BB injects $330m into market since IMF loan

The Bangladesh Bank has injected $330 million into the country’s foreign exchange market since February 1 when the International Monetary Fund disbursed $476.27 million to Bangladesh as the first installment of a $4.7 billion loan. The Washington-based lender approved the loan in January under the extended credit facility (ECF) and the extended fund facility (EFF) to help the country defuse the ongoing volatility in its foreign exchange market. Although the IMF has suggested Bangladesh reduce the frequent injection of US dollars into the market, the central bank has not followed the recommendation yet, said Ahsan H Mansur, executive director of the Policy Research Institute. Between July 1 and February 9, the central bank supplied a record $9.44 billion to the market, according to data from the BB. After the disbursement of the first tranche of the loan, the reserves stood at $32.69 billion on February 2, but the volume fell to around $32.6 billion yesterday owing to the continuous dollar injection into the market. The reserve was $45.39 billion on February 9 last year. The IMF support came as Bangladesh continues to face an exchange rate instability fuelled by a US dollar shortage caused by the fast depletion of the reserves amid escalated import payments against lower-than-expected export and remittance receipts.

Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/business/economy/banks/news/bb-injects-330m-market-imf-loan-3243936

Saudi businesses keen to invest in Bangladesh

The businesses of Saudi Arabia is very much interested to invest in Bangladesh as a high-profile delegation of the Kingdom, led by Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Muhammad bin Salman Al-Saud, would take part in the Bangladesh Business Summit in March next. The Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to Bangladesh Issa bin Youssef Al-Dahilan said this when he met Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi at his secretariat office in Dhaka on Thursday. The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) will organise the Bangladesh Business Summit 2023 in March, reports BSS. Terming Saudi Arabia as a friendly nation of Bangladesh, the Saudi Ambassador said that his country attaches higher priority to its relations with Bangladesh in the areas of investment and bilateral trade. Youssef said that the Saudi delegation would take part in the Bangladesh Business Summit to invest. In response, the commerce minister said that Saudi Arabia is a big and long-standing development partner of Bangladesh while Bangladeshi RMG, bakery items, vegetables, juice, and jute-made goods are being exported to Saudi Arabia. Besides, he said Bangladesh imports petroleum oil, petroleum gas, fertiliser, dates and other products from the Kingdom. Tipu informed that in the last fiscal year (FY22), Bangladesh exported goods worth $290.64 million to Saudi Arabia against imports of $1,693.26 million.

Source: https://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/economy/saudi-businesses-keen-to-invest-in-bangladesh-1675954824

AB Bank COO becomes DMD

AB Bank has recently promoted its chief operations officer to the post of deputy managing director (DMD). The official, Md Aminur Rahman, is also a member of AB Bank Capital Market Investment team. He joined the bank in 2000 and earlier worked for subsidiary Cashlink Bangladesh, said a press release.   

Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/business/economy/stock/news/five-firms-make-one-third-weekly-stock-turnover-3245336