economic growth in the current financial year 2013-14 is likely to experience a decelerating rate for the third time in a row, it also said

Bangladesh Bank has requested the National Board of Revenue for not deducting tax at source at the rate of 10 per cent on commission commercial banks receive on sales of prize bonds and national savings certificates, BB officials said. They said that deduction of tax at source would cause double taxation on same income of the ... Read more

Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission is planning to amend the mutual fund rules to strengthen its supervision over the asset management companies following their failure to issue dividends to the unit holders, BSEC officials said. A BSEC high official said, ‘As per the existing mutual fund rules, the capital market regulator has no legal power in

Dhaka stocks dropped sharply last week, extending the bear run to three weeks, as investors continued to sell shares amid uncertainties following the finance minister’s announcement that the government ‘would not allow’ legalisation of undisclosed money in the upcoming budget, market operators said. The finance minister, AMA Muhith, on May 8 and