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TT-Clean: 77.1 | TK BC-Selling: 78.1
TK OD-Sight: 76.88 TK | TC-Selling: 78.1 TK

TT-Clean: 77.1 | TK BC-Selling: 78.1
TK OD-Sight: 76.88 TK | TC-Selling: 78.1 TK

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TT-Clean: 77.1 | TK BC-Selling: 78.1
TK OD-Sight: 76.88 TK | TC-Selling: 78.1 TK

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Rate last updated: 02/01/2014 11:15:04 AM

Important Business News Extracts October 31, 2019

Most Banks’ EPS up in Jan-Sept

The consolidated Earnings Per Share [EPS] of most of the listed Banks rose in nine months for January-September, 2019 compared to that of the same period last year. According to Market analysts, most of the Banks’ earnings soared in January-September 2019, due to increase in operating profit and decrease of required provision against loans and advances. According to a Merchant Banker, however, the Banking sector remained volatile with ongoing liquidity crunch, soaring interest rates coupled with huge non-performing loans which affects the Banks’ profitability. EPS is the portion of a company’s profit allocated to each outstanding share of common stock. In short, it serves as an indicator of a company’s profitability. Out of the 30 listed Banks, 26 have so far disclosed their earnings for January-September, 2019 period until Wednesday. Of them, the consolidated EPS of 19 Banks rose while seven saw their EPS fall, according to the un-audited financial statements. The EPS of Banks whose EPS rose are Exim Bank, IFIC Bank, First Security Islami Bank, Jamuna Bank, Dutch-Bangla Bank, Dhaka Bank, City Bank, Bank Asia, Eastern Bank, Islami Bank, Mercantile Bank, Mutual Trust Bank, Premier Bank, Shahjalal Islami Bank, Southeast Bank, Standard Bank, Trust Bank, UCB and Uttara Bank.

Source: https://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/stock-corporate/most-banks-eps-up-in-jan-sept-1572453090

Frozen Bank Accounts: ACC seeks info from Central Bank

The Anti-Corruption Commission has sought Bank statements and transaction records of the accounts frozen recently by the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit [BFIU] during the ongoing anti-corruption drive. The commission has so far filed nine cases against some former ruling Awami League leaders, businessmen and their relatives. In the cases, the anti-graft body took BFIU’s information into consideration. There is speculation that BFIU has frozen Bank accounts of politicians whose names have come up in probes. Bank accounts of some businessmen and government officials have also been frozen. In a letter, ACC Director General Sayeed Mahbub Khan yesterday sought information of frozen Bank accounts from general manager of BFIU under Bangladesh Bank. According to the letter the ACC was enquiring into irregularities, corruption, misappropriation of government money, and amassing of illegal wealth, and filing cases over the matter.

Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/frontpage/news/frozen-bank-accounts-acc-seeks-info-central-bank-1821073

Call 999 even without Network

Mobile phone users will soon be able to call 999 or any other emergency numbers without a mobile SIM card or internet access during natural disasters. Any live mobile network can be used to make the call. A trial run on this by a joint team of the disaster management division, telecom regulator and army officials in the last two days proved to be a success. During the trail, it was found that if a user found their mobile network down or destroyed, they could still immediately contact the authorities using the emergency number. Currently 999 is used for emergency situations. It was developed by the information communication division in 2017 and is being currently run by police. Every mobile phone, both smart and otherwise, have an emergency calling option, which can now be used for free, according to a member of the joint team. The government now needs to make a regulation on the “SIM-less” emergency service can be used. Against this backdrop, mobile operators need to align their network with this system and then users can access these facilities, according to Md Zahik Hossain Khan, senior Assistant Director of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission [BTRC]. The emergency number can prove very useful in cases of natural disasters, mostly in the coastal belt of the country, where mobile towers are often damaged. If even one mobile network is live, then mobile phone users can use that for the calls, said a senior member of the armed forces division. To make this initiative successful, the joint team will bring all mobile operators under a single network and take support from Chinese network vendor Huawei

Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/backpage/news/will-be-able-call-999-even-without-your-network-1821238

France to promote Bangladesh’s Climate-Resilient Development

French Ambassador to Bangladesh Jean-Marin Schuh on Wednesday emphasized the commitment of their government to continue promoting climate resilient development of Bangladesh, reports UNB. The French government will continue promoting Bangladesh’s development through Agence Francaise de Developpement [AFD] with an improved access to soft financing, technical expertise, and cooperation with French partners. According to the Ambassador, he is quite aware of Bangladesh’s ambition to become a middle-income country by 2021. “[Its] growth is tremendous, average GDP growth for the past 5 years has reached more than 7 per cent.” Bangladesh signed a 30-million Euro [MEUR] loan agreement with AFD related to the additional financing of the power supply expansion and efficiency improvement investment programme implemented by Dhaka Power Distribution Company [DPDC].

Source: https://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/trade-market/france-to-promote-bangladeshs-climate-resilient-development-1572453998

Govt to spend Tk 807m on free Agri Inputs

The government will to spend over Tk 807 million for providing farmers with free agriculture inputs for boosting production of wheat, maize, onion and some other winter and summer crops. Agriculture minister Dr Muhammad Abdur Razzaque announced the incentive package at a press briefing at the agriculture ministry on Wednesday. Over 0.6 million marginalized farmers of 64 districts will get the inputs free of cost for cultivating the crops, which is expected to help the farmers earn over Tk 8.42 billion in return. Each of the farmers will get seeds, DAP and MOP fertilizers worth Tk 1,990 for cultivation of wheat on one bigha of land while Tk 1,318 for maize, Tk 802 for mustard, Tk 2,816 for sunflower and Tk 1,575 for peanut. A farmer will get seeds worth Tk 808 for cultivation of summer sesame while Tk 1,010 for winter mug, Tk 808 for winter sesame and Tk 1,714 for onion cultivation. Under the package farming, 34,971 tonnes of wheat is estimated to be produced, while 320,900 tonnes of maize, 42,015 tonnes of mustard, 845 tonnes of sunflower, 6,974 tonnes of winter mug, 4,645 tonnes of summer mug and 11,532 tonnes of onion.

Source: https://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/trade-market/govt-to-spend-tk-807m-on-free-agri-inputs-1572454028

Govt releases Tk 25.38b Cash Incentive for Oct-Dec Period

The government has released the second installment of cash incentive amounting to Tk 25.38 billion for disbursement among the major exporters for the Fiscal Year [FY] 2019-20. To this effect, the Ministry of Finance issued a circular on Wednesday. The money will be distributed among the exporters for the October-December period in 2019. Of the total amount, the jute and jute products sub-sector will get Tk 1.25 billion. Other sectors will receive the remaining amount. In the current fiscal, the government has decided to release a total of Tk 73.25 billion as cash incentive to the exporters. At present, more than 30 export-oriented sectors are enjoying the cash incentive including apparel manufacturing industries, frozen foods and fish, leather products, jute and jute goods, agro-based products, agro-processing industry etc. The country’s merchandise export earnings stood at US$ 40.53 billion in the immediate past fiscal year [2018-19]. In 2017-18, Bangladesh exported goods worth $36.66 billion.

Source: https://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/trade-market/govt-releases-tk-2538b-cash-incentive-for-oct-dec-period-1572454054

100,000 Youths entering Job Mkt daily in S. Asia: Study

South Asia has the largest youth labor force in the world with nearly 100,000 young people entering the labor market each day, says a new study, reports BSS. The study was jointly conducted by the Global Business Coalition for Education [GBC-Education], the Education Commission, and UNICEF. It reveals that South Asia will have the largest youth labor force in the world until 2040 with almost half of its population of 1.8 billion below the age of 24, led by India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, according to a UNICEF press release. This offers the region the potential to drive vibrant and productive economies. If strong investments in skills development are made, the region is poised to maintain strong economic growth as well as an expansion of opportunities in the education and skills sectors in the coming decades, the study observes. Every day, nearly 100,000 young South Asians – a large sports stadium of young people – enter the labor market, almost half of them not on track to find 21st century jobs, according to UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore.

Source: https://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/trade-market/100000-youths-entering-job-mkt-daily-in-s-asia-study-1572453978

Women’s Int’l SME Expo begins in Ctg

The month-long International Women’s SME Expo-2019 [IWSMEE 2019] will begin at Railway Polo Ground in Chattogram city on Friday, reports BSS. The sixth edition of the women’s mega trade event will be held under the auspices of Chattogram Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry [CWCCI]. Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi will inaugurate the exhibition as the chief guest. A total of 350 stalls, including 10 pavilions, four mega pavilions and information technology zones have already been set up covering 0.4 million [four lac] square feet of land. Munal Mahabub mentioned that the IWSMEE is the largest fair for women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh. Bahrain, Qatar, Indonesia, Malyasia and several other countries of Middle East will participate in this year’s event. Indonesia will be the partner country of the fair.

Source: https://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/trade-market/womens-intl-sme-expo-begins-in-ctg-tomorrow-1572454081

BGMEA for retroactive reduced Source Tax

The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association [BGMEA] has sought scope to pay reduced source tax retrospectively from July 01. The new rate-0.25 per cent from 1.0 per cent-was made effective from October 21 by a Statutory Regulatory Order [SRO] of the National Board of Revenue [NBR]. With this fresh order, exporters will not be able to claim refund or adjust the paid source tax for the period from July 01 to October 20. The reduced rate will remain valid up to June 30, 2020. Demanding the retrospective reduced rate, BGMEA president Rubana Huq has written to NBR chairman Md Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan. In a letter, she said apparel exporters would face financial losses for not giving the tax benefit with retrospective effect. Garment industry is now passing a transitional period, the BGMEA chief mentioned. Business operating costs have risen by some 30 per cent for a steady fall in export items globally, a hike in workers’ wage and other adverse situations, she cited. Ms Rubana requested NBR to issue an instruction by making the reduced tax effective from July 01. Income tax officials, however, said they have made the reduced tax effective from October 21 as approved by finance minister AHM Mustafa Kamal.

Source: https://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/last-page/bgmea-for-retroactive-reduced-source-tax-1572457659

Bank Asia organized Day-long Training Programme Bank Asia organized a day-long Training Programme on “Prevention of Money Laundering and Combating Financing on Terrorism” for its Officials from west region [Khulna, Jessore, Kushtia and Faridpur] recently. Md. Mosharraf Hossain Khan, Executive Director, Bangladesh Bank, Khulna, was the Chief Guest while Mohammad Borhanuddin, President & Managing Director [CC], Bank Asia Ltd, was the special guest.

Source: https://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/stock-corporate/bank-asia-organised-a-day-long-training-programme-1572453562

Local and Global Stock Indices *

Index NameClose ValueValue ChangePercentage Change
DSEX4683.20505↑12.45↑ 0.26
DJIA27,186.69
↑ 115.27 ↑ 0.43%
FTSE1007,330.78 ↑ 24.52 ↑ 0.34%
Nikkei 22522,887.06 ↑ 43.94 ↑ 0.19%

World Commodities *

CommodityClose ValueValue ChangePercentage Change
Crude Oil (WTI)$ 55.18 ↑ 0.12 ↑ 0.22%
Crude Oil (Brent)$ 60.88 ↑ 0.27 ↑ 0.45%
Gold Spot$ 1,497.87 ↑ 2.21 ↑ 0.15%

Major Currencies Exchange Rates Movement in Last Seven Days *

Exchange Rates
USD 1BDT 82.9997
GBP 1BDT 106.889
EUR 1BDT 92.2973
INR 1BDT 1.17230

*CURRENCIES AND COMMODITIES ARE TAKEN FROM BLOOMBERG.<