Bangladesh Bank launches 2 short-term bills

Bangladesh Bank on Tuesday introduced two short-term BB bills alongside the existing 30-day bill in a bid to make the liquidity management of the banking sector more effective and to implement the central bank’s monetary policy. The BB issued a circular to managing directors and chief executive officers of all banks and non-bank financial institutions saying that the tenures of the bills are seven days and 14 days. According to the circular, the central bank will hold an auction of the three types of short-term bills (7-day, 14-day and 30-day) on every working day. A BB official told New Age on Tuesday that the country’s banking sector is now facing a huge excess liquidity amid dull business. The newly introduced short-term bills will help the banks invest their excess liquidity in the central bank, he said. The central bank will also get profit from the two new short-term bills as the rate of interest of the instruments will be below that of the existing 30-day BB bill. The interest rate of the 30-day BB bill ranges between 2.90% and 2.98%.

Source: http://newagebd.net/218056/bb-launches-2-short-term-bills/

Deadline for adjusting banks’ stock market exposure to go: Finance ministry to get power to set deadlines as appropriate

It is likely that the current June 30 deadline for reducing the stock market exposure of the banks to the maximum limit of 25% of their paid-up capital and reserve will be removed from the Bank Company (amendment) Act 2013, without inserting any fresh deadline in the amended act. Instead, the ministry of finance will be empowered in the proposed BCA 2016 to announce new deadline on adjusting the exposure, much to the relief of investors, merchant bankers and share brokers, official sources at the finance ministry said. ‘We are preparing a summary for the cabinet meeting seeking withdrawal of the current deadline for adjusting banks’ exposure to the capital market, and empower the finance ministry to announce fresh deadlines, when necessary,’ a senior finance ministry official told New Age. ‘The proposed measures will be put in place by amending the current BCA 2013.’ The finance ministry official said extending the deadline by two to four more years, as suggested by stockbrokers and merchant banks would not fix the plummeting stock business and, thus, is not considered to be a long-term solution for the capital market.

Source: http://newagebd.net/218084/deadline-for-adjusting-banks-stock-market-exposure-to-go/

Private sector credit growth rises

Private sector credit growth continued to rise in February, reaching 15.1% on a year-on-year basis, far above the central bank’s credit ceiling that was set at 14.8% for June in the January-June monetary policy. The total credit to private sector stood at BDT 6,279.6 billion in February from BDT 5,455.3 billion in the same period last year, according to the Bangladesh Bank data released recently. Earlier, the highest credit growth was 16.6% in December 2012, and the growth rate remained below 15.0% since then amid sluggish investment climate. The credit growth took an upward trend from October last year, reaching over 13.0% and continued to rise, recording around a three-year-high growth of 14.2% in last December. The private sector credit growth reached 14.8% in January which was set for June at the monetary policy and the growth rate crossed the ceiling in February. Bangladesh Bank had to slash its credit ceiling in last two monetary policies as the growth rate was far below the projected target. The overflow of credit may put pressure on inflation, feared a senior executive of Bangladesh Bank. The domestic credit growth registered 11.0% in February against the target of 15.5% set for June in monetary program.

Source: http://www.dhakatribune.com/business/2016/apr/06/private-sector-credit-growth-rises#sthash.zLh6h56d.dpuf

Economy to grow 7.05%, says Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics

The country’s economic growth is set to break the ‘six percent trap’, as a 7.05% growth rate has been estimated for this fiscal year (FY), driven by industrial and service sectors, according to official data. The last caretaker government was the top performer in terms of achieving the higher growth during the last nine years, as the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) had expanded at 7.06% in FY 2006-07. The per capita income (gross national income – GNI) of a Bangladeshi citizen have risen to USD 1,466.0 in the current FY, 2015-16, marking an 11.4% rise from USD 1,316.0 in the last FY, the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) provisional data said. BBS, the national statistical organization, has estimated the provisional figures based on the available data in the last three quarters (July-March) and considering the fourth quarter statistics of the previous years. In FY 15, the country’s GDP growth stood at 6.55% and the per capita income at USD 1,316, the BBS data showed. According to BBS, Bangladesh’s total GDP size at current price has been estimated at USD 221.3 billion (BDT 17.3 trillion) in the current fiscal.

Source:
http://print.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2016/04/06/138350
http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2016/apr/06/gdp-growth-crosses-7

Inflation rises slightly on higher food cost

The rate of inflation on point-to-point basis increased slightly to 5.65% in March compared to that of the previous month, as the expenditure on some food items recorded a rise. In February 2016, the inflation was recorded at 5.62%. In March 2015, the same increased to at 6.27%. The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) data showed the growth of inflation on the noon-food items fell slightly in March compared to the previous month. But, the consumer price index (CPI) of the food-items showed a rising trend. At the national level, the BBS data showed the non-food inflation on point-to-point basis dropped by 0.01% points to 8.36% in March from that of 8.46% in February. The data also revealed the inflation on account of food items increased by 0.12% points to 3.89% in last month compared to its previous month. Based on CPI, the BBS data showed that the point-to-point inflation rate in the urban areas rose to 7.27% in March from that of 7.22% in February. BBS showed that the point-to-point inflation in the rural areas declined to 4.79% in March from that of 4.76% in its previous month.

Source:
http://print.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2016/04/06/138354
http://www.thedailystar.net/business/inflation-edges-1204906
http://www.dhakatribune.com/business/2016/apr/06/inflation-edges-march
http://newagebd.net/218086/inflation-rises-slightly-after-3-months/

Exports continue to bring cheers: BGMEA chief says garment exports in future may not be bright

Exports accelerated 9.3% year-on-year to USD 2.8 billion in March on the back of higher shipments of garment, leather and leather goods, and jute and jute goods. March’s receipts are a drop of 0.7% over the previous month, when USD 2.9 billion was received. But it beat the month’s target by 0.3%, according to the Export Promotion Bureau. Garment, which typically accounts for 80.0% of the export earnings, brought home USD 2.3 billion, up 11.5% year-on-year but a decline of 1.7% from February. “So far, we have had good growth in export, but earnings in future might not be bright due to troubles in Europe, our main export destination,” said Siddiqur Rahman, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association. Nearly 60.0% of the shipments are destined for the European Union. The region took delivery on USD 15.9 billion of garment items last fiscal year. Bangladesh’s garment exports to the European Union have been affected by the recent wave of terror attacks, he said, adding that the ban on direct air cargo from Dhaka to the UK has also impacted shipments. March’s figures take the total export earnings in the first nine months of fiscal 2015-16 to USD 25.0 billion, which is an increase of 9.0% from a year earlier.

Source:
http://www.thedailystar.net/business/export/exports-continue-bring-cheers-1204912
http://www.dhakatribune.com/business/2016/apr/06/exports-cross-24bn-9-months
http://newagebd.net/218234/exports-grow-8-95pc-in-9-months-2/
http://print.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2016/04/06/138315

Non-tax revenue signals sharp shortfall

Government’s non-tax revenue (NTR), the second-biggest source of funding the budget, signals a major shortfall this fiscal. The exchequer received less than expected amount in seven months to January last, sources said. The main revenue comes in the form of taxes, mobilized by the National Board of Revenue (NBR) for budget financing. It has a tax revenue target for this year at BDT 1.8 trillion which is also having a growth lower than estimated originally. In a continuous poor performance in revenue collection, the NBR for the eighth consecutive month missed the revenue-collection target. From July to February the fiscal year 2015-16, the revenue shortfall stood at BDT 135.1 billion. The tax collectors could bag BDT 906.5 billion in the July-February period against the target of BDT 1041.7 billion, the provisional data showed. However, the collection posted a growth of 13.6% in the eight months compared to that of the same period of last fiscal year.

Source: http://print.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2016/04/06/138351

Linde starts construction of BDT 1.2 billion air separation unit in Rupganj

Linde Bangladesh Ltd, a member of The Linde Group’s Gases Division, has started construction of its BDT 1.2 billion (EUR 14.6 million) air separation unit (ASU) in Rupganj Tuesday. Linde’s investment in this new plant was announced in November 2015. Once completed in 2017, the Rupganj plant would produce approximately 100 tons per day of liquefied gases, making it the largest liquid producing ASU in Bangladesh, said a company statement. Linde will design, built and manage the Rupganj plant and it will feature state-of-the art energy efficient technology. It will provide liquefied gases supply and related solutions to Bangladesh’s growing healthcare, food and beverage, fabrication, pharmaceutical, shipbuilding and ship recycling industries. The Rupganj plant will more than double Linde Bangladesh’s current production capacity, strengthening Linde’s position as the leading gases player in Bangladesh. A state-of-the-art cylinder filling site at Rupganj will also be built to provide a range of cylinder products to customers across all market segments.

Source:
http://print.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2016/04/06/138308
http://www.thedailystar.net/business/linde-starts-construction-new-plant-1204897

BPC okays Chinese firm’s technical offer for mooring at Bay

State-run Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) has found the technical offer of China Petroleum Pipeline Bureau (CPPB) responsive to build the country’s first single-point mooring (SPM). BPC’s German consultant ILF Consulting Engineering evaluated the technical offer of the CPPB for construction of the SPM system to carry petroleum from vessels far offshore to an onshore terminal, a senior BPC official told the FE. The CPPB, a subsidiary of Chinese state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), has subsequently submitted a commercial offer, which is now under evaluation, he added. In late 2014, the BPC and the CPPB inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to build the mooring along with necessary pipeline. Officials said Chinese EXIM Bank is set to provide BDT 39.0 billion, which is around 80.0% of the total project costs, while BDT 9.2 billion will come from the government and the remaining BDT 1.1 billion from ERL’s coffers to implement the project.

Source: http://print.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2016/04/06/138316

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