Morning Newsflash Tuesday, April 09, 2019

Transcription

1 Bangladesh trade deficit falls by 8.4pc in July-Feb Bangladesh s trade deficit eased by 8.42 per cent or $0.98 billion in July-February of the current fiscal year compared with that in the same period of last fiscal year due mainly to a drop in import payment growth. According to the latest Bangladesh Bank data, trade deficit stood at $10.7 billion in July-February of FY19, down from $11.68 billion in the same period of FY18. In FY18, export growth was lenient against sharp growth in import. However, the situation turned around in the first eight months of FY19 amid strong growth in export and subdued import growth, resulting in ease in trade deficit. In July-February of FY19, import growth was 5.64 per cent and export growth per cent. NBR to scan TIN holders skirting tax returns The National Board of Revenue (NBR) will find out the TIN (tax-payers identification number) holders who are not submitting tax returns despite having taxable income, its chairman said. Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan said some people use TIN for different purposes, including for house purchase, but do not submit tax returns. We will see whether the TIN holders are submitting tax returns, he said. He made the announcement at a pre-budget meeting on Monday. The NBR chairman, however, said the tax authority will not take any steps that would hurt business.

2 Turkey keen to establish medicine plants in Bangladesh Turkish Deputy Minister for Health Dr Emine Alp Mese yesterday called on Health and Family Welfare Minister Zahid Maleque, expressing his country s interest to establish state-of-the-art medical device and medicine plants here in the country. The visiting Turkish minister said they are also conducting a feasibility study on establishing insulin and vaccine plants here in Bangladesh. Turkey is also interested to create opportunity for training for Bangladeshi doctors and nurses there, he added. Evincing keen interest to further strengthen relations between the two nations, the Turkish deputy minister said both the countries would reap benefits if they can expand their existing ties in the health sector. South Korea wants to invest in BD South Korean companies are interested to invest in different sectors of Bangladesh, said South Korean Ambassador in Dhaka Hu Kang-il, reports BSS. Samsung, SK, Hyundai and few other companies are eager to invest here, and their delegations would visit Bangladesh and discuss regarding businesses and others related issues, said the South Korean ambassador. The envoy revealed it during an exchange of views meeting with Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) Executive Chairman Kazi Md Aminul Islam in the city on Monday US firm to help improve Ctg port rly connectivity EagleRail, a US-based container logistics service provider, has sought to invest in rail connectivity at the Chattogram port, officials said. It is interested to carry containers from the port yard to the nearest inland container depots (ICDs) by setting up an overhead rail system. The officials said EagleRail also wants to carry containers to the under-construction overflow yard near the labour colony and the proposed container yards near the Bay terminal from the port yard. To make its foray into the work, the company's officials recently submitted a proposal to the shipping ministry, expressing its investment interest. According to sources, EagleRail has asked for official permission to make a feasibility study on the project.

3 Stocks rallied after all elections, not this time Capital Market This year's post-election scenario in the stock market does not match with the previous four times thanks to a lack of confidence among investors and a liquidity crunch in the financial sector. In the three months since the election, DSEX, the benchmark index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), shed points, or 9.71 percent. In the last one month alone, the premier bourse lost Tk 10, crore, or 2.50 percent, from its market capitalisation, according to data from the DSE. But after the past four elections, the index jumped. In 1996, the general index (DGEN) of the DSE, the then prime index, shot up 78 percent to 1, points in three months after the election Capital Market Esquire Knit makes debut today Esquire Knit Composite will make its debut trading today (Tuesday) on both the bourses under 'N' category, said a disclosure of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE). Esquire Knit Composite will be 54th listed company in textile sector which accounts for around 5.0 per cent of total market cap on the premier bourse. Under the book building method, the company raised Tk 1.50 billion issuing million ordinary shares. The company completed its IPO (Initial Public Offering) subscription during January 06 to January 20, Telecommunication GP gets 1cr 4G clients The number of 4G customers of leading mobile operator Grameenphone crossed 1-crore mark within 14 months of introducing the service, said a press release. GP is the first operator to get 1 crore subscribers of 4G service, which was launched in February 2018, it said. GP crossed the threshold of 50 lakh 4G customers in November 2018 and the later 50 lakh joined within only five months, it said. 4G growth, which was primarily in the urban areas, found its way to the semi-urban and rural landscape as faster internet began shaping the lifestyle of the people of Bangladesh, said the release. GP s DCEO and CMO Yasir Azman said, Bangladesh is one of the fastest growing 4G market in Asia.

4 RMG RMG factories start using 'jhut' to run boilers The country's readymade garment (RMG) factories have started using cutting wastes, popularly known as jhut, to run boilers amid short supply of natural gas - presently the main energy source for the boilers. This new technology is being used, though in a limited scale, also to cut the cost of fuel, industry insiders said. They said a good number of such boilers are imported from China and Korea while there are few local companies too started supplying such boilers to the local RMG factories. Bright Star Engineers and Trades, a local manufacturer, has already supplied jhut-run boilers to half a dozen factories. RMG Bangladesh textile millers losing local business worth $6b a year Bangladesh textile manufacturers are losing business worth more than $6 billion annually in the domestic market due to smuggling of yarn and fabrics into the country and misuse of bonded warehouse facility, industry people said. They said that the sector was facing a survival crisis as the spinning and weaving mills were sitting on stockpiles of yarn due to lack of demand for local items. Local spinners said that along with smuggling and misuse of bonded warehouse facility, high interest rate of bank loans and increased price of gas were also cutting the competitiveness of the sector. The size of domestic market of fabrics is 7 to 8 billion metres worth $11-$12 billion. Of which, local producers meet only 3 to 4 billion metres worth nearly $6 billion and the rest of the demand is met by smuggled fabrics and bonded warehouse fabrics.

5 Banks & NBFIs Banks, NBFIs given extended facility to get JICA-assisted fund Bangladesh Bank on Monday extended refinancing facility for banks and non-bank financial institutions from the Japan International Cooperation Agency-assisted foreign direct investment promotion project. BB s foreign exchange investment department, also the FDIPP-implementation unit, issued a circular on the day with a view to enhancing fund disbursement from the JICA-assisted Tk 537 crore fund. As per the policy change, a participating bank or NBFI would be allowed to seek refinancing loans up to Tk 30 crore that the entity has already issued to one of its client. Earlier, the amount of refinancing loans from the JICA-assisted FDIPP was limited to Tk 70 lakh for a client. The bank or NBFI would also be allowed to seek pre-financing loans worth above Tk 15 crore from the project. Others Gas price hike will spell doom for industries Major factories will be shut down if gas prices are increased, and export earnings would also be affected. Besides, small and medium industrial units will be in deep trouble if the decision to hike gas prices is carried out. The newly elected president of the Bangladesh Chamber of Industries (BCI), Anwar-ul Alam Chowdhury Parvez, said this while addressing a press conference on the occasion of installation ceremony at a hotel in the capital yesterday. It is illogical to increase gas prices by per cent in residential and industrial sectors, despite the gas distribution company being a profitable organisation. It is totally unacceptable, he said.

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