TT-Clean: 77.1 | TK BC-Selling: 78.1
TK OD-Sight: 76.88 TK | TC-Selling: 78.1 TK
TT-Clean: 77.1 | TK BC-Selling: 78.1
TK OD-Sight: 76.88 TK | TC-Selling: 78.1 TK
TT-Clean: 77.1 | TK BC-Selling: 78.1
TK OD-Sight: 76.88 TK | TC-Selling: 78.1 TK
Rate last updated: 02/01/2014 11:15:04 AM
The demand for private loans is on the rise this year, far surpassing the central bank’s target. Till September this year, the banking sector issued additional loans in the amount of Tk1,22,650 crore over loans issued in the same period last year. Private sector loan growth is nearing 18% after four-and-a-half years. According to Bangladesh Bank’s quarterly report on currency and exchange rates, until September this year banks gave out Tk7,97,789 crore in loans, whereas by the end of September 2016 it was Tk6,75,139 crore. In September 2016 the sector grew by 17.8%, and at the beginning of the current fiscal year loan disbursement growth was 16.94%. Till December 2017 the growth target was set to 16.3%. The report called the growth positive.
Source: http://www.dhakatribune.com/business/economy/2017/12/24/private-investment-grows-tk122000-crore/
School banking is gradually getting a huge response among students across the country as deposits with the banking accounts crossed Tk 1,200 crore at the end of September 2017. The central bank’s latest quarterly report on financial inclusion shows that a total of Tk 1,254.23 crore was deposited with 1,387,617 school banking accounts at 56 scheduled banks as of September 30 this year. During the July-September period, the deposit amount and accounts have increased 22.87 percent and 10.36 percent respectively compared to the same period of the previous year. During July-September of 2016, deposits with the school banking accounts were Tk 982.59 crore and accounts were 1,255,026. According to the report, the school banking service is more popular in cities than in rural areas as 843,607 school banking accounts were opened in cities against 544,010 accounts in rural areas. The banking is also more popular among the male students than female students as 815,434 school banking accounts were opened by male students against 572,183 by female students. “Bangladesh Bank launched the programme in November 2010 for school students to help them save up for the future, learn financial literacy at an early age and build the habit of saving,” a BB official told the news agency yesterday. Dutch-Bangla Bank, Islami Bank Bangladesh, Eastern Bank, United Commercial Bank and Rupali Bank are the five lenders that pulled most of the deposits from the students.
Source: http://www.thedailystar.net/business/banking/school-banking-deposits-cross-tk-1200cr-1508680
Bangladesh Bank (BB) asked on Thursday the all banks and Financial Institutions (FIs) to connect their established Point of Sale (POS) with the National Payment Switch of Bangladesh (NPSB) by December 2018 and to operate the interbank card transactions through NPSB, reports BSS. The central bank instructed the banks and FIs to implement the order immediately, said a BB circular in the city Thursday. Bangladesh Bank launched the POS for settling interbank transactions through credit and debit cards. With launching of the system, banks will settle their card transactions online using the NPSB, an automated common platform of BB for all banks to settle all interbank transactions.
A total of 88 percent of banks in Bangladesh have put in place centralised core banking systems, which are allowing them to avert fraud, cut cost and provide real-time services online to customers, according to a new research. The core banking software (CBS) usage rate is up from 59 percent in 2010, showed the research of the Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management (BIBM). The findings of the research titled “An Evaluation of Core Banking Software in Banks of Bangladesh” were shared at a workshop at the BIBM auditorium in Dhaka recently. Md Mahbubur Rahman Alam, an associate professor of the organisation, presented the paper. Under the centralised system, a bank manages its business and operations from its head office on the back of strong technological backbone. As a result, a traditional branch has just become a mere sales and services point and is banned from approving loans.
Source: http://www.thedailystar.net/business/banking/most-banks-adopt-centralised-systems-1509364
The number of multimillionaire depositors in Bangladesh has increased by 6,473 over the last one year, according to a Bangladesh Bank report released on Wednesday. As of June, the number of multimillionaires stood at 68,891, compared to 62,418 last year, the report noted. The number of multimillionaire account holders in commercial banks rose by 2,940 over a span of three months and by 3,094 over a six-month period. Khandkar Ibrahim Khaled, a former central bank deputy governor, said: “The rise in the number of multimillionaires indicates that the banking sector has been held hostage by the rich. And this happened due to a shift away from welfare economics to capitalism”.
Although protecting depositors’ interests is one of the key responsibilities of Bangladesh Bank, those interests are not being safeguarded, former BB governor Atiur Rahman alleged. “Entrepreneurs don’t even supply 10 percent of the bank’s deposits. Now the question arises what the central bank is doing to protect the interests of the depositors who supply 90 percent of the deposits,” he said. “Every possible step has to be taken to ensure security for public money. It is a matter of morality. Otherwise, the banking service will be harmed. Bangladesh Bank has to take a stronger stance [on the issue],” he said. Atiur was addressing the 20th biannual conference of Bangladesh Economic Association at the city’s Institution of Diploma Engineers Bangladesh. “Those of us who have discharged the responsibility of a governor [of the BB] know the worth of a piece of paper having our signatures. Everybody considers that as the currency. This is morality. In the same sense, it becomes immorality if a person can’t withdraw money using cheque despite having money in the bank,” he said. He also pointed out that the entire banking sector is run on trust. “Every single transaction is done on trust,” he added.
Source:
http://www.thedailystar.net/frontpage/bb-must-act-protect-depositors-interests-1509031
http://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/economy/bangladesh/get-tough-dealing-with-bad-banks-1514000691
Improvement in institutional governance and regulatory management in Bangladesh’s financial sector is sine qua non for higher economic growth with all in society taken on board. Such a piece of suggestion came Friday at the third working session of the 20th Biennial Conference 2017 of Bangladesh Economic Association (BEA). The session, titled ‘Economics and Ethics: Poverty and Inequality Issues’, was held at the Institute of Diploma Engineers Bangladesh (IDEB) in Dhaka. Three pillars of sustainable development, which ensures inclusiveness and propriety, were also pointed out by Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) distinguished fellow Professor Mustafizur Rahman at the meet. “Triangulation of the three pillars of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) — economic growth, social inclusiveness and environmental sustainability — is vital for economic growth and development of Bangladesh,” he said. To ensure this three-dimensional progress, the issues related to institutional governance and regulatory reform need to be addressed, Prof Mustafiz said.
Alarm bells rang louder Saturday from economists’ meet for immediate reform to restore discipline in Bangladesh’s banking system, seen largely ridden with irregularities. Financial-market analysts made the clarion call for urgent action specifically to stem the tide of non-performing loans and other forms of fraudulence and safeguard clientele interests. On a note of concern over present lending arrangements in the banking system, they said nearly half the banks of the country would face closure if the process of approving loans and disbursement were audited accordingly. They also suggested strict screening of investment by banks through further empowering the regulator and expansion of investment in green and social sector to ensure sustainable banking. The suggestions and observations came in a plenary session titled ‘Economics and Ethics: Banking Issues’ on the final day of the three-day-long BEA (Bangladesh Economic Association) 20th Biennial Conference 2017.
Bad loans and high inflation jacked up bank-interest rates persistently until recently, thus inflating cost of credit and deflating investment and economic growth. A researcher placed such findings in a concluding-day session of the Bangladesh Economic Association (BEA) that shed light on the latest state of Bangladesh’s economy, predominantly on banking and finance, growth, employment and morality of management. The research paper says lending rates and interest-rate spreads remained much higher in Bangladesh than in any advanced nations, indicating that there remains a scope for cuts. The researcher, Khan A Matin, formerly professor at the Institute of Statistical Research and Training of the University of Dhaka, used panel data 2010 to 2015 of 47 commercial banks to draw the conclusions.
Abul Kasem Khan and Kamrul Islam have been re-elected as president and senior vice-president of the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce & Industry respectively for the year 2018. Riyadh Hossain has been elected vice-president. The new board of directors took over the charge at the 56th annual general meeting of DCCI held at its auditorium in the capital on Saturday. The newly elected directors are Andaleeb Hasan, Md Al Amin, Mohammad Bashiruddin, Nuher L Khan, S M Zillur Rahman and Waqar Ahmad Choudhury.
Source: http://www.newagebd.net/article/31029/abul-kasem-khan-re-elected-dcci-president
Mercantile Bank Limited (MBL) recently signed an agreement with Moody’s at the Head Office of the Bank. Under this agreement, Moody’s, the renowned international credit rating agency will conduct the credit rating of MBL on the basis of Audited Financials December 31, 2017. Kazi Masihur Rahman, Managing Director & CEO, Md. Quamrul Islam Chowdhury, Additional Managing Director and CBO, Mati Ul Hasan, Additional Managing Director, CRO & CAMLCO and other high officials of Mercantile Bank Limited remained present in the ceremony.
Standard Chartered Bank, Bangladesh and Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (BEPZA) recently jointly organised a seminar on “Trade Finance Processes for Investors” for the companies based in the Chittagong Export Processing Zone. The seminar took place recently at the Investors Club within the Chittagong Export Processing Zone (CEPZ), said a statement. This was the second seminar, following the one held in the Dhaka EPZ earlier this year, where the Bank teamed up with BEPZA to familiarize investors on different rules, regulations and processes involved in international trade for companies within Export Processing Zones, and thereby increase efficiencies in import and export within the zones. Around 100 participants from different companies within the CEPZ attended the seminar.
The government will take a mega project for accelerating the contribution of informal industries, like decent work, in the country’s national economy, reports BSS. “Every year, about 20 lakh youths join in the job market. Bangladesh can create job opportunities for them through public-private initiatives,” said Industries Minister Muhammad Abdullah, speaking as chief guest at a workshop in the capital. The workshop on “Informal Economy of Bangladesh: Consolidate Dynamisms and Role of ISISC” was held at city hotel, said a press release. International Labour Organisation (ILO) and Informal Sector Industry Skills Council (NSDC) organised the workshop to develop skills in the informal sector at the national level. Among others, NSDC Chairman Mirza Nurul Gani Shovon, and ILO Programme Officer Tanjim Ahsan were present at the meeting.
Source: http://www.theindependentbd.com/post/129517
The government plans to establish three new commercial wings in China, Turkey and South Africa amid the lure of trade bonanza in the world’s emerging economic hubs. Commerce Ministry officials informed that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had already given the green signal while a proposal had been sent to the Ministry of Public Administration for the creation of necessary posts for the proposed commercial wings.
Coastal shipping between Bangladesh and India is growing rapidly. The shipment of 1,000 tons of SAIL-TMT High corrosion-resistant (HCR) reinforcement bars last week for the Indo-Bangla Maitree Super Thermal Power plant from Kolkata Port was yet another big volume bilateral economic transaction. This came shortly after the recent shipment of 185 Ashok Leyland trucks from Chennai to Mongla port in October this year. Had the consignment been sent via road, it would have had to travel about 1,500 kilometres from South India to Bangladesh. The journey would have taken at least 15 days. But coastal shipping has cut the travel time. Ashok Leyland will send thousands of truck chassis (out of 12,000 consignments) to Bangladesh in the coming days by the direct sea route linking Chennai with Mongla port. The current pace of growth in coastal and inland water shipping, following a bilateral agreement finalised in 2015, has raised expectations among analysts about a huge increase in movement of goods between the two countries.
Under a government-to-government initiative, Bangladesh is seeking multi-billion dollar support from Japan for implementing 18 infrastructure projects, including a second Padma bridge and a second metro rail line. The 6.1km bridge would link Paturia and Goalondo thus better connecting Dhaka with the western and south-western districts while the metro rail would run from Ashulia to Kamalapur via Savar. The estimated cost of 11 of the 18 projects is $10 billion. The cost evaluation for the other projects is going on.
The commerce ministry has suggested creating a low-cost fund of Tk 48 billion for the jute sector instead of the proposed Tk 100 billion fund. The ministry put forward the suggestion in a letter sent to the finance division last week. It recommended setting up a fund on the model of the existing Export Development Fund (EDF) with the facility of 2.0 per cent interest rate on loans to help jute goods producers purchase necessary raw materials.
The country’s apex trade body has proposed Argentine business leaders to develop bilateral trade and investment for mutual benefits of the two countries. First vice-president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) Sheikh Fazle Fahim made the proposal during his meeting with the leaders of Argentina Chamber of Commerce and Services in the sidelines of WTO ministerial meeting in Buenos Aires recently.
The country’s bicycle industry is eyeing a ‘positive’ export growth in the international market in near future by overcoming a slowdown in its export in past few years. Industry insiders said the local market of bicycle has expanded substantially in recent years with an increasing number of bicyclists especially in urban areas that encouraged several companies to manufacture quality products for the country. According to Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), in the first five months (from July to November) of the current fiscal year 2017-18, Bangladesh exported US$ 34.02 million worth of bicycles, up by 10.20 per cent, compared to $ 30.87 million during the same period of the last fiscal year 2016-17.
Chinese mobile phone maker Transsion Holdings is set to establish a device assembling plant in Bangladesh over the next few months, making it the first foreign brand to do so. The government has slashed the customs duty for mobile components meant for local assembling by 36 percentage points to 1 percent in the last budget, which has piqued the interest of many local and global players. At the same time, the government doubled the customs duty on handset import to 10 percent, which made Transsion’s decision to set up the assembling plant easier, said Rezwanul Haque, chief executive officer of Transsion Bangladesh. Transsion has targeted to market its locally-assembled devices — both smart and feature phones — from the second quarter of next year, he said. It has completed all planning, with commercial assembling scheduled to start in the middle of next year.
Source: http://www.thedailystar.net/business/chinese-firm-set-mobile-assembly-plant-1509373
Star Particle Boards Mills Limited handed over ‘special awards’ among its dealers who have achieved the half yearly sales target under the campaign ‘PARTEX CHANNEL PARTNER HIGH PERFORMANCE REWARD PROGRAM’, in a ceremony in the capital recently, says a statement. CEO, Complex 1 of Partex Star Group, K M Ali, Consultant D H Choudhury, CFO Peyar Ahamed, Head of Admin and Corporate Affairs Dewan Rashidul Hasan and Head of Operation Mohammad Abdur Raquib handed over the awards to the dealers.
Citycell, which has been out of service since October last year, is trying to reenter the telecommunication business as the now defunct mobile phone operator is aiming to get 4G licence. Officials of Citycell yesterday attended a pre-bid meeting with Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) on spectrum auction. The auction will take place in February. The regulator is likely to allow Citycell to apply for the fourth-generation technology licence and participate in the auction as no other new entities have shown interest to invest in this market. During the meeting at the BTRC office in Dhaka, Citycell wanted to know whether it can obtain 4G licence and take part in the spectrum auction, said a top official of the regulator who attended the meeting. “Citycell has the licence and as we are yet to get any response from any new interested party, the commission may give them another chance,” said the official who deals with 4G issue.
Source: http://www.thedailystar.net/business/banking/citycell-eyes-4g-licence-make-comeback-1508686
ICC Bangladesh President Mahbubur Rahman said the global economy delivered an impressive output of about US$75 trillion in 2016 and is expected to reach $100 trillion by 2021. However, the existing outmoded operating system of the world economy is constrained in its ability to deliver adequately fair social outcome and to protect the planet, he added. “Indeed, we need a new global economic architecture to overcome these structural challenges,” he said. The ICC Bangladesh President made the remarks at the inaugural session of a three-day Workshop on ‘International Trade Finance and Development of Global Value Chains’ that began in Bangkok on December 20, says a press statement. ICC Bangladesh jointly with ICC Thailand and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP) has organised the event.
Prof Dr Rehman Sobhan identified on Thursday a number of areas of ethical failures, including capital market, banking sector and functioning of commodity market. He also found ethical failures in other sectors like apparels, public service, access to healthcare and quality education. “There is also ethical failure in the country’s democratic system, and the democracy needs to be democratised,” said the renowned economist, who is the chairman of the country’s oldest private think-tank — Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD). He was speaking as the guest of honour at the 20th biennial conference of Bangladesh Economic Association (BEA), a group of over 4,000 members.
Train services across the country suffered massive schedule mismatch on Saturday, amid ongoing foggy weather and extra pressure of passengers. The trains of different routes were 3.0 to 8.0 hours behind their respective schedules, raising woes of the travellers, according to a spot account from Kamalapur Railway Station (KRS) in the city. The sufferings particularly of children, women and elderly people seemed unbearable. The passengers in a large number opted for train journey to avoid journey on highways, considering it risky for their dilapidated condition and dense fog, a passenger told the FE at the KRS.
| Index Name | Close Value | Value Change | Percentage Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| DSEX | 6,182.79 | ↓13.69 | ↓0.22% |
| DJIA | 24,754.06 | ↓28.23 | ↓0.11% |
| FTSE100 | 7,592.66 | ↓11.32 | ↓0.15% |
| Nikkei 225 | 22,902.76 | ↑36.66 | ↑0.16% |
| Commodity | Close Value | Value Change | Percentage Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crude Oil (WTI) | $ 58.47 | ↑0.11 | ↑0.19% |
| Crude Oil (Brent) | $ 65.25 | ↑0.35 | ↑0.54% |
| Gold Spot | $ 1,274.16 | ↑7.56 | ↑0.60% |
| Exchange Rates | |
|---|---|
| USD 1 | BDT 82.65 |
| GBP 1 | BDT 110.45 |
| EUR 1 | BDT 98.04 |
| INR 1 | BDT 1.29 |
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