Alliance Leasing gets BB nod

Bangladesh Bank has given licence to another non-bank financial institution namely Alliance Leasing and Finance Company Ltd. The BB issued a circular to managing directors and chief executive officers of all banks and NBFIs on June 20 saying that the central bank had given the licence to the NBFI under Financial Institution Act 1993.Currently, 33 are running their businesses in the country. The central bank issued licences to two more NBFIs in 2014 namely CAPM Venture Capital Finance and Meridian Finance Investment.

Source: http://www.newagebd.net/article/18319/alliance-leasing-gets-bb-nod

Negative remittance inflows may affect future growth

The current negative growth in remittance inflows might have some adverse effects on domestic demand, the central bank said, thereby possibly affecting country’s economic growth. From the demand side, strong private-sector-credit growth and capital-machinery-import growth indicate buoyant domestic demand, according to the latest quarterly report of the Bangladesh Bank (BB).”However, the negative growth in remittance inflows (-15.3 per cent) might have some moderating effects on the domestic demand,” the central bank said in its latest Bangladesh Bank Quarterly (BBQ) for January-March 2017.The BB’s latest observations came against the backdrop of falling trend in the flow of inward remittances in recent months.

Source: http://print.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2017/06/22/176052

Old VAT law stays, govt ditches debated new one

The process is all but complete to postpone enforcement of the new VAT and Supplementary Duty Act 2012 at the instruction of the prime minister, amid raging criticism of its possible fallout. Officials said the National Board of Revenue (NBR) completed all necessary groundwork to defer enforcement of the new law that bears some fiscal measures, including a uniform 15 per cent rate of VAT, which sparked off protests. The implementation of the new value-added tax (VAT) law may be postponed for one or two years, sources said. They said the revenue board had done a number of exercises to find alternative ways of implementing the new law but the PM preferred sticking to the existing VAT law, framed in 1991.

Source: http://print.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2017/06/22/176053

Govt borrowing from saving instruments likely to exceed target in FY2016-17

The government expects its borrowing from saving instruments will exceed Tk50,000 crore in the outgoing fiscal year against the target of Tk45,000 crore. In June so far, an amount of Tk10,000 crore came from the sale of saving instruments.“There has been a huge pressure of buying saving instruments in the month of June which marks the end of a fiscal year,” said Bablu Kumar Saha, Director General of the Department of National Savings. He said the saving instruments are still preferred by the people to depositing in banks or investing in stocks as the profit rates of the instruments are relatively high.“The people are increasingly choosing to buy saving instruments instead of depositing their money in banks or investing in stock markets,” Bablu Kumar said. According to the Finance Division, the total government borrowing from saving instruments will be almost 50% of the outgoing fiscal year’s deficit budget which is now estimated at Tk98,674 crore. An official said if the government loan from saving instruments crosses Tk50,000 crore, it will also create a fiscal indiscipline in the outgoing fiscal year. According to the Department of National Savings, the government has so-far sold Tk60,519 crore saving instruments as of April 2017 while the principal payment paid was Tk18,419 crore. An amount of Tk12,914 crore was also paid as interest. As a result, the net amount stands at now Tk42,099 crore from the sale of saving instruments as of April 2017, which is 93.55% of the government’s total credit target in the current fiscal year.

Source: http://www.dhakatribune.com/business/economy/2017/06/22/govt-borrowing-saving-instruments-likely-exceed-target-fy2016-17/

Shahjalal Islami Bank gets new AMD

M Shahidul Islam has joined Shahjalal Islami Bank as additional managing director, according to the bank. Prior to the new appointment, Islam was also an additional managing director of United Commercial Bank. Islam obtained bachelor’s and master’s degrees in management from the University of Chittagong. He started his banking career as a probationary officer at National Bank Ltd in 1984.

Source: http://www.thedailystar.net/business/banking/shahjalal-islami-bank-gets-new-amd-1423720

Govt issues SRO on cut in rice import duty

The revenue board cut the import duty of rice to 10 per cent from 25 per cent Wednesday to rein in prices of the staple in the local market. The Internal Resources Division (IRD) issued a Statutory Regulatory Order (SRO) making the reduced duty effective from June 21, 2017.Husked (brown) rice, semi-milled or wholly-milled rice, whether or not polished or glazed, fortified rice kernel, other semi-milled or wholly-milled rice, whether or not polished or glazed, and broken rice can be imported by paying 10 per cent customs duty (CD) from now on. The customs wing cut the 25 per cent CD to 10 per cent on import of rice. The tax incidence on import of rice was 28 per cent including 3.0 per cent Regulatory Duty (RD).As per customs law, the RD was imposed on most of the products under the 25 per cent CD slab. As the CD on rice import has been reduced to 10 per cent, the RD would not be applicable to the item.

Source: http://print.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2017/06/22/176056

ADB signs $300m deal to help build Ctg-C’Bazar railway line

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Wednesday signed a $300 million in loan agreement with the Government of Bangladesh to help build a dual-gauge railway line connecting Chittagong and Cox’s Bazar to promote trade and regional connectivity. This assistance forms the first tranche of $1.5 billion ADB loans for the the Chittagong-Cox’s Bazar Railway Project. The first tranche will finance 20 per cent of the progress towards constructing 102 kilometers of new railway line between Chittagong and Cox’s Bazar. Kazi Shofiqul Azam, Secretary, Economic Relations Division (ERD), and Jyotsana Varma, Principal Country Specialist, signed the loan agreements on behalf of Bangladesh and ADB, respectively, at a ceremony in Dhaka.
“This project, which is closely aligned with Bangladesh’s Seventh Five Year Plan, will provide efficient, safe and environmentally-friendly railway transport,” said Jyotsana Varma. “The project design will integrate features that are friendly to the elderly, women, children, and people with disabilities”. The new rail link, which opens in 2022, aims to transport 2.9 million passengers annually between Chittagong and Cox’s Bazar by 2025.

Source: http://www.observerbd.com/details.php?id=80580

Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited

Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited (IBBL) Chairman Arastoo Khan presiding over a board meeting of the bank at its head office in the city on Wednesday. IBBL directors and Managing Director Md Abdul Hamid Miah were also present on the occsasion. They expressed its satisfaction while evaluating the performance of the bank over the success and progress achieved so far. They also advised the management to play more significant role in accelerating the national economy through diversified investment in industries and employment generation in the country.

Source: Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited

BPC to buy petroleum products at lower premiums in July-Dec

Bangladesh Petroleum Corp (BPC) has fixed contracts with 10 companies for refined oil product imports in the second half of 2017 at lower premiums than the current term deals, officials said on Wednesday. The state-owned company was seeking to buy 1.65 million tonnes of gasoil with a sulphur content of 500 parts per million, 245,000 tonnes of jet fuel and 200,000 tonnes of 180-centistoke high-sulphur fuel oil in 2017 under the term contracts. The premium for gasoil for the July to December period will be US$2.20 a barrel over Middle East quotes, the sources said. That is down from US$2.30 a barrel for the first half of this year, news agency Reuters reported quoting two BPC officials. BPC’s term contract for jet fuel was fixed at a premium of US$2.80 per barrel over Middle East quotes, the sources said, down from US$3 a barrel during the January-June period. For fuel oil, BPC will pay a premium of US$29.73 a tonne to Singapore spot quotes for the second half of the year, they said. That is up from the premium of 15.80 it is paying for the first-half cargoes. Kuwait Petroleum Corp will supply the bulk of the contract with 1.02 million tonnes of gasoil and 210,000 tonnes of jet fuel, BPC officials said. Malaysia’s Petronas will supply 210,000 tonnes of gasoil, 60,000 tonnes of fuel oil and 15,000 tonnes of jet fuel.

Source: http://www.observerbd.com/details.php?id=80582

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