Government reaffirms GDP growth up at 7.2%

The government reaffirms its projection of real gross domestic product (GDP) growth at 7.2% in the current fiscal year. Earlier, the World Bank (WB) projected the growth to be 6.81% in early October this year. Officials said the government side remained upbeat on the projected growth as it sees many growth-pulling sectors performing well in line with the annual economic growth target. The revised projection on the economy was highlighted in the quarterly review by the Ministry of Finance that was placed before the finance minister in the past week. It also expects the nominal GDP to stand up at BDT 19.6 trillion at the end of the fiscal year. According to the government report the public expenditure was equivalent to BDT 262.2 billion in the July-September 2016 period against BDT 214.6 billion in the corresponding period a year before. The ADP execution was equivalent to BDT 166.9 billion in the quarter from BDT 115.95 billion in the corresponding previous period. Project aid also surged to BDT 48.5 billion in the quarter. It was BDT 37.3 billion in July-September 2015. The report says credits to the private sector were having risen 15.34% higher in the period under review against 12.9% a year earlier. Among other macroeconomic indicators that gauge economic growth, export earnings grew at 6.53% in July-October period. It was 4.95 in July-October 2015.

Source: http://print.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2016/11/20/157172

Medicine prices mark abnormal rise

The prices of a good number of prescription medicines have marked an abnormal rise in recent weeks prompting a chorus of disapproval by suffering patients and people in general. Medicine buyers allege that the drug-makers have raised prices primarily being guided by their greed for making higher profit. But the pharmaceutical companies attribute the drugs’ price hike to the rising cost of raw materials globally. The recent increase in prices of some lifesaving and commonly-used medicine groups and brands like fexofenadin (Fenadin of Renata or Fexo of Square), omeprazole (as is Losectil of Eskayef), clonazepam (Pase of Opsonin or Rivotril of Radiant), Tolperisone Hydrochloride (Myolax of Incepta), valsartan (Diovan of Novartis), ciprofloxacin (Cilocin of Pacific), calcium (Calbo-D of Square or Ostocal-D of Eskayef) and a wide range of vitamin items (Neuro-B of Square, Bextram Gold of Beximco or Bost of General) has sparked widespread criticism. The rate of increase in many cases hovered starkly over 50 to 60.0% with the helpless customers and patients always at the sufferers’ end apparently in absence of any price control authority. Leading pharmaceutical company Square recently hiked prices of its various medicine brands including its popular prescription product Neuro-B, an item containing Vitamin B1B6B12, citing short and costly supply of raw materials. Before an astonishing 60.0% rise in price from BDT 150.0 to BDT 240.0 per pack, Neuro-B went off-market for several weeks.

Source: http://print.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2016/11/19/157100

Export of plastic goods fetches USD 49.2 million in four months

Export earnings from plastic sector increased significantly in July-October period of the current financial year, compared to that of last fiscal, said official statistics. During the period, the sector earned USD 49.18 million from export of plastic goods, reflecting a 76.0% growth. The earning was USD 27.9 million in the corresponding period of fiscal year (FY) 2015-16, according to data of the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB). According to the BPGMEA data, currently 300 manufacturers export plastic goods worth nearly BDT 30.0 billion annually. Manufacturers said the demand for plastic wastes is also increasing day by day in international market. The export volume of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) waste bottle flakes is around 50,000 tons worth more than BDT 1.0 billion a year, according to them. Bangladesh exports a number of items like shopping bags, garbage bags, butcher bags, oven sacks, industrial films, PVC pipes and bags, polythene sheet, plastic hangers, hand gloves, ropes, plastic waste, V belt, toys, electric switches, polyester thread, computer accessories, video/audio cassettes, melamine table ware, toothbrush, ball pen, artificial flower and wall clock.

Source: http://print.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2016/11/19/157053

Grameenphone expands its market footprints

Grameenphone’s share of active subscribers has expanded by 4.0 percentage points after biometric re-registration, cementing its position as the market leader. Between January and August this year, the market saw active subscribers drop by 11.9% to 117.8 million. Out of the six operators, Grameenphone lost the lowest number of subscribers, according to data from Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission. It lost 2.2 million active connections, but its market share widened to 46.3% in August from 42.4% in January. Grameenphone started the year with 56.7 million active SIMs, which stood at 54.5 million in August. Banglalink, the second largest operator in terms of connections, holds a 24.6% market share, although it lost 3.9 million active connections over eight months. As the third largest operator, Robi lost 1.4% of its subscribers and its market share shrank to 19.8%. Airtel, in the process of merging with Robi, lost 1.3% of market shares in the eight months, according to BTRC data. Robi started the year with 28.3 million connections and reached 23.3 million at the end of August. The two operators lost 7.8 million connections jointly. Airtel started with 10.7 million active SIMs, which fell to 7.9 million. The biometric re-registration process also shook the lone state owned operator Teletalk as it had to block 1.3 million active connections. Currently, its market share stands at 2.5%, which was 3.1% before the re-registration process started in December last year.

Source: http://www.thedailystar.net/business/grameenphone-expands-its-market-footprints-1316530

Citycell pays BDT 1.0 billion to BTRC for survival

Citycell yesterday paid BDT 1.0 billion to the telecom regulator — a move which might help them avoid any further suspension of license. On November 3, the Supreme Court directed the operator to pay another BDT 1.0 billion to Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission by November 19 or else its spectrum will be barred. “We have complied with the court order and we are happy that we made the payment before the stipulated date,” said Mehboob Chowdhury, chief executive officer of Citycell, the country’s oldest mobile operator. Citycell owes the BTRC BDT 4.8 billion, according to the telecom watchdog. But the operator disputes the figure. It earlier paid BDT 1.3 billion to the BTRC along with BDT 140.0 million as tax to the National Board of Revenue but it was not enough to save it from getting its spectrum suspended on November 6. “We will now try to resolve the other issues and start planning a fresh start,” the Citycell CEO said.

Source:
http://www.thedailystar.net/business/citycell-pays-BDT -100cr-btrc-survival-1316524
http://www.newagebd.net/article/3035/citycell-pays-btrc-another-BDT -100cr

Super-shops growing steadily over years

Business volume of the country’s super-shops has been rising gradually over the years, following an increased turnout of customers despite some impediments, insiders said. According to them, the chain-shops are now able to attract 5.0% of the total customers across the city, comparing to around 2.0% a few years back. Now middle- and upper-class working people prefer such one-stop centers for buying different types of products, as they get grocery, cosmetics, frozen foods, homemade foods, electrical items, gift items, and cloths etc under one roof. Besides, the super-shops offer relaxed and hassle-free shopping experience, quality service, convenient location, and bargain-free fixed price, thus catching the attention of busy city dwellers. However, the super-shop owners think that comparing to market demand such shops have not increased that much across the country due to some factors. These factors include unequal VAT collection system, scarcity of suitable space for opening new outlets, lack of coordination among the government agencies concerned and their inconsistent quality specifications, and absence of any specific policy for the sector.

Source: http://print.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2016/11/20/157142

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