BB to cap Interest Rates
The government is not giving up on capping the Interest Rates on Deposits and Lending at 6 percent and 9 percent respectively, with Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal yesterday informing the Bangladesh Bank will soon issue a notice on this. So far, 16 of the 57 Banks, including seven state Banks, have brought down their Interest Rate on Lending to single digit. Such interference to market mechanism will affect the Banking industry badly and Depositors will be discouraged to put their money in Banks. Sources in the meeting said the Bangladesh Association of Banks, a forum of private Banks’ sponsors, demanded relaxing the provisioning requirement against the bad loans that will be rescheduled under latest BB policy. A Bank has to keep aside 100 percent provisioning for bad loans, according to the present policy. Some BAB members demanded the facility as the government and the BB have decided to give defaulters another lifeline by rescheduling their bad loans with only 2 percent down payment and at 9 percent Interest Rate.
Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/business/news/bb-issue-notice-soon-capping-interest-rates-1781962
53.8 lac jobs will be at stake
Some 53.8 lac jobs spread across five specialised industries — garment, food and agriculture, furniture, tourism and hospitality, and leather and footwear — are at risk for the impending fourth industrial revolution, found a recent study. The study — Future Skills — conducted by Access to Information (a2i) programme under the ICT Division along with some local and international experts between May and October last year found the jobs will disappear within the next two decades for adoption of new technologies. Of the five sectors, garment will be the worst hit, with as many as 60 percent or 27 lac jobs vanishing by 2041. At the event a consultation meeting styled ‘Industry 4.0 and Future of Work’ also took place, where experts and industry insiders discussed the risks and how they can be mitigated. With this education system we cannot even produce quality accountants and that is why more than 100,000 accountants from the neighbouring country are working in Bangladesh. Without vocational education or proper training, we can’t face the challenge of 4.0 industry revolution. We have adopted technology and that will also help us to grow more. Currently, 25 lac people are working in this field and the industry still has huge demand, especially for trained manpower.
Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/business/news/538-lakh-jobs-will-be-stake-1781968
Growing economy attracts Japanese Businesses
AB Bank wants to recover and reduce its volume of non-performing loan [NPL] on priority basis. The other priorities the Bank is considering to implement in short-term are increasing volume of Deposit, boosting morale of its employee, imparting substantial training for them and investment on low-risk small and medium enterprises. If the NPL can be reduced below 10 per cent, all the indicators will start showing healthy sign. The AB Bank MD said the next step is to assess the real position of the Bank as far as innovation and quality of Banking services are concerned. Liquidity concentration in the Banking is one of the key reasons for existing liquidity crunch. The AB Bank MD said the Bank is also focusing on increasing agent Banking outlets. Currently AB Bank has some 40 outlets, at the end of this year they want increase the number to 200. The Bank’s total Deposits is Tk 235.44 billion, loans and advances Tk 241.07 billion, total assets Tk 322.53 billion, interest income Tk 194.7 billion and Profit after tax Tk 20 million, according to its annual report 2018. Tilottoma caters to around 25 percent of imported sanitary solutions in Bangladesh.
Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/business/news/growing-economy-attracts-japanese-businesses-1781950
Prime Bank’s half-year Profit rises 28pc
Prime Bank’s consolidated Profit rose 28 percent year-on-year to Tk 99 crore in the first half of 2019, the Bank said in a statement yesterday. Earnings Per Share (EPS) jumped to Tk 0.88 whereas it was Tk 0.68 in the same period a year ago. Consolidated net asset value per share also increased by more than 4 percent to Tk 22.82 on June 30 from Tk 21.93 six months ago. The Bank formally disclosed its half-yearly financial reports at its head office in Dhaka on Thursday. Local and foreign investment analysts and capital market experts attended the event through internet via live broadcast. According to the disclosure, the Bank’s Deposit has grown 6 percent and loan 5 percent. The Bank has also witnessed significant growth – 42 percent – in inward remittance and export and import business in the first of the current year.
Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/business/news/prime-banks-half-year-profit-rises-28pc-1781959
Commward honours Creative Communication Works
The ninth Communication Award or Commward took place in the capital on August 3 honouring the best works in creative communication in 23 categories. Three “Grand Prix”, 15 “Gold”, 27 “Silver” and 36 “Bronze” award winners were selected from 659 entries for the flagship initiative of Bangladesh Brand Forum (BBF). A special recognition was also presented to Grey Bangladesh for transcending creative communication in Bangladesh to a global stature. The award was organised in association with the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity and powered by The Daily Star. It is very crucial that Bangladesh’s creative industry has a smart approach and is aligned with the community as well, also a visual artist, performer and the president of empowerment organisation Women in Leadership.
Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/business/news/commward-honours-creative-communication-works-1781965
Fridge sales not up to Dealers’ expectations
Sales of refrigerators have gone up ahead of Eid-ul-Azha, the second biggest religious festival of Muslims. Electronic goods market observers have attributed the upward trend in fridge sales to the increased purchasing power of people. They think the sale of the widely-used electronic product has increased notably with the approaching of Eid-ul-Azha which is likely to be celebrated in the country on August 12. However, a section of traders have refrained from expressing satisfaction with the current rate of rise in fridge sale. They said they had expected a faster rate of rise in sale at this time when the Eid is only one week away. The sale of such electronics product has not increased as per expectations of the traders
Source: http://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/trade-market/fridge-sales-rise-but-not-up-to-the-dealers-expectations-1564939848
Premier Bank Australian Education Fair held
A daylong international education fair titled ‘Premier Bank Australian Education Fair – 2019’ was recently held at Lakeshore Hotel Gulshan, Dhaka, organised by Shaheda Higher Education Consultancy and Australian Education Service. A total of 17 renowned educational institutes from Malaysia and Australia along with Australian Award directly participated in the exhibition and provided counseling to the visiting students and guardians. Premier Bank Student File Service is one of the unique retail Banking services of the Bank to provide customized Banking solutions for the students going abroad for higher education.
Source: http://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/stock-corporate/premier-bank-australian-edn-fair-held-1564938826
Local and Global Stock Indices *
Index Name | Close Value | Value Change | Percentage Change |
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DSEX | 5,172.86418 | ↑3.13 | ↑0.06% |
DJIA | 26,485.01 | ↓98.41 | ↓0.37% |
FTSE100 | 7,407.06 | ↓177.81 | ↓2.34% |
Nikkei 225 | 20,597.84 | ↓489.32 | ↓2.32% |
World Commodities *
Commodity | Close Value | Value Change | Percentage Change |
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Crude Oil (WTI) | $ 55.06 | ↓0.60 | ↓1.08% |
Crude Oil (Brent) | $ 61.18 | ↓0.71 | ↓1.15% |
Gold Spot | $ 1,452.06 | ↑11.23 | ↑0.78% |
Major Currencies Exchange Rates Movement in Last Seven Days *
Exchange Rates |
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USD 1 | BDT 82.8709 |
GBP 1 | BDT 100.723 |
EUR 1 | BDT 92.0269 |
INR 1 | BDT 1.18776 |
*CURRENCIES AND COMMODITIES ARE TAKEN FROM BLOOMBERG.<