BDT 1.3 trillion liquidity glut in banks cools market: No pre-festival call money volatility

An all-time-high BDT 1.3 trillion liquidity glut in banks cast a damper on usual pre-festival upswing of call money in inter-bank borrowings, officials said. The inter-bank call-money rate remained stable Monday, barely a week before the Eid-ul-Azha fiesta that sees a binge of buying sacrificial animals and their rawhides. The call rate ranged between 2.8% and 4.5% on the day, against the previous range between 2.65% and 4.50%. However, most of the deals were settled at rates varying between 3.5% and 4.0%, they added. On the other hand, the total turnover on the call-money market rose to BDT 58.6 billion on the day from BDT 57.8 billion last Sunday. A senior treasury official of a leading private commercial bank told the Financial Express that the call-money rate is unlikely to rise ahead of the Eid festival despite higher withdrawal of cash from the banks. He also said such short-term borrowings normally increase before Eid to meet a growing demand for money from the banks. Meanwhile, the overall excess liquidity with the commercial banks stood at around BDT 1.3 trillion as of July 14 last from BDT 1.2 trillion as on June 30, according to the officials.

Source: http://print.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2016/09/06/151186

Imports dip 18.0% in July

Import payments registered a negative growth of 18.4% in July, the first month of the fiscal year, compared with that of a 16.0% growth in the same month of the FY15 because of sluggish business situation in the country and lower commodity prices on the international market. BB officials told New Age on Monday that the businesspeople were still maintaining a go-slow policy to settle letters of credit as they thought that the country’s existing business environment and law and order situation were not favorable enough for business expansion. According to the BB data, the settlement of LCs stood at USD 2.8 billion in July of the FY17 against USD 3.4 billion during the same month a financial year ago. The settlement of LCs was worth USD 3.0 billion in July of FY14. The import of industrial raw materials, however, posted a slightly higher growth of 2.6% in July of the FY17 compared with that of a 0.6% growth during the same month of the FY16. The settlement of LCs for the industrial raw materials stood at USD 1.2 billion in July of FY17 against USD 1.2 billion in the same month of FY16. Settlement of the LCs for petroleum products posted a negative growth of 33.5% in the first month of FY17 compared with that of a negative growth of 60.9% in the same month of FY16. The import payments for petroleum products stood at USD 114.3 million in July of FY17 against USD 168.2 million in the same period of FY16.

Source: http://newagebd.net/250253/imports-dip-18pc-july/

August export rises by 19.8% after July slump

Country’s exports bounced back in August with a 19.8% growth to USD 3.3 billion, compared to August 2015, after July slump. Industry-insiders said the turnaround was driven by increased apparel shipments in August, after a 3.5% fall in July’16 from the mark a year before. This happened to be first decline since September 2015. The July turnover in total export trade was worth USD 2.5 billion. The August figure was 16.5% above the government’s monthly target set for the month, according to provisional data with Export Promotion Bureau (EPB). The overall export earnings grew by 8.4% to USD 5.83 billion in the first two months of the current fiscal year (FY), 2016-17, compared to the corresponding period of last fiscal. However, the total two-month earnings fell short of set July-Aug target by 6.01%, the provisional data showed. Earnings from the lead sector, readymade garments, comprising knitwear and woven items, stood at USD 4.84 billion that marked an 8.0% growth during the period.

Source:
http://print.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2016/09/06/151177
http://www.thedailystar.net/business/exports-bounce-back-aug-1281265
http://www.dhakatribune.com/business/2016/09/06/export-earnings-rise-20-aug/
http://newagebd.net/250254/export-earnings-rebound-strongly-aug/

Tax-return filing to go online this year

The National Board of Revenue is working to give taxpayers the convenience to file and submit tax returns online from this year. “We want to launch the digital platform ahead of the income tax fair in the first week of November this year so that individual taxpayers can file and submit returns online,” said a senior official of NBR seeking to remain unnamed. The deadline for individuals to submit income tax returns is November 30, which is now called Tax Day. Taxpayers will have to pay penalty if they do not submit returns on or before the deadline, the NBR said.Taxmen said they have already accommodated the current fiscal year’s income tax-related changes in the software to introduce the e-filing system. “We are fine-tuning the system now so that taxpayers can easily accomplish their tasks,” the official said. The e-filing of tax returns is one of the two major schemes that the NBR took earlier to automate the tax and VAT systems to ease taxpayers’ hassles and increase transparency and accountability in revenue administration. Once introduced, the digital platform is also expected to reduce human interaction and ensure higher compliance by taxpayers. In the past, particularly since 2009, the tax authority took several initiatives to facilitate tax return submission and tax payment online.

Source: http://www.thedailystar.net/business/tax-return-filing-go-online-year-1281277

Customs houses to remain open Sept 9-11

The customs houses will remain open on September 9, 10 and 11 ahead of Eid-ul-Azha for ensuring smooth export and import services of readymade garments. The National Board of Revenue took the decision this afternoon to facilitate export and import activities of the country’s main export earning industry, said a press release. However, the government has declared September 11 a holiday as part of a six-day long vacation starting from this Friday (September 9). The NBR said its customs houses in Dhaka, Chittagong, Mongla, Pangaon and Benapole will remain open to provide services to exporters.

Source: http://www.thedailystar.net/business/customs-houses-remain-open-sept-9-11-1281004

Employees rush to obtain e-TINs

The rush to obtain taxpayer identification numbers intensified after the National Board of Revenue mandated that public and private sector employees, who earn Tk 16,000 or more a month, will have to have TINs to receive their salaries. Some 1.31 lakh individuals have signed up for electronically generated TINs since July 1, to comply with the tax authority’s rule. “It appears that employers have started asking employees to get TINs. The amount of salaries paid to employees will be treated as income, if employers fail to show TINs,” said a senior official of NBR, asking not to be named. Public sector employees who draw salaries and allowances at the 10th grade will have to have TINs, the NBR said in a notification early this month.

Source: http://www.thedailystar.net/business/employees-rush-obtain-e-tins-1280788