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
Business
STAGNATION IN INVESTMENT : UO blames improper monetary policies, weak fiscal management
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
BANKS’ COMMISSION ON NSC SALES : BB requests NBR not to deduct 10pc tax at source
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
NON-PAYMENT OF DIVIDEND BY MF : BSEC plans to amend rules to penalise asset management cos
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
Money legalisation confusion sends stocks to negative for 3rd week
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
India’s Ambani, Adani gain $1.3b in a Day on Modi win
Mukesh Ambani, India’s richest man, added almost $1 billion to his wealth while Gautam Adani gained $400 million on Friday as early vote counting showed Narendra Modi’s opposition bloc is set for the biggest election win in 30 years, reports Bloomberg. Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries Ltd., has added $6 billion to his fortune since September ... Read more
Prices of edible oil, pulses rise in capital
The prices of edible oil and pulses went up in the capital’s kitchen markets over the week ending Friday. Traders attributed the price hike to rise in the prices of the items on the wholesale market. The prices of palm and super palm oil increased by Tk 3 a litre and the items were selling at Tk ... Read more
Bad loans in banks surge to Tk 36,779cr in Jan-Mar
The worst type of loans accounts for 76pc of defaulted loans Bad loans, the worst category of defaulted loans, in the banking sector posted a 15.22-per cent growth in the first quarter of this year compared with that of a negative growth of 19.07 per cent in the last quarter of 2013 due to scheduled ... Read more
Stock tribunal to be set up at BHBFC Bhaban
The special tribunal to deal with the stock market-related cases will be setup at BHBFC Bhaban instead of Chini Shilpa Bhaban, a BSEC official said. The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission earlier decided to rent space at Chini Shilpa Bhaban. But the decision was changed following a finance
Online info management system on cards for tracking aid flow
The Economic Relations Division is likely to frame an online system by the year-end, aiming to strengthen transparency and effectiveness of aid management in Bangladesh for both the government and the development partners through tracking incoming aid flow. The online system, called aid information management
Govt plans launch of eco tax
The government is planning to introduce eco tax from the next fiscal year in an attempt to curb pollution by the industrialists, finance minister AMA Muhith on Thursday said. There have been proposals for imposing higher tax on the industries polluting the environment and giving incentives to green industries, he said after
Banks asked to keep electronic transaction records for 12yrs
Bangladesh Bank on Thursday asked scheduled banks and payment service providers to preserve records of electronic fund transfer-related transactions for 12 years. To this end, the BB issued a fresh regulation Electronic Fund Transfer-2014 and a circular to the managing directors and chief executive officers of all
Alliance completes 80pc of RMG factory inspection
The North American retailers have so far inspected 80 per cent of 626 garment factories that supply products to them and two of the factories were closed down on safety grounds as per their recommendations. The Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, the platform of the North American buyers, revealed the update of its inspection of garment ... Read more
HC order on SEC’s 2pc shareholding notification stayed
The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Thursday stayed a High Court verdict declaring illegal a Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission notification that sponsor-directors of listed companies individually must hold minimum two per cent shares of the paid-up capital of their respective companies. The Appellate Division chamber judge, Justice Hasan
Mobile phone users increase to 11.56cr in April
4 lakh users added in the month after March fall The number of active mobile phone subscribers in the country increased to 11.56 crore in April as private sector operators added four lakh new users in the month after fall in the previous month, showed the latest data of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission. The number ... Read more
NBR to raise gold import duty to Tk 3,300 a bhari
Aims to prevent smuggling of the precious metal to India The National Board of Revenue is going to increase duty on import of each 11.66 grams or one bhari of gold bar under baggage rules to Tk 3,300 from the existing Tk 150, officials said. They said that the initiative was taken to prevent smuggling ... Read more
Lack of good governance demoralises taxpayers
Lack of good and representative governance is the core problem in taxation for the coming budget for 2014-15 financial year, said speakers at a pre-budget discussion meeting on Wednesday. The governance situation is worst at the moment because of increasing incidents of abduction and killing, they said at a meeting jointly organised by the Institute of
SEC’s 2pc shareholding order illegal: HC
The High Court on Wednesday declared illegal a Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission order that had asked sponsor-directors of listed companies to individually hold minimum 2 per cent shares of the paid-up capital of their respective companies. The bench of Justice Quazi Reza-Ul Hoque and
Political uncertainty hits investment, says MCCI
Local and foreign entrepreneurs are not encouraged to make new investment because of political uncertainty, badly hurting the growth prospects of the economy, said Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Wednesday. The main challenge for the government is to restore political stability, without which GDP growth will falter and it will
PROPOSED CSR GUIDELINES: Banks, NBFIs will have to spend minimum 2.5pc of profits on CSR
Scheduled banks other than the new nine banks and non-bank financial institutions will have to spend at least 2.5 per cent of their net profits for corporate social responsibility purposes in a fiscal year, said officials of Bangladesh Bank. The new nine banks will have to spend 10 per cent of their net profits for CSR ... Read more