Govt endorses Delta Plan
The government on Tuesday endorsed the ‘Delta Plan 2100’, identifying six key areas of intervention for achieving Bangladesh’s upper middle-income country status. The coastal, Barind, drought-prone, haor and flood-prone, Chittagong Hill Tracts, riverine, and urban areas are the fields, which have been identified as the hotspots under the plan. In the short-term through the financial year (FY) 2031, the investment equivalent to 2.5 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) will be required for addressing the impact of the climate change and poverty reduction. The country would require some $37 billion funds by 2031 for implementing nearly 80 projects under the Plan. The plan will be implemented by 2030 in the short-term, 2050 in the medium-term and 2100 in the long-term. By 2031, Bangladesh will graduate to the upper middle income country (UMIC) status from the current lower tier if the plan is implemented properly. Besides, the plan has a target to help the country grow at 9.0 per cent on an average by 2031 and the poverty will be cut to zero per cent by 2027. Some 133 projects have so far been selected for execution under the delta plan. Out of those, some 80 projects have been selected for the implementation, which are directly related to climate change and water sector related.
Source: http://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/first-page/govt-endorses-delta-plan-1536082838
AIIB to bring $270m for water supply project
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) plans to bring $270 million to Bangladesh for a municipal water supply and sanitation project. The AIIB and the WB will contribute $130 million each and the Bangladesh government will chip in $10 million. The project will be implemented from March 2019 to March 2024, according to the project proposal. Currently, the AIIB has provided a total of $274 million in funding to three projects in Bangladesh. The cost per connection was Tk 600. The beneficiaries complained that they had paid Tk 5,000 to Tk 10,000 per connection. It began operations in January 2016 and has now grown to 87 approved members from around the world.
Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/news/business/aiib-bring-270m-water-supply-project-1629223
Aug remittance flow rises 7.0pc
The flow of remittances grew by more than 7.0 per cent in August as expatriates sent increased amount of money on the occasion of Eid-ul-Azha. The money sent home by Bangladeshis working abroad amounted to $ 1.41 billion in August 2018, up by $ 92.87 million from the previous month’s level, according to the central bank statistics released on Tuesday. In July last, the remittances stood at $ 1.32 billion. It was $ 1.42 billion in August 2017. the flow of remittances increased by 7.70 per cent to $ 2.73 billion during the July-August period of fiscal year (FY) 2018-19 from $ 2.53 billion in the same period of the FY’ 18. Currently, 29 exchange houses are operating across the globe, setting up 1,213 drawing arrangements abroad, to expedite the remittance inflow, according to the central banker. All PCBs received $ 1.03 billion as remittances in August last while the state-owned commercial banks received $ 357.23 million, foreign commercial banks (FCBs) $ 10.74 million, and specialized banks $ 15.38 million.
Source: http://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/trade-market/aug-remittance-flow-rises-70pc-1536077689
DSE transfers stake to Chinese partner
Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) handed over its 25 per cent stake to a Chinese consortium on Tuesday after completion of necessary formalities under the exchange’s demutualization move. The premier bourse received fund amounting to Tk 9.62 billion on Monday in exchange of its one-fourth stake, which has been transferred into BO (beneficiary owner’s) account of the Chinese consortium. Now the fund will be equally distributed among the DSE Trading Right Entitlement Certificate (TREC)-holders, as each of them sold 25 per cent of respective share holdings. DSE signed the share purchase agreement with the Chinese consortium on May 14. The Chinese consortium earlier offered Tk 22 per share for 25 per cent of the DSE’s total shares. It also offered technical supports worth nearly US$ 37 million for free. However, the price offered by the Chinese consortium declined to Tk 21 per share following DSE’s dividend disbursement. Another consortium, led by National Stock Exchange of India (NSE), was the second highest bidder for being the strategic partner. It offered Tk 15 per share for 25.01 per cent of the DSE’s total shares.
Source: http://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/first-page/dse-transfers-stake-to-chinese-partner-1536083189
Agreement between Dhaka Bank and Praava Health
Managing Director & CEO of Dhaka Bank Limited Syed Mahbubur Rahman and Founder, Managing Director & CEO of Praava Health Sylvana Q. Sinha exchanging documents of a memorandum of understanding in the capital recently. Under this agreement, Dhaka Bank employees will enjoy 20 per cent discount and all Dhaka Bank credit and debit cardholders will enjoy 15 per cent discount on pathology, imaging, and procedures at Praava Health all year round.
Source: http://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/stock-corporate/agreement-between-dhaka-bank-and-praava-health-1536081592
Four-day textile, garment expos begin in city on Sept 12
A four-day textile and garment exposition will begin in the city on September 12 to showcase the latest products and emerging technologies for the textile and garment industry. The Conference and Exhibition Management Services Ltd (CEMS-Global) will organize three expositions titled Textech, Yarn & Fabric and DyeChem at the International Convention City Bashundhara in Dhaka. The expositions–19th Textech Bangladesh International Expo, 14th Dhaka International Yarn and Fabric Show and 33th DyeChem Bangladesh Expo 2018 will open at 10.30am and run until 7.30pm every day. Around 1250 companies with 1500 booths from 25 countries across the globe will participate in this exhibition, organizers mentioned at the press met. In the previous fiscal year, Bangladesh earned $30.61 billion which was 80.7 per cent of total yearly export income and 8.76 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP), it added.
Source: http://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/trade-market/four-day-textile-garment-expos-begin-in-city-on-sept-12-1536077741
Traders queue up to import rock salt
Private-sector traders are persuading the government to allow them to import salt as the country has a huge deficit of such a key essential item. Till last week, over 11 importers of the country proposed to import rock salt from neighboring India. The government has not yet taken any decision to import salt this year as the country has a stock of around 0.4 million tonnes of the essential item. The government imported 0.25 million and 0.5 million tonnes of crude salt in 2016 and 2017 respectively in an attempt to stabilize the local market, he added. The deficit of salt was about 0.35 million tonnes in the last two years. Some 0.75 million tonnes of crude salt were imported against the deficit. The BSCIC set a target to produce 1.8 million tonnes of salt in the current season against the domestic demand for over 1.65 million tonnes. The annual demand for salt increases by 10 per cent in line with the growing population. The country produced 1.62 million tonnes of salt in fiscal year 2015-16 and 1.66 million tonnes in the FY 2016-17.
Source: http://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/trade-market/traders-queue-up-to-import-rock-salt-1536077866
Local and Global Stock Indices *
Index Name | Close Value | Value Change | Percentage Change |
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DSEX | $5,552.80768 | ↓47.83 | ↓0.85% |
DJIA | $ 25,952.48 | ↓ 12.34 | ↓0.05% |
FTSE100 | $7,457.86 | ↓46.74 | ↓0.62% |
Nikkei 225 | $22,589.61 | ↓107.29 | ↓0.47% |
World Commodities *
Commodity | Close Value | Value Change | Percentage Change |
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Crude Oil (WTI) | $69.38 | ↓0.49 | ↓0.70% |
Crude Oil (Brent) | $77.92 | ↓0.25 | ↓0.32% |
Gold Spot | $1,193.77 | ↑2.25 | ↑0.19% |
Major Currencies Exchange Rates Movement in Last Seven Days *
Exchange Rates |
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USD 1 | BDT 83.7374 |
GBP 1 | BDT 107.7030 |
EUR 1 | BDT 97.1103 |
INR 1 | BDT 1.1716 |
*CURRENCIES AND COMMODITIES ARE TAKEN FROM BLOOMBERG.