Inflation edges down in August
Inflation declined 13 basis points to 5.49 percent in August, helped by the downward movement of both food and non-food prices. Last month’s rate also bucked the rising trend as inflation had risen 10 basis points to 5.62 percent in the first month of the current fiscal year. Planning Minister MA Mannan released the monthly consumer price index report of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics at National Economic Council in Dhaka yesterday. He said that it was happy news that inflation did not go up in August. Food inflation edged down 15 basis points from 5.62 percent in July to 5.49 percent last month while non-food inflation came down to 5.82 percent, down 12 basis points from 5.94 percent a month ago. The government has targeted a 5.5 percent inflation rate in the current fiscal year. It was able to contain it at 5.48 percent last fiscal year, comfortably below the target of 5.6 percent.
Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/business/news/inflation-edges-down-august-1795228
BTRC starts work on 5G Guideline
Bangladesh is homing in on a 2022 roll-out of the Fifth Generation [5G] cellular network technology, with the telecom regulator now working on a guideline for the next generation of mobile internet connectivity that comes with super-fast speeds. With 5G, mobile users can expect average download speeds of at least 1 Gigabits per second, in contrast to 7.5 Megabits per second under 4G. A national committee—led by the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission’s spectrum management commissioner Md Aminul Hassan—yesterday convened to discuss issues that the guideline needs to address. 5G networks are already starting to appear and are expected to launch across the world by 2020. The Bangladesh government has initially targeted to launch 5G service by the end of 2022 or early 2023. But leading mobile phone operators said that the market ecosystem is not ready yet to reap the full benefits of 4G, let alone the next generation 5G.
Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/business/5g-mobile-internet-service-guideline-btrc-starts-work-1795237
FDI for Sustainable Economic Development: ICCB
Foreign Direct Investment [FDI] has an important role to play in helping to achieve the United Nations [UN] Agenda, Sustainable Development Goals [SDGs] by 2030, observed International Chamber of Commerce-Bangladesh [ICCB] at its current news bulletin [April-June 2019]. FDI has for long been the most viable method of wealth and technological transfer between the developing and the developed countries of the world,” as per the bulletin released here on Tuesday. FDI is considered to be the most powerful international mechanism for mobilizing tangible and intangible assets that are essential for growth and development. Global flow of FDI continued their slide in 2018, falling by 13 per cent to US$ 1.3 trillion. The decline – the third consecutive year’s fall in FDI – has been mainly due to large-scale repatriations of accumulated foreign earnings by United States Multinational Enterprises [MNEs] in the first two quarters of 2018, following tax reforms introduced by Trump administration at the end of 2017.
Source: http://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/trade-market/fdi-for-sustainable-economic-development-iccb-1567531497
BEZA to launch OSS Centre by end of September
The Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority [BEZA] is set to launch its ‘One Stop Service [OSS] Centre’ by the end of this month [September] to provide all the necessary services to the investors of the economic zones in a single window. Under the OSS center investors in the economic zones will get all sorts of services in a single window to start their business within a short time. BEZA has selected a total of 107 services under OSS center. Out of the services, BEZA is providing 52 services directly while the other 55 are being provided through the assistance of different ministries or departments. The BEZA chief law officer hoped that BEZA’s all 52 services will be available online within June, 2020.
Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/business/news/remittance-climbs-cash-incentive-1794730
ADN Telecom to issue Shares under Book Building
The securities regulator has allowed ADN Telecom to issue shares to Eligible Investors [EIs] and general public under the book building method. The regulatory consent came Tuesday at a meeting held at the office of the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission [BSEC]. As per the BSEC approval, the company will issue over 11.87 million shares to EIs at a price of Tk 30 each, the cut off price. Over 7.91 million shares will be issued to general investors at a price of Tk 27 each. The company will utilize the IPO [initial public offering] fund worth Tk 570 million to develop infrastructure, establish data center, repay bank loans and bear the IPO expenses. As per the financial statement for the year ended on June 30, 2017 the net asset value [NAV] per share is Tk 16.13. The basic EPS [earnings per share] and adjusted EPS are Tk 2.52 and Tk 2.36 respectively. The weighted average EPS stood at Tk 1.81.
Source: http://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/stock-corporate/adn-telecom-to-issue-shares-under-book-building-1567529338
Massive Policy reforms to attract Foreign Investors
Bangladesh needs massive policy reforms and more business-friendly rules and regulations to attract more foreign investors, according to Mr. Kazi M Aminul Islam, the outgoing executive chairman of Bangladesh Investment Development Authority [Bida]. Reforms and change in rules and policies should continue as per requirement. Bida has been working for the last three years to create a business-friendly environment. The country’s ranking will move into double-digit from last year’s 176th out of 190 countries in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business index, on the back of the Bida’s reform plan. Bida has prepared 88 reform proposals related to the ease of doing business. During the three-year period, the Bida allowed 937 foreign companies to open offices in Bangladesh and issued 8,319 work permits. Globally renowned investors such as Mitsubishi Motors, Suzuki, Toyota, Honda, Sumitomo, Reliance, Adani, Hitachi and JTI have either invested in the country or are set to invest. Foreign investors are giving priority to telecom, banking, power, energy, food processing, trading and agriculture sectors for their investment.
Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/business/news/massive-policy-reforms-must-attract-foreign-investors-1795231
Local and Global Stock Indices *
Index Name | Close Value | Value Change | Percentage Change |
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DSEX | 5007.05646 | ↓44.22 | ↓0.86% |
DJIA | 26,118.02 | ↓285.26 | ↓1.08% |
FTSE100 | 7,268.19 | ↓13.75 | ↓0.19% |
Nikkei 225 | 20,634.48 | ↑14.29 | ↑0.07% |
World Commodities *
Commodity | Close Value | Value Change | Percentage Change |
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Crude Oil (WTI) | $ 54.16 | ↑ 0.22 | ↑ 0.41% |
Crude Oil (Brent) | $ 58.44 | ↑ 0.18 | ↑ 0.31% |
Gold Spot | $ 1,544.25 | ↓ 2.85 | ↓ 0.18% |
Major Currencies Exchange Rates Movement in Last Seven Days *
Exchange Rates |
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USD 1 | BDT 82.8735 |
GBP 1 | BDT 99.8450 |
EUR 1 | BDT 90.7648 |
INR 1 | BDT 1.14669 |
*CURRENCIES AND COMMODITIES ARE TAKEN FROM BLOOMBERG.<