Economy BD falls 25 notches in ECI in a decade Bangladesh has backtracked 25 positions in the global Economic Complexity Index (ECI) in a decade, which reflects its poor progress in economic diversification in terms of exports.the country was ranked 123rd among 129 states in the ECI 2017, whereas it was 98th in the ECI 2008.Bangladesh's position witnessed a gradual fall, as it gained -1.71442 points in 2017, which was -0.936713 in 2008.The latest report of the ECI was published this month.the ECI measures knowledge intensity of an economy by considering the knowledge intensity of the products it exports.the index was developed in 1980s by Cesar A Hidalgo, from MIT Media Lab, and Ricardo Hausmann, from Harvard University.The ECI has been validated as a relevant economic measure by showing its ability to predict future economic growth and to explain international variations in income inequality.countries like India, Vietnam, Pakistan, Ethiopia and Zambia, however, are ahead of Bangladesh in the ranking.japan has been able to keep the number one position in the ECI for the last two decades, as it gained the top 2.30938 points in the ranking. https://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/trade/bd-falls-25-notches-in-eci-in-a-decade- 1553484200 Economy Cut corporate tax Chartered accountants yesterday urged the government to cut the corporate tax by 2 percentage points across the board to tempt both local and foreign investors with the view to pulling the country out of its stagnant investment scenario. One of the first questions that investors ask before taking investment decision in any country is the rate of corporate tax, said AF Nesaruddin, president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB), at its office.and Bangladesh has the highest corporate tax rate among South Asian nations.the country has eight rates of corporate taxes, starting at 25 percent for listed companies and going up to 45 percent for cigarette manufacturers.some 35 percent tax is applied to non-listed companies and higher rates of taxes are slapped on banks, financial institutions and mobile phone operators. https://www.thedailystar.net/business/news/cut-corporate-tax-1720039
Banks & NBFIs Bangladesh Bank to conduct special audits of eight more banks As part of the ongoing probe to reform the country's ailing banking sector, Bangladesh Bank will conduct special audits of eight more banks, after Janata Bank, AB Bank, and Al-Arafah Islami Bank. The eight banks are: One Bank, Eastern Bank, Mercantile Bank, NCC Bank, Shahjalal Islami Bank, BRAC Bank, Southeast Bank and Mutual Trust Bank.Early this month, Bangladesh Bank conducted an audit to unearth loan irregularities at Janata, AB, and Al- Arafah.Separate committees have already been formed last week with officials of the central bank's Inspection Division to conduct special inspections at all eight banks. The committees have been instructed to submit their reports by this month, said a senior Bangladesh Bank official. https://www.dhakatribune.com/business/2019/03/24/bangladesh-bank-to-conductspecial-audits-of-eight-more-banks Banks & NBFIs Private banks sweating out over deposits Private banks saw a decline in deposit growth in December last year despite offering higher interest rates, highlighting the ongoing liquidity crisis in the banking system.in December, the average deposit growth of private banks stood at 11.59 percent, in contrast to 12.58 percent in December 2017 and 12.73 percent in June last year, according to data from Bangladesh Bank.The decline in deposit growth pushed the average loan-deposit ratio of private banks beyond the ceiling set by the central bank.in September, the advance-deposit ratio (ADR) of private banks had come down to the ceiling of 85 percent from 85.56 percent in June. In December, it crossed the limit reaching 85.96 percent.most banks are offering more than 9 percent interest for deposits. A dozen banks are also taking deposits at up to 10 percent, according to industry insiders. https://www.thedailystar.net/business/news/private-banks-sweating-out-over-deposits- 1720033 Banks & NBFIs NBFI booths barred from handling deposit, loan Bangladesh Bank has barred non-bank financial institutions from conducting any sort of direct transaction including deposit collection and issuing credit through their business development centres amid surfacing of huge corruptions and irregularities in the sector.the central bank on March 21 issued a circular in this connection to all the chief executives and managing directors of the scheduled NBFIs. The circular will be a supplement to BB s earlier circular issued in 2010 in this regard.according to the circular, the business development centres of NBFIs cannot perform any financial transactions like deposit or credit or lease.nbfis will have to take approval from Bangladesh Bank before establishing any kind of business centre, including customer service centre, call centre, unit office and sales office, the circular added.to get BB approval, the entities must apply to the central bank in a BB-specified format. http://www.newagebd.net/article/68312/nbfi-booths-barred-from-handling-deposit-loan
Capital Market DSE weighs resuming share-netting system Bourses are contemplating resuming share-netting facility after 17 years as they believe this trading system will help reverse the slumping turnover.netting is used in share trading, where an investor can change his position on a single day.for example, if an investor sells 100 shares of a security in the morning session and can buy the same scrip in a subsequent session of the same day.this accelerates the speed of fund while boosting commission earning by the stock brokers.the netting system was operational until 2002 after its launch in 1996.The bourses failed to continue the system as many stock brokers, stock dealers had fund crisis and other complexities during the period.people familiar with the system told the FE that they have already met the officials of the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) several times to discuss the matter to weigh up the matter. http://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/stock/bangladesh/dse-weighs-resuming-share-nettingsystem-1553484004 DSEX tumbles amid lower dividend declaration New Line Clothings to allocate 30m IPO shares Capital Market Capital Market The New Line Clothings will allocate 30 million ordinary shares among the successful applicants as the company's initial public offering (IPO) lottery draw was held on Sunday.The lottery draw was held at 10:00am at the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh (IEB) in Dhaka.The IPO result has been published on the websites of Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) and the company.the New Line Clothings, which received approval from the securities regulator on November 27, 2018, raised a capital of Tk 300 million from the public by floating 30 million ordinary shares.the company received applications for the IPO from February 18 and March 03 to raise a fund worth Tk 300 million from the capital market under the fixed price method. The prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) tumbled to three months low on Sunday as worried investors continued their selling binge on financial stocks.dsex, the prime index of the DSE, went down by 58.07 points or 1.04 per cent to settle at 5,512. It was the lowest level of DSEX since January 02, 2019.The daily trade turnover on the prime bourse also dipped to three months low to Tk 3.54 billion on Sunday as most of the investors were reluctant to make fresh investment in stocks amid ongoing bearish trend.market analysts said ongoing pessimism coupled with lower-than- expected dividend declaration of two banks eroded investors' confidence further.the investors continued their selling spree amid lower than expected dividend of two banks which prompted investors to sell banking shares and cast a negative impact to the overall market, said a leading broker.brac Bank and Bank Asia - recommended lower than expected dividend for the year ended on December 31, 2018, disclosed on Sunday. http://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/stock-corporate/dsex-tumbles-amid-lowerdividend-declaration-1553442350 http://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/stock-corporate/new-line-clothings-to-allocate- 30m-ipo-shares-1553442476
Automobile Sales pick up on economic boom Sales of commercial vehicles rose 10.65 percent year-on-year to 25,980 units in 2018 fuelled by rising economic activities amid stable political situation, according to data from Bangladesh Road transport Authority.Sales of truck led the growth of the commercial vehicle segment in the broader automobile industry: 12,663 trucks were sold last year, up 22.31 percent from 10,363 in 2017.Sales of covered vans were up 10.68 percent year-on-year to 5,729 units and that of tractors rose 28 percent to 3,553 units.bus sales were, however, down 26.72 percent to 2,755 units and cargo van sales dropped 9.41 percent to 1,280 units. The market of commercial vehicle has been booming for the last few years thanks to rising economic activities, said Hafizur Rahman Khan, chairman of Runner Group, distributor of Eicher truck. https://www.thedailystar.net/business/news/sales-pick-economic-boom-1720030 Automobile Ridesharing start-ups fail to woo CNG autos App-based ride-hailing start-ups have so far failed to bring CNG-run auto-rickshaws to their platforms due to unwillingness of drivers and their disagreement with vehicle owners over income sharing.at least seven start-ups had attempted to introduce app-based auto-rickshaw calling service for the city dwellers, but their efforts are now on the brink of washout.however, auto-rickshaw drivers are still showing previous excuses for not joining the ridesharing platform including their inability to use smartphone apps, dispute with vehicle owners and disagreement over existing fare structure.on the other hand, app developers said apart from theexcuses shown by CNG drivers, the main problem actually lies in their mindset.start-ups including MUV, Share a Motorcycle (SAM), CNGTrip, Hellow, Obhai, GOTi, and Metro CNG App have tried to launch CNG-run auto-rickshaw apps or adding auto-rickshaw calling options on the existing ridesharing platform. http://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/trade/ridesharing-start-ups-fail-to-woo-cng-autos- 1553484691
9 lakh mobile subscribers added in February Telecommunication The number of mobile subscribers increased by 8.94 lakh in February as all four mobile operators managed to add customers.as per the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission data, the number of total mobile phone subscribers increased to 15.84 crore at the end of February from 15.75 crore in January this year.leading mobile phone operator Grameenphone attained highest 4.02 lakh subscribers, taking its subscriberbase to 7.35 crore from 7.31 crore.third largest operator Banglalink s subscriber- base increased by 3.32 lakh to 3.4 crore at the end of February from 3.37 crore.the second largest operator Robi managed to add 1.25 lakh subscribers, taking its total number of subscribers to 4.70 crore from 4.69 crore.the lone state-owned entity Teletalk s number of subscribers increased by 36,000 in February to 39.21 lakh from 38.85 lakh a month ago. http://www.newagebd.net/article/68293/9-lakh-mobile-subscribers-added-in-february Others US-Bangla adds new aircraft to its fleet The US-Bangla Airlines received its first brand new ATR 72-600 aircraft at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) in the city on Sunday.The new aircraft started its journey from the Frankjal Airport of France on March 22. It reached Dhaka on the day after making stopovers in Egypt and Muscat for re-fuelling.the addition of the ATR aircraft raised the number of planes in the US-Bangla Airlines fleet to eight. The aircraft having 72 seats will be used for domestic flight operation from March 31.The US-Bangla currently operates with three Dash8- Q400 and four Boeing 737-800 aircraft. http://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/trade-market/us-bangla-adds-new-aircraft-to-itsfleet-1553443938 International Business Abu Dhabi aims to lure start-ups with investment in new technology hub Abu Dhabi will commit up to 1 billion dirhams ($272 million) to support technology start-ups, it said on Sunday, in a dedicated hub as part of efforts to diversify its economy.us tech giant Microsoft will be a strategic partner, providing technology and cloud services to the businesses that join the hub as the capital of the United Arab Emirates continues its push to reduce reliance on oil revenue.abu Dhabi derives about 50 per cent of its real gross domestic product and about 90 per cent of central government revenue from the hydrocarbon sector, according to ratings agency S&P.The emirate launched a 50 billion dirham ($13.6 billion) stimulus fund, Ghadan 21, in September last year to accelerate economic growth. Ghadan means tomorrow in Arabic.The new initiative, named Hub 71, is linked to Ghadan will also involve the launch of a 500 million dirham fund to invest in start-ups, said Ibrahim Ajami, head of Mubadala Ventures, the technology arm of Mubadala Investment Co. http://www.newagebd.net/article/68281/abu-dhabi-aims-to-lure-start-ups-withinvestment-in-new-technology-hub
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