Economy.

Economy VAT rates to be multiple Finance Minister AMA Muhith yesterday said the new value-added tax law would be fully implemented by 2021 and the rates would be multiple instead of a single one. The rates will be determined at the time of implementation and may be 15 percent, 7.5 percent and 5 percent, he said. There will be a lot of exemption, he said at an award ceremony at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in Dhaka. The National Board of Revenue (NBR) honoured 144 firms for depositing the highest amount of VAT to the state coffer in fiscal year of 2016-17. Of the entities recognised for being compliant to laws in forwarding the tax paid by consumers, nine operate at the national level and the remaining 135 at district level. State-run Titas, Habiganj and Srikail gas fields topped the list in the manufacturing sector category. Orion Infrastructure Ltd, the operator and manager of Mayor Mohammad Hanif Flyover in Dhaka, ranked first in the service roll. TÜV SÜD Bangladesh Pvt Ltd, a global certification, testing and auditing firm, and Somoy Media Ltd followed suit. In trading, SC Johnson Pvt Ltd, Wärtsilä Bangladesh Ltd and KCJ & Associates Ltd were the top three companies. Muhith also suggested abolition of tariff value or VAT rates based on administered-prices. Tariff rate is a very distorted system. It must be totally eliminated. If the price of a product is very high, the VAT should be zero. Iqbal Mahmood, chairman of the Anti-Corruption Commission, suggested the NBR improve system and reduce the discretionary power of revenue officials. People want to pay tax and it is necessary to lessen their fear. Mahmud was also critical of the prevalence of package VAT, which allows paying a fixed amount in VAT instead of VAT on the actual sale. The package VAT is a problem. You have to streamline the system, Mahmood said. This was the 13th year the NBR acknowledged the highest VAT-paying firms in an effort to boost collection from VAT, now the biggest source of revenue followed by income tax and customs duty. In 2017-18, VAT accounted for 38 percent of the total tax collection of Tk 206,407 crore. The NBR has been tasked with raising the collection by 39 percent in the current fiscal year. NBR Chairman Md Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan chaired the event, which was organised as part of the VAT Day and VAT Week. In Chattogram city, the Customs, Excise and VAT Commissionerate awarded seven firms at a ceremony at the World Trade Centre, reports our staff correspondent. The awardees are Chowdhury Tea Warehouse, AM Channel, Sayeman Beach Resort, Hotel Niloy, Rubel Enterprise, Rana Enterprise and Hotel Hill View. The award aims at encouraging compliance and raising awareness as tax evasion and avoidance is believed to be rampant. https://www.thedailystar.net/business/news/vat-rates-be-multiple-1672087 Vibrant corporate bond market key to higher economic growth James Carville, a key member of Bill Clinton's first presidential campaign, remarked way back in 1993: "I used to think if there was reincarnation, I wanted to come back as the president or the Pope or a.400 baseball hitter. But now I want to come back as the bond market. You can intimidate everybody. The global bond market has more than tripled in the past 15 years and exceeds $100 trillion. That is 40 percent larger than the total value of global stock markets. In Bangladesh, bond market and its developments are mostly confined to words than actions. However, government bond with 7.86 percent of GDP is relatively discernible. Thanks go to the Bangladesh Bank. The BB's concentrated efforts on strengthening market infrastructure have enhanced the reliability of the government securities market. Barriers to the development of the bond market include: dominance of savings certificates in public debt collection, a lack of initiatives to issue bond for financing major infrastructure projects undertaken by the government, city and municipality corporations, captive bond market of Bangladesh with mandatory rules, and a lack of good reasons in fixing interest rate on savings and investment instruments. Consequently, the public bond market fails to offer a representative yield curve, which is being considered as essential for development of a long-term corporate bond market.

On the other hand, the number and amount of corporate bonds in Bangladesh are required to be searched with a high powered binocular. At present, the size of the corporate bond market is very scanty -- only 0.2 percent of GDP, whereas China and India are having 18.63 percent and 2.89 percent respectively. It is heartening to know that Pran Group and Ashuganj Power Limited are coming up very soon with two debt securities with public placement. Additionally, banks have, although all are in private placement, issued a total of 57 subordinate bonds amounting to Tk 19,824 crore since 2009 to insert capital under tier II. This indicates that efforts are in place to entice funds through issuing debt securities. Also, the current and possible future structure of the economy deduces that a viable corporate bond market is needed. Bangladesh moves to undertake large infrastructure projects and the housing sector is coming up as a major destination for finance. Capital-intensive large industries and service units are increasingly being set up. A huge amount of long-term debt capital, alongside equity capital, is necessary to finance this inevitable change of the economy. Debt capital is always preferable up to a certain limit due to inborn benefits of its lower cost compared to costs of equity. But the capacity of the banks with short-term tenure funds is narrowed to provide long-term finance. It creates the essentiality of the corporate bond market. the investor perspective, it is revealed that a large and diversified investor base containing public pension funds, insurance companies and other contractual savings institutions is coming up day by day and they prefer investing in long-term debt securities. Currently, service-holders of government, university and other autonomous bodies are entitled to get retirement pension. There are also private funds and gratuity schemes for the corporate sector, banks or nongovernmental organisations. Many who work in other sectors at home and abroad and contribute to the development of the country during their working life are being expected to be included under the pension system or retirement benefit schemes in future. It is, therefore, believed that accumulated amount of pension funds will be enormous in future. The insurance sector is supposed to expand as increasing per capita income and swelling uncertainty in society and environment have positive impact on propensity of being insured. Mutual funds are gradually recognised as less risky investment instruments for general investors. A certain percentages of mutual funds are usually invested in long-term fixed income securities. Another change is likely to be happening in society because of an increasing trend of ageing population. Since older people tend to save than to spend and their preference is fixed-income long-term securities, a burgeoning investor class is looming to invest in corporate debt securities. In this backdrop, a vibrant bond market, especially the corporate bond market is a priority. The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) has the most important role in deepening and diversifying the corporate bond market. The BSEC may consider forming a committee comprising internal and external experts to prepare a road map for doing the needful to create space for corporate bonds. The committee may work with different stakeholders to address issues like rationalisation of interest rates, creation of a benchmark yield curve at least for 10 years, forming a friendly tax environment, offering a variant debt securities considering ground reality, lessening issuing costs and formalities, encouraging selective corporate houses with good governance to issue debt securities, reforming laws for institutional savers to invest in corporate securities, and placing a certain percentage of subordinate bonds issued by banks in public placement to develop a solid corporate bond market. However, it is commonly known that a corporate bond market cannot move forward without strengthening bank and equity financing sector. A financial environment is, therefore, expected where bank debt, equity issues, and bond financing will coexist for bringing momentum in the economic development of the country. https://www.thedailystar.net/business/news/vibrant-corporate-bond-market-key-higher-economic-growth-1672081 Capital Market Investors lose confidence in mutual funds The extension of closed-end mutual funds' tenure further sapped investors' confidence in the sector, with almost Tk 430 crore lost since the decision came into effect on September 16. Closed-end mutual funds are investment funds that gather a fixed amount of money at regular intervals from a number of investors over a decade and re-invest them into stocks, bonds and other assets. Once the fund reaches maturity, the assets are distributed among investors. In a baffling move, the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) announced on September 16 that fund managers can extend the tenure by ten years. The sector has already been suffering from low investor confidence; the decision, which came following the government's order, could be another nail in the coffin. Thanks to the BSEC decision investors will now have to wait for another ten years to get profits from mutual funds.

So, some of them decided to wash their hands of mutual funds, said Abu Ahmed, a former chairman of the Dhaka University's economics department and a market analyst. Since September 16, the closed-end mutual fund sector lost 11.63 percent of its market capitalisation. Of the listed 37 funds, 33 traded at lower than their face value yesterday. The decision is a total violation of fund managers' commitment, and the BSEC has created the opportunity to break their commitment, said the managing director of an asset management company, requesting anonymity. He went on to predict that the impact of the decision would be profound. Shakil Rizvi, president of the DSE Brokers' Association, echoed the same. It is necessary to liquidate the funds within the committed time of their prospectuses to keep the confidence of investors. He, however, hinted at some incentives for investors since the decision came at the government's behest. As there is no research on it, no one can say that this is the sole reason behind the fall of market capitalisation, said Saifur Rahman, spokesperson of the BSEC. He, however, acknowledged that it affected the confidence of investors of closed-end mutual funds. https://www.thedailystar.net/business/news/investors-lose-confidence-mutual-funds-1672084 DSEX slips below 5,300-mark Stocks witnessed yet another bearish session on Monday as the core index fell below 5,300-mark as selling spree continued. Dealers said investors were mostly on selling mood as rising non-performing loans coupled with falling foreign portfolio investment continued to weigh on investors' sentiment. "Election sentiments are in the minds of investors and many of them have taken a cautious stance, taking the market in the downward trend for the third day in a row," said a stockbroker. The market opened on positive note and the key index rose about 21 points within first 30 minutes of trading. But, rest of the session went down steadily. Finally, DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), settled at 5,295, losing 10.53 points or 0.19 per cent over the previous day. DSEX eroded 66 points in the past three consecutive sessions. IDLC Securities said return from losing streak of food and banking sectors could not offset the decline in textile, power and telecommunication sectors. Two other indices-the DS30 index and the DSE Shariah Index (DSES)-also drifted lower. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips, shed 5.97 points to finish at 1,849 and the DSE Shariah Index lost 2.27 points to close at 1,219. Turnover, another important indicator of the market, however, rose and the total transaction amounted to Tk 5.67 billion, which was 10 per cent higher than the previous day's turnover of Tk 5.16 billion. Pharmaceuticals sector dominated the turnover chart, capturing 24 per cent of the day's total turnover, followed by textile with 19 per cent and engineering 11 per cent. According to International Leasing Securities, the market kept losing as the investors continued trading with cautious stance ahead of national elections. A total number of 155,100 trades were executed in the day's trading session with trading volume of 126.79 million securities. The market capitalisation of the DSE fell to Tk 3,820 billion on the day which was Tk 3,832 billion in the previous day. Power sector witnessed the highest correction of 1.41 per cent, followed by telecommunication 0.66 per cent, financial institutions 0.29 per cent, and engineering 0.25 per cent. Food and allied posted the highest gain of 1.20 per cent, followed banking with 0.22 per cent and pharmaceuticals 0.12 per cent. Of the 344 issues traded, 198 declined, 110 advanced and 36 issues remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor. Top ten traded companies grabbed 27 per cent of the day's total turnover with Wata Chemicals topped the turnover chart with 415,104 shares worth Tk 209 million changing hands. The other turnover leaders were Square Pharma, Pharma Aids, Khulna Power and National Tea Company. CAMP IBBL Islamic Mutual Fund was the day's best performer, posting a gain of 9.34 per cent while Information Services Network was the worst loser, losing 10 per cent. The port city bourse CSE ended lower with its CSE All Share Price Index - CASPI -losing 54 points to settle at 16,203 and the Selective Categories Index - CSCX -shedding 30 points to finish at 9,805. The losers beat gainers as 158 issues closed lower, 66 ended higher and 28 remained unchanged on the CSE. The port city bourse traded 7.67 million shares and mutual fund units worth more than Tk 256 million in turnover. http://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/stock-corporate/dsex-slips-below-5300-mark-1544464362

Bank 12 banks face provision shortfall of Tk 10,834cr Twelve banks altogether faced provisioning shortfall of Tk 10,834 crore in the third quarter the year, creating a risk of moral hazard for the entire banking sector. It is an ominous sign, said Ahsan H Mansur, executive director of the Policy Research Institute of Bangladesh. As per Bangladesh Bank regulations, banks have to keep 0.50 percent to 5 percent provisioning against general category loans, 20 percent against classified loans of substandard category, 50 percent against classified loans of doubtful category, and 100 percent against classified loans of bad or loss category. The central bank should take prompt action and compel the banks to keep the required provisioning at the earliest. Otherwise, the tendency will infect other lenders. The banks are: Sonali, Agrani, Rupali, BASIC, AB, Bangladesh Commerce, Mutual Trust, National, Premier, Social Islami, Shahjalal Islami and Standard. Mansur, a former economist of the International Monetary Fund, went on to suggest the central bank to put an embargo on the banks' directors from taking any profit to curb the problem. The banks will keep aside their operational profits to maintain provisioning shortfall in line with the macroprudential regulations of the central bank. The directors can enjoy profits after ensuring that the required provisioning has been taken care of, he added. The trust of the common people has gradually lessened in the banking sector because of a large amount of provisioning shortfall, said AB Mirza Azizul Islam, a former finance adviser to a caretaker government. The banks facing provisioning shortfall should issue bonds or right shares to meet regulatory requirement, he said. The upward trend of the default loans is largely responsible for the provisioning deficit, said a BB official. At the end of September, non-performing loans in the banking sector nearly hit Tk 1 lakh crore, up 11.23 percent from three months earlier. https://www.thedailystar.net/business/news/12-banks-face-provision-shortfall-tk-10834cr-1672093 SoBs defy MoF order on public display of top defaulters list None of the state-owned banks (SoBs) and financial institutions have displayed the list of top loan defaulters on their notice boards and posted the same on websites, defying a directive of the ministry of finance (MoF), officials said. The directive was issued a year earlier. Most of the lenders said the matter is under process, but some bankers argued public display of the list is not possible since big loan defaulters may file defamation cases against them. The authorities of the banks and financial institutions are, deliberately, dragging their feet on implementing the ministry's directive, the officials added. Until September, the amount of default loans in the country's banking sector reached Tk 1.0 trillion, an all-time high. This worries experts and bankers. In the first nine months of the current calendar year, the non-performing loans jumped by nearly 34 per cent. People familiar with situation said since the state-owned banks and financial institutions were reeling from various problems, including capital shortage and growing volume of default loans. In August last year, the Finance Ministry convened a workshop to have expert opinion on how to get such loans recovered. In the workshop, experts from different sectors made a good number of recommendations on how to tackle the challenges successfully. Later, the financial institutions division picked up 27 recommendations from them and asked the banks and financial institutions to implement those. The division also asked the banks and financial institutions to update it about the implementation progress. Officials said one of the key recommendations from the workshop was displaying the list of top loan defaulters on the notice board and posting the same on websites of the banks and financial institutions. Until now, none of the banks and financial institutions took effective measures to do so, according to the officials. The people with knowledge of the matter said Sonali Bank, the largest state-owned bank, recently told the division that it had forwarded the recommendation to its legal consultant for showing the list of top loan defaulters on its notice board and websites. Sonali sought opinion from its legal counsellor on whether loan defaulters can file defamation cases or take other legal steps against the bank if their names are displayed openly. The counsellor said that showing the list of defaulters on the website for administrative purposes and displaying the list on notice board is not a similar thing. The issue is a part of an administrative strategy for recovering loan, the counsellor said.

He also opined the names of loan defaulters can be published in newspapers before it files the case against them. But he stopped short of giving opinion on whether the list can be displayed on notice board and website. Contacted over telephone on Sunday, managing director of Sonali Bank Obayed Ullah Al Masud told the FE he attended the workshop organised by the ministry last year. "But none of us have implemented the recommendation regarding public display of the names of top defaulters," he said. "I think displaying their (defaulters) names would not bring any positive result." Mr Masud felt there are many more strong steps, which may work in this case. The government needs to amend the existing rules and laws to bring the defaulters to book, he said. There exists a few courts in the country that look after financial crimes, he said, adding a separate bench in the High Court needs to be set up to handle such cases. "Whenever we declare big borrowers to be defaulters, they file writ petition in the higher court. When our counsellors vacate the writ, they again file writ petitions. It continues year after year," he said. There should be limit to how many times a defaulter can file writ petitions, he added. He agreed the move to display the names of loan defaulters publicly is good step, but he feared defaulters in this case may file defamation cases against bankers. Agrani Bank recently informed the finance ministry that bank branches have been directed to display the list of top defaulters. However, while visiting some branches on Sunday and Monday no such list was found on notice boards and the website of Agrani. Managing Director of Agrani Mohammad Shams-Ul Islam told the FE on Sunday that he was doubtful about the possible outcome of displaying the list of loan defaulters. "Names of many top defaulters have been published in newspapers on several occasions. Did they return the money?" he questioned. But Mr Islam said he will take steps for displaying the names immediately. Janata Bank, Rupali Bank, Basic Bank, Bangladesh Development Bank Ltd and Bangladesh House Building Finance Corporation (BHBFC) informed the ministry that the issue is under process. They also said steps will be taken in line with the measures taken by other banks and financial institutions. http://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/first-page/sobs-defy-mof-order-on-public-display-of-top-defaulters-list- 1544462887 Banks' provisioning shortfall swells in nine months Overall shortfall in provisioning against loans in the country's banking system swelled by over 20 per cent or Tk 13.60 billion during the first nine months of the year. The total amount of provisioning shortfall rose to Tk 81.27 billion as on September 30 from Tk 67.67 billion nine months ago, according to the central bank's latest statistics. The shortfall was Tk 79.80 billion as on June 30 this year. It was Tk 63.44 billion a year before. "Higher growth in non-performing loans pushed up the amount of provisioning shortfall with the banks during the period under review," a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told the FE on Monday. The amount of classified loans rose by nearly 34 per cent or Tk 250.67 billion to Tk 993.70 billion as on September 30, from Tk 743.03 billion as on December 31, 2017, the BB data showed. The public sector banks have faced more provisioning shortfall than that of the private commercial banks, the central banker explained. Senior bankers, however, said profitability of some banks has declined slightly following lower 'interest income' mainly due to slashing of interest rates on lending. "Lower profitability has also pushed up the amount of provisioning shortfall in the Q3 of 2018," a senior executive of a leading private bank told the FE while explaining the situation. A good number of banks have brought down the lending rate to the single-digit, particularly for term loans and working capital in line with the decisions of the Bangladesh Association of Banks (BAB). On June 20, the lobbyist group decided to cut back on the interest rates on both lending and deposit at 9.0 per cent and 6.0 per cent respectively from July 01. The private banker also said a coordinated effort will be taken immediately to improve the overall situation in the country's banking system. Talking to the FE, another BB official said the banks will have to boost their recovery drives to reduce the volume of NPLs as well as provisioning shortfall. A total of 12 banks, out of 57, failed to keep the requisite provisions against loans, particularly the NPLs, in the third quarter (Q3) covering July-September period of 2018, the BB data showed. Of them, four are state-owned commercial banks (SoCBs) and others are private lenders. Nine banks, including four state lenders, faced such provisioning shortfall during the final quarter (Oct-Dec) of 2017, while the number was 13 in the second quarter (April-June) of 2018.

It was 12 in the first quarter (Jan-March) of the current calendar year. Under the existing BB regulations, the banks have to keep 0.25 per cent to 5.0 per cent provision against loans under general category, 20 per cent against substandard category, 50 per cent against doubtful loans, and 100 per cent against bad or loss category. The banks usually keep the required provisions against both classified and unclassified loans from their operating profits in order to mitigate risks. http://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/first-page/banks-provisioning-shortfall-swells-in-nine-months-1544463074 Company Specific National Tea's price jumps 68pc in a month The share price of National Tea Company is soaring without having any undisclosed price sensitive information. Within a month, the company's share price jumped more than 68 per cent or Tk 382.20 each to close at Tk 945.10 on Monday. Its share price was Tk 562.90 a month ago on November 11. The company's share traded between Tk 541 and Tk 945.10 each in the last one year, hitting the year's highest on the day. Its share price also jumped 7.49 per cent or Tk 65.90 each on the Monday. Following the 'abnormal' price hike, the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) served show-cause notice on the company several times. The company, however, informed the DSE that there was no undisclosed price sensitive information for 'unusual' price hike of its shares. "Even after being served show-cause notice and formation of an enquiry committee, the price of the company has not stopped rising which may hit investors," said a leading broker. National Tea, which was listed on the Dhaka bourse in 1979, recommended 22 per cent cash dividend for the year ended on June 30, 2018. In 2017, the company paid 18 per cent cash dividend. The company's paid-up capital is Tk 66 million and authorised capital is Tk 250 million, while the total number of securities is 6.60 million. The sponsor-directors own 50.72 per cent stake in the company while the government owns 4.33 per cent, the institutional investors own 10.21 per cent and the general public 34.74 per cent as on October 31, 2018, the DSE data shows. Share price of Jute Spinners is also soaring despite the news that its liabilities exceeded its total assets. The company's share soared 35 per cent or Tk 36.40 each in a week to close at Tk 141.50 on Monday. Its share price was Tk 105.10 each on December 02. Jute Spinners incurred a net loss of Tk 102.90 million during the year ended on June 30, 2018 and the accumulated loss of the company stood at Tk 454.52 million, according to an audit report revealed on December 04. The company's liabilities stood Tk 468.48 million which exceeded its total assets worth Tk 300.48 million by Tk 168 million as on June 30, 2018, the audit report shows. "We also drew attention to the labour difficulties, inability to pay creditors on due dates, inefficiency of key management and negative operating cash flows indicated by financial statements of the company," said the audit report. The report also gave an opinion that these events or conditions indicate that a material uncertainty exists that may cast significant doubt on the company's ability to continue as a going concern. Production of the company has also been stopped for more than two years and the company failed to declare dividend over the years. http://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/stock-corporate/national-teas-price-jumps-68pc-in-a-month-1544464390 IHG marks re-entry into BD with opening of InterContinental Dhaka InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), one of the world's leading hotel companies, has announced the opening of InterContinental Dhaka in partnership with Bangladesh Services Limited. The luxury hotel is situated in a prime and one of the most prestigious locations in the capital's Minto Road with easy access to the downtown business district, said a statement on Monday. Dhaka has witnessed significant economic development in the recent years with a rise in both domestic and international travellers. With opening of InterContinental Dhaka, the statement added, IHG aims to provide the discerning travellers the best in luxury in its signature style. IHG is currently operating 32 hotels across SWA under the brands InterContinental Hotels & Resorts and is aiming for rapid expansion with a strong pipeline of 60 hotels across cities.

The InterContinental Dhaka is easily accessible from all key city landmarks such as the Prime Minister's Office, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahaman Medical University, Bashundhara City Shopping Center, the famous Dhaka University campus and renowned historical monuments. "We are confident that the hotel will be a great success and we look forward to welcoming our guests from around the world. The opening also aligns with our strategy to expand our presence across brands, and key cities in the SWA region," said Vivek Bhalla, Regional Vice President of IHG. Bangladesh Services Limited stated: "We are delighted to partner with a global hospitality company such as IHG to open InterContinental Dhaka, a landmark hotel in the capital city. Dhaka is emerging as a business hub, attracting travellers from across the globe and we are delighted to offer world-class luxury and comfort to our discerning guests." Built in a contemporary design, the hotel offers 226 stylish guest rooms, including 201 premium or deluxe rooms, 10 deluxe suites, five superior suites, five diplomatic suites and five presidential suites. Guests staying in the Club InterContinental rooms can access the Club Lounge, to relax, work or enjoy exclusive dining options like breakfast, evening beverages and canapés. It offers two exquisitely designed ballrooms and seven spacious meeting rooms equipped with the latest technology. With over 21,000 square feet of specially designed space for meetings and events, the hotel promises flawlessly executed corporate and social events. The hotel features unrivalled facilities and amenities including a temperature-controlled swimming pool overlooking Ramna park, a gymnasium, a steam room, a sauna and a spa offering an extensive menu of signature therapies. http://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/trade-market/ihg-marks-re-entry-into-bd-with-opening-of-intercontinentaldhaka-1544465273 Miscellaneous Accord hearing deferred again The Supreme Court yesterday deferred the date of hearing on Accord's extension for the third time in a month, till December 17. A seven-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain passed the order following a time prayer moved by Accord's Advocate-on-record Sufia Khatun. I sought more time with reason that the chief counsel for Accord Advocate AF Hassan Ariff could not place arguments yesterday as he could not appear to the court for his physical illness, Advocate Sufia Khatun told The Daily Star. The apex court fixed December 17 for further hearing on the issue and extended the tenure of Accord till that day. However, Rob Wayss, executive director of the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, has said that the Accord did not pray for time. Please note that the Accord lawyers did not pray for time at today's' Appellate Court hearing, Wayss informed this correspondent through a mail. The Accord seeks hearing on the leave to appeal and stay application currently before the Honourable Supreme Court, Appellate Division. Earlier on December 6, the SC had extended the tenure of Accord and also fixed yesterday for further hearing of an appeal filed by the agency, Accord on Building and Fire Safety in Bangladesh. The appeal was filed challenging a High Court directive that asked Accord to stop its activities after November 30. The Accord conducts inspection and remediation activities for more than 200 global clothing retailers and brands. Additional Attorney General Murad Reza represented the government. Earlier in the hearing of December 10, the state counsel gave eight conditions under which Accord could stay in Bangladesh. The conditions include one barring the platform from interfering in the labour issues in Bangladesh. Another says it cannot add new repair works in factories that are conducting remediation works as per the recommendations of Accord engineers. As of November, the Accord-affiliated factories have completed 90 percent of remediation works. Of the nearly 1,600 factories inspected, 91 have fully completed their remediation. The conditions also said the Accord, a platform of more than 200 retailers mostly based in Europe, cannot severe business ties with any factory. It also cannot end business ties with a whole group if any of its unit fails to improve the remediation to the standards of the platform. There must also be representation of the government during the factory inspections, said the conditions. The extension or departure of the Accord is hanging on the court's verdict thanks to a verdict to a case filed by Chittagong-based Smart Jeans. https://www.thedailystar.net/business/news/accord-hearing-deferred-again-1672090

Govt raises Benapole land port use charges The government has raised considerably the warehouse and open yard space charges for motor vehicles, chassis and related goods at the Benapole land port to reduce congestion at the port. Bangladesh Land Port Authority on December 3 issued a gazette notification hiking the warehouse user fees for car, chassis, tyre and tubes, and entrance fees for motor vehicles at Benapole port, the largest land port of the country. Importers of these products will also have to pay charges at higher rates if they keep the products more days at the warehouse and open yard space as the BLPA rescheduled the slabs of duration of stays. The tariff rates for other goods such as commodities, industrial raw materials and machinery have remained unchanged. BLPA, however, withdrew two types of charges night charge and holiday charge as the port now remains in operation for 24 hours in seven days a week as per a government decision. The holiday and night charges were Tk 1,319.97 and Tk 754.29 respectively. According to the notification, the entrance fee for truck, bus and lorry has been set at Tk 125, increasing it from Tk 56.67. For motor car, jeep and three-wheeler, the entrance fee has been increased to Tk 75 from Tk 22.67. BLPA has also increased the weighing/measurement charge to Tk 60 a truck or lorry from previous Tk 47.17. According to the notification, the charges for using warehouse (shed) have been increased for per lorry, truck, bus and tractor to Tk 250 per day for first 10 days, Tk 500 per day from 11th to 20th day, Tk 750 per day from 21st to 41st day and Tk 1,000 per day from 42nd day and onward. In the case of open yard, the charges for the vehicles have been increased to Tk 200, Tk 450, Tk 700 and Tk 1,000 per day based on duration of stay. The amount has also been increased for trailer, mobile workshop and such other on wheels to the Tk 320-3,000 range based on duration of stay and nature of warehouses (shed or open yard). Earlier, the charges for the vehicles were Tk 107.76 per day for first 21 days, Tk 215.51 per day from 22nd to 50th day, and Tk 323.26 per day from 51st day and onward. In the case of open yard, the charges were Tk 86.22, Tk 172.43 and Tk 258.62 respectively for the slabs of days. Traders will have to pay for motor car and jeep at various rates from Tk 150 to Tk 500 based on new schedule on duration of stay and uses of warehouses, which earlier were Tk 43.11 and Tk 193.98 respectively. BLPA also increased the charges for baby taxi, three-wheeler, scooter and motor cycle to the Tk 30-400 per day per unit range from the Tk 21.57-97 range. In the case of tyre and tube for truck, lorry and tractor, the charges have been hiked up to Tk 150 per piece per day starting from Tk 10 per piece per day. Earlier, the figures were Tk 6.47 and Tk 2.17. BLPA chairman Tapan Kumar Chakravorty on Monday told New Age that they increased the charges mainly to reduce congestion at the port and to encourage traders for speedy release of their goods from the warehouse and open yards. Many importers do not release their goods even after completion of customs procedures taking the advantage of low tariffs for port use, he said. They even sell the products keeping those at the port for many days and take release just after completion of sales of products, particularly car and chassis, he said. Officials said that the charges and fees had been rescheduled for last time in 2005. The tariffs have remained too low to maintain the port s operational cost despite adjusting at the rate of 5 per cent every year as the base rates were very low, they said. http://www.newagebd.net/article/58560/govt-raises-benapole-land-port-use-charges Telecommunication BTCL's WiMax gamble State-run Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited is set to get the licence for the globally obsolete technology WiMax, in what can be viewed as a naïve gamble seeing the current operators are struggling to log in profits. The venture would cost the state coffer at least Tk 500 crore: Tk 215 crore already paid to obtain the licence and another few hundred crore would be spent on service rollout. The outlay by the loss-making government company would have been justified were the technology still relevant: even the vendors have stopped manufacturing WiMax equipment around the world. In Bangladesh, the three WiMax operators lost 84 percent of their customers in the last five years and failed to make profit amid the onslaught of high-speed mobile internet. The number of WiMax users reached a peak of 5.05 lakh in June 2013, just before the mobile operators rolled out 3G service. As of June, the number stands at 80,860.

The limited coverage of WiMax is the major reason behind the shrinking user base: the service is mostly available in cities whereas mobile internet is available all over the country. The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission had offered the licence to the state-owned landline operator back in 2008 but it declined. Two companies, Banglalion Communica-tions and Augere Wireless Broadband Bangladesh, snapped up the licence in an open auction then and rolled out their service in 2009. Qubee, once the second-largest operator, had only 16,211 active subscribers in June, down from 1.25 lakh during its heyday in 2013. As of June, Banglalion, which boasted about 4 lakh subscribers at its peak in June 2013, has 28,619 subscribers. Augere Wireless Broadband Bangladesh's Qubee has 16,211 active subscribers, down from 1.25 lakh in its heyday in 2013. In 2013 another company Bangladesh Internet Exchange Limited took the WiMax licence and rolled out its service the following year under the brand name of Ollo. As of June, Ollo's subscriber base stood at 36,041. We are in the process of acquiring the licence as far as I am concerned, said Md Zahangir Alam, managing director of the government's largest telecom company. BTCL has started exploring the proposition of running WiMax service a few years back. Definitely the technical team has justification for moving for the licence at this moment when the prospects are fewer, said Alam, an additional secretary of the government who joined BTCL only few months back. BTCL's move has also taken the BTRC by surprise, said a high official of the telecom regulator. More than a crore people are using 4G now, the fastest mobile data. So WiMax is losing its relevance by the day, he said. https://www.thedailystar.net/business/news/btcls-wimax-gamble-1672099