Annual Development Program off to a slow start

The ministries and divisions put to use 3.86% of their total outlay in the first two months of the fiscal year, up from 3.0% they managed a year earlier. The slight increase would come as a setback to the government, which has taken a host of initiatives over the last two to three years to bump up development spending. Between July and August, BDT 47.6 billion was spent from the annual development program allocation, in contrast to BDT 33.5 billion a year earlier. ADP spending in the first two months has been declining since fiscal 2013-14. In fiscal 2012-13 the spending was BDT 45.4 billion, which came down to BDT 42.5 billion in fiscal 2013-14 and BDT 39.9 billion the year after.

Source: http://www.thedailystar.net/business/adp-slow-start-1292860

Country to see a ‘boom’ of middle class

The country’s middle class is projected to rise by 37 million to 59 million in the next decade, according to latest findings by an international organization. New York City-based Ogilvy & Mather said the emerging middle class will drive consumer trends and social change over the next 10 years. However, local experts, who deal with such issue, said Bangladesh’s present growth is not supportive of such a big jump in the number of the middle class people. According to the World Bank, the middle class must have per capita income of over USD 4,000 a year. Ogilvy & Mather, an advertising, marketing and public relations organization, however, said the expected level of investment and sustainability of macroeconomic fundamentals will lead to a significant rise of the middle class in the country. But economists say a planned urbanization should be in place immediately to cope with the needs of the growing middle class.

Source: http://print.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2016/10/01/152994

Government plans to construct 30 power plants

The government plans to construct 30 power plants with the generation capacity of 10,743 Megawatt (MW) to ensure smooth and uninterrupted power supply across the country, a top official said, reports BSS. “The current power generation capacity is 14,980 MW, covering 78.0% of the population in the country,” Director General of Power Cell under Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry Engineer Mohammad Hossain told BSS on Saturday. The government’s target, the DG said, is to increase power generation capacity to 24,000 MW by the year 2021. Of the 30 power plants, 16 having the capacity of 6,703 MW would be set up under public initiatives, while 14 with 4,040 MW capacity under private initiatives, said Eng Hossain.

Source: http://print.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2016/10/02/153056

Dhaka Northern Power eyes BDT 3.13 billion in revenue

Dhaka Northern Power Generations plans to generate BDT 3.13 billion in revenue a year by selling electricity to Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB). BPDB recently approved the date of commercial operation of a 55MW power plant of Dhaka Northern, which is owned by Doreen Power Generations and Systems, in Manikganj. “As per a power purchase agreement, BPDB will buy electricity from the plant for 15 years from the date of commercial operation, effective from August 17,” the company said in a statement on the Dhaka Stock Exchange website yesterday. Doreen Power, which owns a 98.52% stake in Dhaka Northern, will benefit from the revenue earnings. Set up in 2007, Doreen Power has three electricity plants that generate and supply 66MW to BPDB and Rural Electrification Board under two agreements for a period of 15 years, according to the company’s website.

Source:
http://www.thedailystar.net/business/dhaka-northern-power-eyes-BDT-313cr-revenue-1291717
http://print.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2016/09/30/152899

Ship-breakers to make 3.0 million tons of steel in 2016

The country’s ship-breaking industry is likely to manufacture some 3.0 million tons of scrap steel this year, as import of scarp ships has increased substantially in the recent days. According to industry sources, the country has already imported about 187 scrap ships having 2,431,645 LDT (light deadweight tonnage) during the last seven months of this year, as against 159 vessels having 1,592,811 LDT during the same period last year. Industry operators are expecting arrival of more vessels by rest of the year, exceeding the last year’s record. The country produced about 2.5 million tons of scrap steel worth about USD 1.0 billion in 2015 by dismantling some 231 ships. The quantity was 2.60 million tons from 227 scrapped ships in 2014, and 2.05 million tons from 171 ships in 2013. The country produced the highest amount of scrap steel (2.86 million tons) in 2012 from 217 ships. Sources in Bangladesh Ship Breakers Association (BSBA) said about 40 large scrap vessels having 470,068 LDT were imported in May 2016, the single largest import volume in a month over the last two years.

Source: http://print.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2016/09/30/152932

Ctg port faces deadlock in strike fallout

The Chittagong port is experiencing record container congestion owing to non-operation of long vehicles that carry loaded and empty containers to and from the harbour for the last four days. If the situation continues for two more days the port would face a deadlock, according to officials of the Chittagong Port Authority. Covered vans bring the export cargoes from factories all over the country to the 16 private inland container depots in Chittagong for loading into export containers. The containers are then sent through long vehicles like prime movers or trailers to the port for loading onto the ships waiting at the jetties. On Monday, Prime Mover, Trailer Malik Sramik Oikya Parishad, a platform of the owners and workers of the vehicles, went on an indefinite strike after the Road Transport and Highways Division launched a crackdown on overloaded vehicles on the Dhaka-Chittagong highway.

Source: http://www.thedailystar.net/business/ctg-port-faces-deadlock-strike-fallout-1291726

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