Govt earnings from DSE down 20pc in Q1

The government’s revenue earnings from the prime bourse fell 20 per cent in the first-quarter (Q1) of the current fiscal year (FY) compared to the same period of the previous FY as trading volume was on the decline. Market insiders said on the back of falling trade volumes, the government earnings from the premier bourse fell accordingly as earnings is related to trading volume. The government bagged tax worth about Tk 303 million in the first three months for July-September period of the FY 2016-2017, which was Tk 379 million in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, according to statistics from the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE). Of the total revenue earnings of Tk 303 million in the first three months of the FY 2016-17 for July-September, Tk 247 million came from the TREC holders’ commission and Tk 56 million came from the share sales by sponsor-directors and placement holders, the DSE data showed.

Source: http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2016/10/04/48082/Govt-earnings-from-DSE-down-20pc-in-Q1

Extreme poverty in BD declines further: WB

Extreme poverty in Bangladesh declined further to 12.9 per cent in the financial year (FY) 2015-16, according to the latest Bangladesh Development Update, released by the World Bank (WB) in Dhaka Monday. The Update has projected 6.8 per cent economic growth for the country in the current financial year (FY 2016-17) — 0.4 per cent less than the government’s target. The government has set a target of 7.2 per cent growth in the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the FY2017. “Without boosting Total Factor Productivity growth and private investment relative to GDP, Bangladesh is unlikely to sustain 7.0 per cent growth going forward,” the WB Update said. Based on its updated global extreme poverty measurement methodology, the global lender in its report titled “Poverty and Shared Prosperity 2016: Taking on Inequality” said the rate of alleviation of poverty in Bangladesh is impressive.

Source:
http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2016/10/04/48093/Extreme-poverty-in-BD-declines-further:-WB
http://www.observerbd.com/details.php?id=36473
http://www.dhakatribune.com/business/2016/10/04/wb-retains-6-8-growth-forecast/

BD keen to set up urea factory in Iran

Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu Monday said Bangladesh wants to set up a urea fertilizer factory in Iran under joint venture. “We can also take a noted company as a third partner in the project,” he said during a meeting with Iran’s Isfahan Province Governor General Rasoul Zargarpour at the governor’s office. During the meeting, Amu said the bilateral relation between Bangladesh and Iran is historically good. He stressed on accelerating the economic and commercial relations between the two countries through increasing industrialisation and investment. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh is following liberal policy to attract foreign direct investment, he said adding that the government is setting up special economic zones to give special incentive to the foreign investors. He also expressed keen interest to impot railway wagon to transport ammonia gas for fertilizer factories.

Source:
http://www.observerbd.com/details.php?id=36525
http://en.prothom-alo.com/economy

Government mulls BDT 50.0 billion special fund to support jute millers

The government has taken a plan to create a BDT 50 billion special fund with an aim to facilitate the country’s jute millers, officials said. The advisory committee on jute took the decision in its last meeting on September 20 with State Minister for Textiles and Jute Mirza Azam in the chair. “Garments and textile sectors can use fund from the existing EDF for importing their industrial raw materials. But the jute sector can’t get low-cost loan facility from the fund although the sector uses domestic raw materials,” a source in the Bangladesh Jute Mills Association (BJMA) said. Besides, Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) has called for bringing down the interest rate to single digit replacing the existing double digit rate. The BB provides loan from the EDF to the exporters to help them import industrial raw materials with a view to manufacturing the exportable items. A BB official said the EDF was launched in 2005 with an initial size of USD 100 million which was later increased to the shape of USD 2.0 billion.

Source: http://print.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2016/10/04/153238

Cyber boost for the country: Second submarine cable connection by March

The country is set to get connected to the much coveted second submarine cable by March next year despite the ongoing delays in its installation work caused by the prevailing high tide in the Bay of Bengal. “We are expecting the installation work to be completed by March, 2017”, Telecom Secretary Md. Faizur Rahman Chowdhury told FE after visiting the landing site of the submarine cable in Patuakhali this weekend. The telecom secretary noted that the undersea cable line is now just 10 kilometers away from its landing site at Kuakata. Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Limited, a listed company which is also a subsidiary of the Post and Telecommunication Division, is responsible for the construction and maintenance of the submarine cable. Once completed, the new submarine cable connection is expected to be a cyber boost for the country as it will provide 1,300 gigabits per second (Gbps) of additional bandwidth in addition to 200 Gbps bandwidth received from the existing SEA-ME-WE-4 connection.

Source: http://print.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2016/10/04/153223

Local and Global Stock Indices

World Commodities

Major Currencies Exchange Rates Movement in Last Seven Days

*CURRENCIES AND COMMODITIES ARE TAKEN FROM BLOOMBERG.