Business Bulletin (March 1, 2018; Number: 57)

Transcription

1 Dear Sir/Madam, The Bangladesh Rating Agency Limited (BDRAL) is pleased to bring to you the Business Bulletin for the month ended in February 28, The bulletin tracks the month s key events and trends in the commodity and currency markets along with a round-up of regional and global news. We hope you enjoy reading this issue and look forward to your comments/suggestions. Thank you. Best regards, The Bangladesh Rating Agency TEAM Business Bulletin (March 1, 2018; Number: 57) January Export Earnings Highest in 5 months Exports brought home $3.41 billion in January, the highest in five months due to a spike in shipments of garments, jute and jute goods and furniture. January's receipts fell short of the $3.50 billion target for the month, according to data from the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB). The amount takes the export earnings in the first seven months of fiscal to $21.32 billion, up 6.55% (y-o-y). Garment shipments, raked in $2.88 billion last month, up 6.67%. Exports of leather and leather goods, the second largest export earning sector, fell 4.61% (y-o-y) to $ million in the first seven months of the fiscal year. Jute and jute goods, fetched $ million in the July-January period, up 17.36% from a year earlier. Export of frozen fish, live fish and shrimp increased 7.55% to $ million in the seven-month period. Pharmaceuticals raked in $60.24 million in July-January, up 14.44%. Furniture shipment grew 34.33% to $31.77 million. Agricultural products fetched $ million, up 16.81% (y-o-y). The country shipped goods worth $34.66 billion in the last fiscal year and is aiming to earn $37.50 billion this fiscal year. EXPORT RECEIPTS in billions of $ SOURCE: EPB Stock Market Indices Index 28-Feb Feb-18 Change DSEX % CSCX % Currency Market Pair 28-Feb Feb-18 Change BDT/USD % GBP/USD % EUR/USD % JPY/USD % Commodities 28-Feb Feb-18 Brent (US$/bbl) Gold (US$/troy ounce; LBMA) Copper (US$/tonne; LME) Aluminium (US$/tonne; LME) Please follow the below link to get the pdf version of the bulletin for previous month: content/uploads/2018/01/bdral-business- Bulletin-January pdf Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Credit Rating Section What is SME Credit Rating? SMEs are an important source of investment, employment, entrepreneurship and innovation. A vibrant SME sector leads to a vibrant economy. However, in developing

2 Remittance Finally Looks Up in Jan Remittance is finally snapping out of its two-year-long slump, hitting a five-month high in January on the back of the depreciation of the taka against the US dollar. Migrant workers sent home $1.37 billion, up 37% from a year earlier and 18.55% from a month earlier, according to Bangladesh Bank data. January's inflows take this fiscal year's receipts so far to $8.31 billion, up 15.82% from a year earlier. The higher inflow reflected a confluence of factors, including the BB measures to bring remittance through banking channel by way of reducing the transaction cost, said Mr Faisal Ahmed, chief economists of BB. A strong pick-up in global economic activities, especially in the Middle Eastern nations, helped the country maintain the upward trend, Mr Faisal said, adding that the market-based exchange rate also had a positive impact on the receipts. The local currency has been depreciating heavily against the American greenback for the last few months, prompting Bangladeshis living abroad to remit more money through the formal channel. The central bank has recently strengthened its surveillance to check hundi, the illegal channel used to move funds cross-border, said Mr Syed Mahbubur Rahman, managing director of Dhaka Bank REMITTANCE INFLOW in billions $ SOURCE: BB countries, SMEs find it difficult to access finance, even at a high cost. In Bangladesh, about 90% of private-sector businesses are SMEs. They contribute between 80 to 85% of industrial employment and 23% of total civilian employment. To progress further, the SMEs need to attract talent, get international visibility and easier access to finance. The stumbling block is a lack of transparency and trust. All these lead to the need for a Credit Rating System. SME Credit Rating is a comprehensive and independent third-party evaluation of the SME. It takes into account the financial position and several qualitative parameters of the SME that have a bearing on the creditworthiness of the entity. It conveys the probability of the subjects ability to pay back a loan or obligation to the lender or the investor. BDRAL and Bangladesh Bank have jointly developed a rating methodology for the SME which is also followed by SMERA Ratings Limited in India with whom we have technical collaboration. Why SME Credit Rating? Adequate credit flow to SMEs helps in driving the overall growth of the economy. Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Banks and Financial Institutions in Bangladesh receive support in SME financing initiatives from Bangladesh Bank, Government of Bangladesh and development partners like IDA, ADB and JICA. Trade Deficit Continues to Widen Remittance dropped to a six-year low to $13.53 billion in 2017 as many expatriate Bangladeshis sent money home through illegal channels. Bangladesh's key source of foreign currency was 0.53% lower than that of 2016 when migrant workers remitted $13.6 billion, according to central bank data. The migrant workers opted for the illegal channels like hundi for most part of the year because of a lower rate of the US dollar against the taka, according to bankers and experts. However, the inflow accelerated in the last few months of the year as the local currency depreciated significantly against the greenback but still failed to offset the decline in the most months to lift the full-year earnings above the 2016's. Remittance income stood at $1.16 billion in December, posting 21.74% (y-o-y) growth. But, the Banks & Financial Institutions (FIs) are compelled to depend on non-core skill-sets leading to assumptions based accounting and increased dependence on inconsistent Data Collection. The absence of industry benchmarks, inadequate industry understanding and an irregular system of monitoring combine to increase the problems. The resulting Market Gap calls for an experienced and competent SME rating agency, which can deliver detailed credit Rating Report with scoring/rating, research assistance on SME cluster, overall sector based studies and Product Portfolio Guide (PPG) on all SME banking products. Banks and other financiers need tools to assess credit risk for SMEs in a scientific manner. In the developing world, subsidies or interest rate

3 BALANCE OF PAYMENTS (jul- dec) in millions of $ Souce: BB FY17 FY18 2, ,511-4,767 and tax concessions have not succeeded in building a strong and transparent SME sector. An international Credit Rating Agency brings in globally recognized research and benchmarks, supports financial innovation and deepens the credit culture and risk management in the Bangladesh SME sector. Thus, addressing the stumbling block which is lack of transparency and trust. All these lead to the need for a Credit Rating System. -8,628 Trade Current Account Overall FY17-4, ,265 FY18-8,628-4, Liquidity Crisis: From Banks to Many Fronts Bangladesh economy suddenly hit by a serious liquidity crisis a couple of months back. As a result, banks' lending rates have hit double digits again after more than a year. In many cases, private banks were unable to lend money to its clients. This has resulted in spillover effects on non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) and capital markets. Most of the 33 NBFIs are in a liquidity crisis Capital markets have been in free fall since Bangladesh Bank came up with a new monetary policy on January 29, The benchmark index of Dhaka Stock Exchange fell 2.21% on February 4, 2018, the highest in more than four years. 40 private commercial banks, which have crossed the loan-deposit ratio (LDR) limit, are chasing after deposits to bring down the ratio within 85% as they cannot recover loans overnight. The central bank last month moved to reduce the LDR further to 83.5% by June which will intensify competition among banks to get deposits and eventually make those costlier. The new monetary policy has set the credit growth target for the private sector at 16.8% for January-June period this year against 18.13% in December last year. It has also advised banks not to give longterm loans to corporate borrowers. WEIGHTED AVERAGE LENDING RATES SOURCE: BB BDRAL News Current activities of our research department: Publications: SMEs of Bangladesh Training Program Cluster Analysis Customized Research Monthly Business Bulletin Quality Data Collection Secondary Research BB recognizes BDRAL as a specialized rating agency to have a partial access to the CIB Information of the SME borrowers through banks/fis for the sake of calculating Default Matrix & Transition Matrix and also bank relationship risk measurement- as indicated by BB in its Credit Rating Methodology for SME enterprise. The Bangladesh Rating Agency Limited (BDRAL) signed a MoU with Bangladesh University of Business & Technology (BUBT) for academic cooperation between the institutions to promote entrepreneurship and development of the small and medium enterprises (SME) through resource sharing by holding joint seminars, workshops and training programs, including facilitating internships and placement opportunities for the BUBT students. Prof. Md. Abu Saleh, Vice Chancellor of BUBT and Mr. Sayed Javed Ahmad, CEO of BDRAL signed the memorandum of understanding on behalf of their respective institutions. Prof. Dr. Md. Harun-ur-Rashid, Registrar; Prof. Dr. Syed Masud Hosain, Dean, Faculty of Business and Mr. Md. Masudur Rahman, Director, Career Guidance along with few other officials of BUBT were also present in the signing ceremony. BDRAL CEO s Interview with ICE Business Times (December, 2015):

4 Country News The country's overall imports jumped by more than 28% or US$1.09 billion in January mainly due to higher import of food grains, capital machinery and fuel oils, officials said. The settlement of letters of credit (LCs), generally known as actual import, in terms of value, rose to $4.98 billion in January 2018, from $3.89 billion in the same period of the previous calendar year, according to the central bank's latest statistics. The actual import was $3.65 billion in December Opening of fresh LCs, generally known as import orders, rose by over 23% or $ million to $5.33 billion in January 2018, from $4.34 billion a year ago. It was $3.89 billion in December Rice import rose to $ million in January 2018 from only $5.73 million a year before, while wheat import stood at $ million from $56.21 million, the BB data showed. The import of petroleum products rose to $ million in January 2018 from $ million in the same month of Import for RMG accessories rose to $ million in January 2018 from $ million in January The exchange rate of US Dollar continues to rise due mainly to rise in import expense, fall of export earnings and remittance inflow, experts say. In last part of July, 2017, the interbank exchange rate was at Tk per dollar which rose to Tk in the late January, 2018, according to BB sources. The Taka depreciated against the dollar by 3.77% in last seven months from July, 2017 to January According to sources, money exchange agencies charged Tk for a dollar last week. Central Bank has released huge Dollar in the market in last few months to contain its price. In March 2017, exchange rate of Dollar was Tk which stood at Tk in January Opening of letters of credit (LC) has surpassed US$ 40 billion in first six months of the current fiscal which can exceed US$ 60 billion at the year end. At present, Bangladesh has posted growth in remittance inflow. In July-January period of the current fiscal, remittance inflow saw a growth of around 16%. The Foreign exchange reserves stood over US$ 3,276 crore in the central bank. The government's spending rose by 4.8% (y-o-y) to Tk 46,654 crore in the Q1 of the current FY, Finance Minister Mr AMA Muhith said on February 26, The government presented a hefty Tk 400,267 crore budget for the current FY. Non-development expenditure increased by 2.3% to Tk 36,129 crore while the development expenditure rose by 39.1% to Tk 10,528 crore. In , the actual expenditure of the budget was Tk 261,503 crore, down from the revised estimate of Tk 317,172 crore. In the same year, the development expenditure was Tk 77,256 crore while the revised estimate was Tk 110,700 crore. The total revenue in the first 3 months of the current FY rose by 17.1% to Tk 51,127 crore. The non-nbr revenue collection increased by 69% and NBR revenue 19.3%. The expenditure of the public safety division fell by 23% to Tk 2,720 crore while that of primary and mass education ministry plunged by 14.67% to Tk 2,802 crore and Get Rated, Get Recognized BDRAL CEO s interview with Bangladesh Apparel Online: To know more about Bangladesh Rating Agency Limited - visit Our Head Office: Address: The Bangladesh Rating Agency Limited, 47 Karwan Bazar, LatifTower(12th Floor), Dhaka-1215, Bangladesh; Telephone (PABX): , Direct lines: Accounts and Billing: Client Care: General Inquiries : info@bdral.com Accounts & Billing: credit.control@bdral.com Customer Care: client.care@bdral.com Notice While we endeavor to ensure accuracy of information, we do not accept any responsibility for any loss or damage to any person resulting from it. To unsubscribeplease write to businessbulletin@bdral.com with Unsubscribe in the subject line Warning! Counterfeit BDRAL Reports! It has come to our attention that, some companies are submitting fake BDRAL credit rating reports to different banks for bank loans. Therefore, bankers are requested to cross check the validity of the reports with the BDRAL Client Care service, either by calling at or by at client.care@bdral.com. All our reports contain contact information of the analysts who worked on the report preparation and we maintain a specific format. So, please verify the reports if anything looks unfamiliar and appears doubtful. We appreciate your continuous support.

5 secondary and higher education division by 18.75% to Tk 4,089 crore. Expenditure of the health service division also fell by 11.23% to Tk 2,134 crore, agriculture ministry by 10.52% to Tk 848 crore and railways ministry by 91.46% to Tk 85 crore. Expenditure of roads and highways division increased by 218% to Tk 2,229 crore. The total deposits in the country s Islamic banking industry increased by 14.15% in the previous year, according to the latest statistics of the Bangladesh Bank. It showed that deposits in the Islamic banks along Islamic banking branches and windows of the conventional banks stood at Tk billion at the end of December 2017, while the amount was Tk billion in the same period of Currently, there are eight full-fledge Islamic banks, 19 Islamic banking branches of nine conventional banks and 25 Islamic banking windows of conventional banks. Country s Islamic banking sector or industry is composed of all these. Bangladesh Bank data also showed that the Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited accounted for the biggest share of deposits which was 35% at the end of It was followed by First Security Islami Bank (14%), Al-Arafah Islami Bank (12%), Exim Bank (11.90%), Social Islami Bank (9.40%), Shahjalal Islami Bank (6.80%) and Union Bank (5.32%). Moreover, Islamic banking branches of all the convention banks had 2.74% of the total deposits of the industry followed by Islamic banking windows (2.20%) and ICB Islamic Bank Limited (0.53%). Bangladesh Bank (BB) has signed agreements with 24 banks and financial institutions (FI) for disbursing 7,033 million yen as soft loans to potential borrowers under foreign direct investment. 19 banks and five financial institutions were selected as the participating financial institutions (PFIs) under the guideline of the project titled FDI Promotion Project, funded by Japan International Cooperation Agency or JICA. The government and JICA signed a loan agreement on FDI promotional project on December 13, 2015, aiming at encouraging Japanese FDIs in special economic zones, industrial estates or parks in Bangladesh. Under the project, highest amount of Tk 300 million will be provided to Japanese investors, Japan- Bangladesh joint ventures or Bangladeshi firms having business relations with Japan as loans at 7.0% interest rate for terms from one to 10 years. Denim exports to the US, Bangladesh's single largest export destination, sank 31.48% (y-o-y) to $ million in 2016 because of the re-emergence of the legendary American denim industry. Although data for 2017 is yet to be released, exporters said the figure would be more or less the same or even lower. Denim exports from China, the largest apparel supplier to the US, declined as well in 2016: by 36.30% to $ million, according to data from the Bangladesh Denim Expo, a non-profit organisation that arranges fair on denim products twice a year. Shipments from Mexico, the second largest supplier, crashed 42.05% to $ million. Bangladeshi entrepreneurs supply denim products to major global retailers, including Levi's,

6 Diesel, G-Star RAW, H&M, Uniqlo, Tesco, Wrangler, s.oliver, Hugo Boss, Walmart and GAP. The government has granted 10% cash incentive to the ICT industry against their exports Bangladesh Bank issued a circular to this effect on February 8, 2018, and the incentive will be retrospectively effective from July Industry people said this would help attain the target of export earnings of $5 billion from the ICT sector by According to the circular, ITES products such as digital content development and management, both 2D and 3D animations, geographic information services, IT support and software maintenance services, website services, graphics design, search engine optimisation, and web listing will get 10% cash back on export earnings. Other beneficiaries include exporters of shipping document conversion, imaging and archiving, software or application customisation, website development, website hosting, software test lab services, robotics process outsourcing, and cyber-security services. Software, mobile device manufacturers, laptop, and other gadgets assemblers will receive the benefit even if they add only 20% value to their products. Earnings from Bangladesh s medicine export recorded 29.69% rise in the calendar year 2017 compared to the previous year. Health and Family Welfare Minister Mr Mohammad Nasim made the revelation in the parliament on February 18, The country earned Tk billion from drugs export to 142 countries in 2017, Mr Nasim noted, adding, the quantity of drug export and the number of countries is gradually increasing. The minister was replying to a tabled question placed by treasury bench member Ms. Mamtaz Begum of Manikganj-2 at the House on February 18, In 2016, the country earned Tk billion from medicine export to 127 countries in the world while Tk 8.12 billion was earned from drugs export to 120 countries in At present, country s 98% local demand for medicine is met through domestic production. A United Nations conference has revealed that out of 45 Least Developed Countries (LDC) only five, including Bangladesh have achieved economic growth at 7.0% or higher in The four other countries are Djibouti (+7pc), Ethiopia (+8.5pc), Myanmar (+7.2pc), and Nepal (+7.5pc), while Bangladesh achieved +7.1pc growth in 2017, the UN conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) disclosed. All other LDCs recorded current account deficits of varying sizes, ranging from less than one percentage point of GDP - Bangladesh and Nepal - to more than 25% in the cases of Bhutan, Guinea, Liberia, Mozambique, and Tuvalu. Resources sent by individuals to LDCs as a group (remittances) totalled $36.9 billion in 2017, down by 2.6% compared to the peak of $37.9 billion in In absolute terms, the largest recipients of remittances among LDCs included Bangladesh ($13.6 billion in 2016), Nepal ($6.6 billion), Yemen ($3.4 billion), Haiti ($2.4 billion), Senegal ($2 billion) and Uganda ($1 billion), according to Unctad.

7 Bangladesh Bank is set to introduce the electronic Know Your Customer (e-kyc) system under which bank accounts can be opened without filling in any paper-based documents. Those with e-kyc will be allowed to operate limited-scale transaction through the agent banking network and mobile financial services, in a development that is set to boost the country's financial inclusion cause. The central bank will try to complete all process to introduce e-kyc, which has been in the works for the last two years, within June. The customers will also be able to put in money in deposit pension schemes and the government savings certificates. The regular KYC required filling up forms along with photo and supporting documents. Customers with e-kyc can transact up to Tk 20,000 per month through the mobile financial service platform and Tk 1 lakh through agent banking. SME News A high priority to small and medium enterprise (SME) for Bangladesh's economic development virtually loses much of its importance as the final draft SME policy remained shelved, sources said. The final draft of the SME policy was completed in mid-2016 and supposed to be placed before the cabinet for approval since then. But it has been put on the backburner for nearly one and a half years. The Ministry of Industries (MoI) initiated the move to formulate the SME policy under the European Union (EU)- funded project styled 'INSPIRED (Integrated Support to Poverty and Inequality Reduction through Enterprise Development)'. The project was taken to reduce poverty by supporting the development of SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) in the country. The SME Cell at the Ministry of Industries, the SME Foundation, Bangladesh Bank, Bangladesh Bank Training Academy (BBTA) and Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management (BIBM) are the stakeholders. SME's importance has been given in all related policies, including industry policy, for helping the country maintain 7.0% GDP growth and graduate to middle- income-country status. According to the Asian Development Bank, an estimated 7.5 million MSMEs (including cottage) account for over 97% of all enterprises in Bangladesh. The share of SMEs in GDP is estimated about 25%. Non-Bank Financial Institutions have now hiked their lending rates by two percentage points due to the sudden liquidity crisis in a development which will hit the SME sector. The NBFIs account for only 4% of the total outstanding loans in the economy, the industry has a big exposure of 20% of the total loans, to the small and medium enterprises (SME). On December 17, the BB froze Tk 51 crore from ONE Bank's current account with the banking regulator and Tk 25 crore from Premier Bank's for breaching their loan-deposit ratio ceilings. Then on January 30, 2018 the BB has instructed banks to bring down their loan-deposit ratio to 83.5% from 85% by June, further intensifying the competition for deposits. Accordingly,

8 banks that had offered 5 to 7% interest on fixed deposits for the last three years have hiked their rates to 8 to 9% or even more in recent days to attract funds. SME Financing Company Limited, a subsidiary company of Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank (RAKUB) underscored the importance for boosting investment to Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) sector for strong economy, at a meeting on February 26, Terming the promising SME sector as labour-intensive, they viewed that successful promotion of the sector could be the effective means of alleviating poverty, generating employment and thereby accelerating economic growth which is very important for reducing the existing gap between rural and urban areas. SME loan worth more than Taka crore was disbursed among around 24,300 entrepreneurs in 40 upazilas of Rajshahi, Chapainawabganj, Natore, Naogaon, Pabna, Sirajgonj, Bogra, Joypurhat and Kurigram districts during the first seven months of the current fiscal year. The recovery rate is around 99%, the meeting sources said International News The dollar enjoyed a small rebound on February 19, 2018, as investors bought back the greenback following its plunge to three-year lows. The U.S. currency has been hurt by a variety of factors this year, including concerns that Washington might pursue a weak dollar strategy and the perceived erosion of its yield advantage as other countries start to scale back easy monetary policy. The dollar index was up 0.1% at , off a low of hit last week, which was the weakest level for the U.S. currency since December Against the euro, the dollar rose 0.2% at $ with traders pointing to crucial business surveys later this week that could give the single currency some more direction. Versus the yen the dollar gained 0.3% to yen but remained down 2.3% this month. Britain's annual inflation rate remained at 3.0% in January, holding near to a six-year peak, official data showed on February 13, "The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) 12- month rate was 3.0% in January 2018, unchanged from December 2017," the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said in a statement. The rate had hit 3.1% in November, which was the highest level in almost six years. Analysts had expected the January reading to show a slightly slower rate of inflation of 2.9%. Inflation jumped last year and remains at an elevated level after Britain voted to leave the European Union in The Brexit referendum pushed down the pound, in turn hiking the cost of imported goods. As a result, the Bank of England raised its main interest rate in November 2017 for the first time in a decade. However, it chose to keep the rate at 0.50% in both December and January. Saudi government on February 15, 2018, announced that women of the country can now open their own businesses without the consent of a husband or male relative. Under Saudi Arabia s guardianship system, women are required

9 to present proof of permission from a male guardian - normally the husband, father or brother-to do any government paperwork, travel or enrol in classes. Women can now launch their own businesses and benefit from (governmental) e-services without having to prove consent from a guardian, the ministry of commerce and investment said on its website, AFP reports. The kingdom has also opened 140 positions for women at airports and border crossings, a historic first that the government said drew 107,000 female applicants. The consumer inflation of China eased lowest since July 2017, even as global stock markets nosedive on fears that price pressures are slowly building in the United States and Europe. The consumer price index (CPI) rose 1.5% from a year earlier, in line with expectations and slowing from December s gain of 1.8%, the National Bureau of Statistics said. On m-o-m basis, CPI rose 0.6% in January as expected, reports Reuters. The food price index declined 0.5% from a year earlier due to a higher base last year, after falling 0.4% in December. Non-food prices rose 2.0%, compared with 2.4% in December. The producer price index (PPI) rose 4.3% in January from a year earlier, the smallest rise in 14 months and compared with 4.9% in December. The DIHK Chambers of Industry and Commerce on February 7, 2018, raised its 2018 growth forecast for the German economy to 2.7% from 2.2%, providing a bullish outlook for Europe's biggest economy despite weaker output at the end of last year. According to the DIHK survey of 26,000 managers, business morale regarding current conditions reached a record-high as 54% of firms reported good conditions, 40% said things were satisfactory and 6% said things were bad. According to the DIHK survey of 26,000 managers, business morale regarding current conditions reached a record-high as 54% of firms reported good conditions, 40% said things were satisfactory and 6% said things were bad. Industrial production edged down by 0.6% after rising by an upwardly revised 3.1% in November, the Statistics Office said. The December reading compared with the mid-range forecast in a Reuters poll for a fall of 0.5%. France's central bank on February 8, 2018, forecast growth of 0.4% for the first quarter of 2018, underlining the tentative rebound of the eurozone's second-biggest economy under Mr President Emmanuel Macron. The estimate from the Banque de France is the latest healthy indicator for an economy that has long been a laggard in Europe. On February 6, 2018, European Union data showed France hitting its fastest growth rate in six years in 2017, expanding by 1.9%, driven largely by investment. That helped feed a surge in the wider eurozone last year to 2.5% growth, on par with levels last seen before the financial crisis a decade ago. Germany's oft-criticised massive trade surplus narrowed in 2017, official data showed February 8, 2018, as imports outpaced exports in Europe's booming top economy. The trade surplus fell to 245 billion euros ($300 billion) last year

10 from a record 249 billion in 2016, provisional figures from the federal statistics authority Destatis showed. Imports climbed by 8.3% to an all-time high of 1.03 trillion euros, while exports rose at a slightly slower clip of 6.3% to 1.3 trillion also a fresh record. German demand was strongest for goods made inside the European Union, with imports from non-eurozone countries shooting up 9.5%. India's economy likely grew at its fastest pace in a year in the October-December quarter as consumers, businesses and the government stepped up spending, a Reuters poll predicted. Gross domestic product grew 6.9% in the October-December quarter from a year earlier, according to the poll of more than 35 economists, taken over the past week. In July-September, the economy grew 6.3% annually, a return to a faster growth trajectory after five consecutive quarters of slowdown. In the latest quarter, government spending was stronger and private consumption demand was robust as well, as seen in strong growth in auto sales, said Mr Abhishek Upadhyay, economist at ICICI Securities PD. Global stock markets plunged and bond yields soared on February 2, 2018, after US data showing the strongest annual wage growth since The price of the US 10-year note later fell further, pushing the yield up as high as 2.854% from 2.773% late on February 1, The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell points, or 2.54%, to 25, The S&P 500 lost points, or 2.12%, to 2, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped points, or 1.96%, to 7, Oil majors Exxon and Chevron fell 5.1% and 5.6%, respectively. The dollar index rose 0.59%, with the euro down 0.38% to $ The Japanese yen weakened 0.64% versus the greenback at per dollar. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude settled down 35 cents to $65.45 a barrel. Brent lost $1.07 to $ The deep decline in Brent cut the gap between it and WTI to its narrowest since August. US gold futures for April delivery settled down $10.60, or 0.8%, at $1, Japan logged a trade deficit in January, the first negative figure in eight months, as imports of fossil fuel overwhelmed the revenue from exports, government data showed on February 19, The world's third-largest economy registered a trade balance deficit of billion yen ($887 million) in January, the first since May last year, the finance ministry said. The market had expected a deficit of 1.02 trillion yen. Exports rose 12.2% to trillion yen but imports also rose 7.9% to trillion yen. The yen was on average 3.4% higher against the dollar compared to the same month a year earlier. Japan's often politically sensitive trade surplus with the United States shrank 12.3% on increased imports of liquefied natural gas, organic chemicals and medical products.

11 BDRAL Photo News Conducted a Seminar on Importance of SME Credit Ratings at the Noapara Press Club, Jessore on January 27, It is our pleasure to welcome Mr Neeraj Rawat (2 nd from left), Senior Consultant, Capital Projects and Infrastructure, PricewaterhouseCoopers Pvt. Ltd. at our office on February 25, 2018 to discuss the transport industry financing mechanisms in Bangladesh. Mr. Mohammod Ullah, (2 nd from left) EVP & Head of SME Investment Division-I, Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd, is seen receiving a copy of copy of SMEs of Bangladesh, Vol-3 publication from BDRAL team member Ms. Affrin Sultana, Editor of SMEs of Bangladesh on May 15, 20 Mr. Md Kawsar Ul Alam, (2 nd from left) EVP & Head of SME Investment Division-II, I Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd and his team member with BDRAL team member Ms. Affrin Sultana, Editor of SMEs of Bangladesh on May 15, The Bangladesh Rating Agency Ltd. Better Insight Better Business