Banks asked to encash export bills promptly

Banks are asked to encash the value-added portion of export proceeds within the next working day to help improve supply of foreign exchange to the money market. The central bank also directs all the authorized dealer (AD) bankers to encash the value-added portion of repatriated export proceeds in local currency -Bangladesh Taka (BDT) -before parking the eligible portion in a single pool for back-to-back payments. The instructions are conveyed through notification issued by the Bangladesh Bank (BB) Sunday, in the wake of strains on the country’s foreign-exchange reserves following higher import payments amid a global inflation as well as lower inflows of the greenback. Sources, however, say the central bank started inspection into alleged unusual movement of the US dollar in two more leading private commercial banks on Monday. The BB has already completed similar on-site inspections into 16 banks, including four state-owned commercial banks (SoCBs), to find out alleged ‘distortion’ on foreign-exchange rate by the banks concerned.

Source: https://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/first-page/banks-asked-to-encash-export-bills-promptly-1653934140

BD plans to import 18 LNG cargoes from spot mkt

Bangladesh has planned to import a total of 18 liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes from the spot market during the July-December period – 50 per cent higher than the January-June import. State-run Petrobangla will be importing the augmented quantity of expensive fuel to cope with the mounting natural gas demand as the country’s domestic natural gas production is on wane and its long-term LNG suppliers have rejected pleas to increase LNG cargo delivery. Bangladesh has been importing some 12 LNG cargoes from the spot market from January to June, 2022, said a senior official of the state-owned Rupantarita Prakritik Gas Company Ltd (RPGCL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the state-run Petrobangla. RPGCL, which deals with Bangladesh’s LNG imports, will be inviting bids from each of the listed suppliers to purchase LNG from the spot market. Bangladesh imports around 138,000 cubic metres of LNG in each cargo from the spot market. Bangladesh is importing spot LNG, having a gross heating value ranging 1,025-1,100 British thermal units (Btu) per standard cubic feet (scf). The imported spot LNG is blended with locally produced natural gas, which is sulfur free and sweet gas, before it is delivered to end-users. Spot suppliers supply the fuel on a delivered ex-ship (DES) basis and the vessel sizes range between 125,000 cubic metres and 220,000 cubic metres. Bangladesh’s overall natural gas output is currently hovering around 3,095 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd), of which 760 mmcfd is re-gasified imported LNG, against the overall demand of around 4,100 mmcfd, according to Petrobangla statistics as on May 30, 2022.

Source: https://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/first-page/bd-plans-to-import-18-lng-cargoes-from-spot-mkt-1653934318

Agritech startup iFarmer raises $2.1m

iFarmer, a full-stack agriculture platform providing agri based services to farmers, has recently raised $2.1m in a new financing round, maintaining its accelerated growth. IDLC Venture Capital Fund, the VC arm of IDLC Finance led the financing round.

Source: https://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/stock-corporate/agritech-startup-ifarmer-raises-21m-1653927874