Tax Fair brings NBR Tk 2,613cr

The weeklong tax fair ended yesterday amid huge participation of taxpayers, enabling the National Board of Revenue (NBR) to log in a record Tk 2,613 crore in taxes. The receipt was 6 percent higher than a year earlier, said the NBR in a press release. Taxpayers from different professions filed 6.55 lakh returns at the fair, up 34 percent from the previous year. The NBR said 18.63 lakh people received tax related assistance from taxmen from the show that started in all divisional cities on November 14. At the fair, 32,961 taxpayers signed up for Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN). Yesterday, 21 banks, financial institutions and insurance companies under the Large Taxpayers’ Unit (LTU) handed over pay orders of Tk 293 crore to NBR Chairman Md Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan at the fair in Dhaka. The NBR expects that the total tally of tax return submission will increase to nearly 30 lakh at the end of the current fiscal year, from nearly 22 lakh the previous year, which is just 1.33 percent of the population.

Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/business/news/tax-fair-brings-nbr-tk-2613cr-1829959

Investors eye Sector-specific Stocks

The Dhaka bourse closed the Wednesday’s session with a moderate loss in broad index following selling pressure observed in major sectors. The market opened the day’s session with a positive note but after a while the broad index started to decline and continued the trend till mid-session. Later, the DSE broad index DSEX displayed volatility and showed a little effort to overcome the initial loss. Finally, the DSEX closed at 4691.93 with a loss of 0.64 per cent or 30.43 points. On Wednesday, the shariah based index DSES declined 1.0 per cent or 10.94 points to close at 1075.44. The DS30 index comprising blue chip securities settled at 1645.30 with a loss of 0.95 per cent or 15.91 points. Of 340 issues traded, 132 advanced, 161 declined and 47 were unchanged on the premier bourse. Of the large cap companies having influence on index, the share price of Grameenphone rose 0.62 per cent or Tk 2.0 to close at Tk 323.10 each. The turnover stood at above Tk 4.06 billion which was 6.69 per cent higher than the transaction of the previous session. On the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE), the benchmark index CASPI declined 0.49 per cent or 71.37 points to close at 14263.01 points.

Source: https://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/stock-corporate/investors-eye-sector-specific-stocks-1574268271

BD top four in Digital Economy Growth

Bangladesh has been ranked in top four list in Huawei Global Connectivity Index 2019 report for improvement & remarkable growth in digital economy in last four years. Other three countries are Ukraine, South Africa & Algeria. This list has been made by evaluating the progress in the digital economy of the world. GCI 2019 report says, as a starter nation, less than 5 years Bangladesh boosted its GCI score by seven points. Since 2015, mobile subscription penetration jumped from 5.0 per cent to 41 per cent and smartphone penetration from 7.0 per cent to 34 per cent. In addition to mobile subscription, the country’s fiber to home (FTTH) coverage & fixed broadband base also made significant progress. It is not just developed economies that can benefit from Intelligent Connectivity. GCI 2019 finds that nations at every level of digital development can access the “upside potential of AI” as a GDP booster when it is deployed by industries and organizations. Even for Frontrunners like Japan and the US that have leading ICT infrastructure, the potential of AI has only just begun to be tapped. Adopters and Starters like China, Malaysia, India, the Philippines, and Spain aren’t spinning their wheels, either. They’re rolling out AI technologies as fast as they can. As AI-infused Intelligent Connectivity begins to have a meaningful impact on the digital economy and sparks a tipping point for digital transformation, a key finding of Huawei’s GCI 2019 is that countries with GCI scores over 65 that have made continuous investment in Intelligent Connectivity can expect it to boost GDP by more than 1%. At the same time, success in the era of intelligence depends on the ability to collaborate on a global scale. Now in its sixth year, GCI 2019 highlights AI’s role as one of four key enablers that drive “Intelligent Connectivity”, alongside Broadband, Cloud, and IoT. All four have the potential to be significant catalysts for economic growth. The GCI is designed to provide actionable insights for how policy makers and economic stakeholders can foster greater success in the digital economy. The 79 countries assessed by GCI 2019 account for 95 percent of global GDP and 84 percent of the world’s population. Whatever a country’s level of digital development, policymakers need to look objectively at the strengths of their national economy and determine how they can fit into and profit from the Intelligent Connectivity ecosystem.

Source: https://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/trade-market/bd-top-four-in-digital-economy-growth-1574271277