Inflation jumps to 6.29% in April
The point-to-point inflation rate jumped by 0.07 percentage point in April to 6.29%, the highest in 18 months, mainly because of soaring commodity prices in the international market, appreciation of dollars globally and a rise in domestic household demand. The overall inflation was 6.22% in March. The inflation rate for nonfood items saw a big jump of 0.35 percentage points to 6.39%, while food inflation dropped to 6.24% from 6.34% a month ago. And, inflation also increased in urban and rural areas, according to a report released by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS). The regular BBS release titled “Consumer Price Index (CPI), Inflation Rate and Wage Rate Index (WRI) in Bangladesh” revealed that the average inflation for the last 12 months was 5.81%, substantially higher than the government target of 5.5%. The average inflation was 5.6% in the previous year.
Source: https://www.tbsnews.net/economy/inflation-jumps-629-april-422586
Pre-shipment credit refinancing relaxed to increase exports
The central bank on Wednesday relaxed the loan terms of the pre-shipment credit refinancing for all export-oriented companies affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. From now on, banks will be able to disburse up to 50% loan for packing credit, a loan provided to exporters or sellers to finance the goods procurement before shipment, under the pre-shipment credit refinancing scheme, the Bangladesh Bank said in a new circular issued on Sunday. There was no loan facility for packing credit under the incentive package previously. Besides, under the previous terms, the interest rate for such loans at the customer level was 5%, of which the banks would get 1%. The new terms have lowered the interest rate to 3% at the customer level, of which banks will get 0.5%. The central bank set up a special fund of Tk5,000 crore called a pre-shipment credit refinancing scheme on 26 April last year. According to a Bangladesh Bank report, only Tk651 crore of the fund was disbursed till 13 April since July of the current fiscal year, amounting to only 13% of the target. Only 67 companies have availed the benefits.
Source: https://www.tbsnews.net/economy/banking/pre-shipment-credit-refinancing-relaxed-increase-exports-422574
Govt approves purchasing 33.6 lakh MMBtu LNG
The Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase has approved eight proposals, including the import of 33.60 lakh MMBtu (metric million British thermal unit) LNG to meet the growing demand in the country. The approval came at a meeting of the committee held virtually on Wednesday with the Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal in the chair. After the meeting, Cabinet Division Additional Secretary Zillur Rahman Chowdhury told the media that PetroBangla would procure 33.60 lakh MMBtu LNG from M/S Vitol Asia Pte Ltd, Singapore for Tk909.14 crore. The meeting also approved a proposal of the Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) to import 40,000 tonnes of Diammonium phosphate (DAP) from OCP, SA Morroco for Tk407.41 crore.
Source: https://www.tbsnews.net/economy/govt-approves-purchasing-336-lakh-mmbtu-lng-422554
Local and Global Stock Indices *
Index Name | Close Value | Value Change | Percentage Change |
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DJIA | $ 31,490.07 | ↓ 1,164.52 | ↓ 3.57 % |
FTSE100 | $ 7,438.09 | ↓ 80.26 | ↓ 1.07 % |
Nikkei 225 | $ 26,446.72 | ↓ 464.48 | ↓ 1.73 % |
World Commodities *
Commodity | Close Value | Value Change | Percentage Change |
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Crude Oil (WTI) | $ 110.55 | ↑ 0.96 | ↑ 0.88 % |
Crude Oil (Brent) | $ 110.70 | ↑ 1.59 | ↑ 1.46 % |
Gold Spot | $ 1,814.24 | ↓ 2.36 | ↓ 0.13 % |
Major Currencies Exchange Rates Movement in Last Seven Days *
Exchange Rates |
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USD 1 | BDT 87.5000
|
GBP 1 | BDT 108.0100 |
EUR 1 | BDT 91.6125 |
|
*World Commodities & Local and Global Stock Indices data are taken from bloomberg.com<
* Exchange Rates are taken from BB website, as on latest update.<