BB relaxes credit rating rules amid pandemic

The central bank has relaxed the requirements of Internal Credit Risk Rating System (ICRRS) to help businesses avail credit facilities from the banks amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The ceiling of marginal internal credit risk rating score has been brought down to 55 per cent from 60 per cent earlier, according to a notification, issued by the Bangladesh Bank (BB), on Tuesday. It said the BB relaxed the rules considering the adverse impact of the pandemic on the country’s overall business activities. Besides, the banks are allowed to calculate the rating score for 2021 on the basis of any one audited balance sheets for 2019 and 2020. In case of fiscal year, the banks may consider June 30, 2019 or June 30, 2020 for assessing the score while December 31, 2019 or December 31, 2020 would be applicable for the same purpose on the basis of calendar year, the officials explained. The ICRRS refers to the system to analyse a borrower’s repayment ability based on information about a customer’s financial condition, including their liquidity, cash flow, profitability, debt profile, market indicators, industry and operational background, management capabilities and other indicators.

Source: https://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/first-page/bb-relaxes-credit-rating-rules-amid-pandemic-1614103075

DSE key index dips to two-month low

Stocks nosedived for the fifth straight session on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the core index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) dipped to two-month low. DSEX, the prime index of the DSE, went down further by 67.49 points or 1.25 per cent to settle at 5,317, which was two months lowest level since December 24, last year. The benchmark index lost more than 226 points in the past five consecutive sessions. Market analysts said the shaky investors continued their sell-offs in major stocks as a lack of positive triggers prevented investors from making fresh investment. The market remained under pressure in the past few weeks along with sluggish turnover as investors stayed cautious ahead of dividend declaration by December-end companies. Business conglomerate Beximco Group companies continued to face selling pressure as Beximco lost 7.82 per cent, heavyweight drug maker Beximco Pharma 4.48 per cent and Shinepukur Ceramic lost 5.24 per cent. All three featured in the day’s top loser’s list. Robi, which faced massive sell pressure in the past few days after no dividend declaration, rebounded in gaining streak on Tuesday with 3.80 per cent rise. The equity market impeded under selling pressure as investors’ appetite remained subdued amid a bearish sentiment, commented EBL Securities. Two other indices also kept losing with the DSE 30 Index comprising blue chips, lost 39.83 points to finish at 2,017 and the DSE Shariah Index (DSES) dropped 15.31 points to close at 1,206. Turnover, a crucial indicator of the market, stood at Tk 5.91 billion on the country’s premier bourse, rising by 26 per cent over the previous day’s seven-month lowest turnover of Tk 4.67 billion. Among the major sectors, miscellaneous faced the highest hit, losing 4.0 per cent, followed by pharma with 1.6 per cent, engineering 1.3 per cent, food 1.2 per cent, financial institutions 0.80 per cent and banking 0.40 per cent. On the other hand, IT, telecom and power sectors gained 1.10 per cent, 0.40 per cent and 0.10 per cent respectively. Of the 339 issues traded, 156 declined, 66 advanced and 117 remained unchanged on the DSE trading floor. Beximco continued to dominate the turnover chart with shares worth over Tk 1.84 billion changing hands followed by BATBC, Beximco Pharma, LankaBangla Finance and Robi. GBB Power was the day’s best performer, posting a gain of 5.53 per cent while NCC Bank Mutual Find-1 was the worst loser, losing 10 per cent following its price adjustment after record date. The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also kept losing with the CSE All Share Price Index – CASPI -shedding 181 points to settle at 15,383 and the Selective Categories Index – CSCX losing 110 points to close at 9,278.

Source: https://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/stock-corporate/dse-key-index-dips-to-two-month-low-1614095698

Chairman of BHBFC reappointed

Professor Dr. Md. Salim Uddin FCA, FCMA has been reappointed Director and Chairman of Bangladesh House Building Finance Corporation (BHBFC), according to a notification of finance ministry on Tuesday. He has been discharging duty as Chairman of Executive Committee of Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited. Before joining BHBFC as Chairman he was an Independent Director of Chittagong Stock Exchange. He was also an Independent Director of Premier Bank Ltd and Director of Rupali Investment Ltd. He was also a Director of Rupali Bank Ltd- a nationalized commercial bank.

Source: https://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/stock-corporate/chairman-of-bhbfc-reappointed-1614095883

Spotify set to come to Bangladesh

Streaming platform Spotify has announced that it is going to launch its operations in Bangladesh as it embarked on a sweeping expansion to add more than 80 new markets and bring the service to over a billion extra people. The announcement came during a live-streaming event attended by Spotify Founder and CEO Daniel Ek. Last year, Spotify opened verified pages dedicated to Bangladesh, indicating the official launch was imminent. The Swedish company, which started its service in 2008, is currently the world’s most popular audio-streaming subscription service with 345 million users, including 155 million subscribers, across 93 markets. As part of the ongoing commitment to building a truly borderless audio ecosystem— connecting creators, listeners, and content—Spotify is embarking on a sweeping expansion, the company said on its website. Because of Spotify, Bangladesh will become another market for foreign language songs. Despite its enormous popularity, Spotify has long faced criticism over streaming royalties, which many musicians say are inadequate, according to BBC News. Spotify has been reluctant to raise its subscription prices because of increased competition, so increasing revenues will depend on new subscribers or different types of content, said Andrew Milroy, director of technology advisory firm Veqtor8.

Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/business/news/spotify-set-come-bangladesh-2050141