Tax holiday to boost local manufacturing of automobiles

The 20-year tax-exemption support announced in the proposed budget will definitely take Bangladesh’s growing automobile industry to an impressive stage and promote local manufacturing, according to industry insiders. Credible data is hard to come by but the sector players assume that annual automobile and three-wheeler sales reach no less than Tk 40,000 crore and are growing at 10 to 12 per cent on average.Manufacturers are set to get a tax holiday for 10 years if 30 per cent of the components used are locally sourced and another 10 years if it is 40 per cent. The sector is now import dependent as no manufacturing plant has come about since the country gained independence some 50 years back.This long term policy support will encourage investors and help develop the industry, which exemplifies the government’s farsightedness. Side by side, the government should give benefits to component makers to develop the industry, he said, adding that the automobile sector cannot be developed without the development of component makers.According to him, around 3,000 light engineering companies will benefit from this initiative and provide a good scope to improve the quality of products.

Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/business/news/tax-holiday-boost-local-manufacturing-automobiles-2106901

LankaBangla gets $15m foreign loan

LankaBangla Finance has received a foreign loan of $15 million from Luxembourg-basedBlueOrchard Microfinance Fund. The loan proceeds will meet financing needs of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and green and sustainable projects such that hardships stemming from the coronavirus pandemic can be smoothly overcome. Switzerland-based impact fund manager BlueOrchard Finance and Green Delta Capital made the arrangements last month. The Green Delta is also acting as the security agent on behalf of BlueOrchard Microfinance Fund in this transaction.The non-bank financial institution received its maiden foreign loan in 2019 from the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector. BlueOrchard seeks to contribute to economic, environmental and social development and to improve access to financial services to those at the bottom of the pyramid as well as SMEs, mainly in emerging markets.NormundsMizis, chief credit officer of BlueOrchard Finance, said it would give a boost to the SME sector in Bangladesh.

Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/business/news/lankabangla-gets-15m-foreign-loan-2106877

Stocks fall amid profit booking

The stock market took a dip yesterday due the profit booking tendency among investors. The DSEX, the benchmark index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), dropped 62 points, or 1.03 per cent, to 5,975.Turnover, another important indicator of the market, plunged 21 per cent to Tk 2,083 crore yesterday. At the DSE, 98 stocks advanced, 242 fell and 27 remained unchanged. The market witnessed massive fall in sectors that jumped at higher rates in recent months.The life insurance sector dropped 2.29 per cent while banks fell 1.78 per cent, cement 2.09 per cent, and mutual fund 1.37 per cent, according to data from UCB Stock Brokerage. In the last few days, these sectors had topped the gainers’ list as most of the related companies’ stocks rose by 7 to 18 per cent, according to DSE data. Stocks of Beximco Limited and Grameenphone were the top contributors to the plunge as they collectively brought the DSEX down by 31 points, as per data from amarstock.com, a market analysis website. National Housing Finance Corporation topped the gainers’ list, rising 10 per cent, followed by Desh Garments, Pioneer Insurance, Lub-rref Bangladesh and Aman Cotton Fibrous. Stocks of Beximco traded the most with Tk 247 crore, followed by LankaBangla Finance, Fortune Shoes, Pioneer Insurance and SaifPowertec. First Security Islami Bank shed the most, losing 12.5 per cent followed by Exim Bank, Standard Bank, Beximco and CAPM IBBL Mutual Fund.

Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/business/news/stocks-fall-amid-profit-booking-2106881

Beximco wins Tk 356cr public works

Beximco Ltd has won three public work orders involving Tk 356.5 crore. The listed company made the disclosure on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) website yesterday in response to a query from the bourse.The security filing, however, failed to cheer the stocks of the company. It closed 5.70 per cent lower at Tk 91 yesterday. A consortium of Beximco’s IT Division, Dohatec New Media, and DotGov Solutions LLC USA signed a deal with the Central Procurement Technical Unit to develop a full-fledged electronic project management information system for Tk 47.5 crore.Another consortium of Beximco’s IT Division, Tech Mahindra Ltd of India, and Tech Valley Networks Ltd of Bangladesh was handed a contract worth Tk 261 crore.

Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/business/news/beximco-wins-tk-356cr-public-works-2106869

City Bank reelects chairman, vice chairman

City Bank yesterday witnessed the reelection of the chairman and vice chairman of its Board of Directors. Aziz Al Kaiser and Hossain Khaled are both sponsor directors. Elected chairman in 2007 and 2018, Mr. Kaiser is a director of Partex Star Group and chairman and managing director of several of its subsidiaries and chairman of the bank’s subsidiary in Malaysia, CBL Money Transfer Sdn Bhd. Mr. Khaled joined the Anwar Group of Industries in 2000 and is serving as managing director. He is the founding president of Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) Bangladesh and chairman of City Brokerage and City Hong Kong.

Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/business/news/city-bank-reelects-chairman-vice-chairman-2106829