e_Paper (23 December 2016)

More documents

Recommendations

Info

DT 12 Business FRIDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2016 CAPITAL MARKET SNAPSHOT: THURSDAY DSE Broad Index 4,956.7 0.7% ▲ Index 1,175.9 0.8% ▲ 30 Index 1,796.6 0.3% ▲ Turnover in Mn Tk 9,000.6 20.9% ▲ Turnover in Mn Vol 308.0 32.8% ▲ CSE All Share Index 15,249.1 0.7% ▲ 30 Index 13,503.0 0.8% ▲ Selected Index 9,251.0 0.7% ▲ Turnover in Mn Tk 493.2 40.6% ▲ Turnover in Mn Vol 19.6 42.9% ▲ Muhith: Bank merger law will be updated • Asif Showkat Kallol Bangladesh urges UK to lift ban on direct cargo flights • Tribune Business Desk Bangladesh Foreign Minister Mahmood Ali has urged the British government to lift the ban imposed on direct cargo flights from Dhaka to London. He came up with the call at a meeting with visiting Rushanara Ali MP, UK Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy for Bangladesh, held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Dhaka Wednesday. The minister also expected Rushanara’s strong pursuance to her government for lifting the temporary ban, said a press release issued by the foreign ministry. Mahmood also hoped that Bangladesh will continue to enjoy the same – or better – facilities for duty-free, quota-free market access to the UK market for “Everything but Arms” products and services even after Brexit comes into force. Finance Minister AMA Muhith says Bank law needs to be updated DHAKA TRIBUNE Referring to the UK being the third largest country for exports from Bangladesh, the foreign minister requested the UK trade envoy to exchange trade delegations between the two countries to tap into the huge business and investment potential that Bangladesh delivers. He also congratulated Rushanara on her appointment as the UK Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy for Bangladesh. Mahmood expressed his satisfaction over the signing of an MoU between Bangladesh Railway and British company DP Rail Ltd for setting up a 240km rail track between Dhaka and Payra seaport in Patuakhali. Mentioning this as the biggest-ever foreign direct investment, the foreign minister observed that this would be a major breakthrough in the public-private partnership area in Bangladesh. • The merger and insolvency provisions under the Bank Company Law will be amended by next two years, Finance Minister AMA Muhith said yesterday. “We need to strengthen the two provisions of the law because we need to be on par with the global banking laws,” he said at the inauguration of 10 branches of Mercantile Bank Limited, at the Westin Hotel Dhaka. Muhith said these provisions would be used in the coming days as 56 banks are operating in the country and that the number needs to be reduced. “There are 56 banks operating business in Bangladesh, which is a huge number for Bangladesh.” Bangladesh Bank Governor Fazle Kabir, Mercantile Bank Limited Chairman Shahidul Ahsan and the bank’s Managing Director Kazi Mashiur Rahman were also present. “Mercantile Bank has expanded its service. This is good for its clients as well as the country can benefit from its expansion economically,” finance minister said. “The money would of no use if they are not circulated. The banks are doing this job well. The circulation of money is also needed for the development of the banking system,” he added. Bangladesh Bank Governor Fazle Kabir said: “I believe the expansion of banking service will create a new horizon in the banking sector.” “We welcome this initiative. With the successful advancement of the growth, I would like to thank the authorities for the management of the bank efficiently,” he said. • Budget spending slows in first quarter • Asif Showkat Kallol The government has spent Tk41,908 crore or 12.30% of the total budget allocation of the current fiscal during the first quarter, according to a budget analysis of the finance ministry. At the same period last year, 12.60% of the total budget allocation was spent. Finance Minister AMA Muhith will present a report on the country’s macroeconomic situation and budget implementation in next session of the parliament. In the current fiscal year, the budget deficit is estimated to be Tk97,853 crore, which is 5% of the country’s gross domestic product. The deficit is to be met by borrowing from foreign and local resources. A finance ministry official involved with budget expenditure said the reason behind the low expenditure rate is slow implementation of the annual development programme (ADP). In the first quarter, only 6.32% of the total ADP allocation was spent, which is the lowest in five years, earlier it was only 6.7% of the total ADP. Senior Finance Secretary Mahbub Ahmed said the bank borrowing had declined as the ministries and divisions did not complete their development projects in the current fiscal year. “Those ministries and divisions do not have enough capacity to utilise their development funds, and as a result most of the funds were returned at the end of the fiscal,” the secretary said. He said: “We had to reduce the current fiscal year’s bank borrowing outlay.” The government repaid the bank loans. Due to non-use of the funds in development projects, bank borrowing has dropped remarkably. The government’s bank borrowing target for the current fiscal year has been set at Tk38,938 crore. The government has repaid Tk3,047 crore in first three months of this fiscal. The target of the non-bank loan is Tk20,784 crore in the current budget from which the government borrowed Tk2,264 crore while borrowing from saving instruments stands at Tk8,702 crore in the first quarter. • Bankers’ role vital to promote SME • Tribune Business Desk Senior bankers and business leaders have said sustainable promotion of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) is key to bolstering the country’s economy, BSS reports. They observed that both the public and private banking sector and other authorised financial institutions should take the responsibility of successful development of entrepreneurship and SME business. The observation came at the inaugural session of a two-day workshop styled “Financial Literacy for SME Bankers” held at the conference hall of local office of Bangladesh Bank in Rajshahi yesterday. A large number of senior officers from both public and private banks in the region participated in the workshop. SME Foundation hosted the workshop with the aim of familiarising the participants with the nature and process of entrepreneurship development, particularly SME entrepreneurship and its business. Managing Director of SME Foundation Shafiqul Islam and BB Executive Director Zinnatul Bakeya addressed the session as the chief and special guests respectively with BB General Manager Asim Kumar Mazumder in the chair. General Manager of SME Foundation Shaheen Anwar, President of Bangladesh Silk Industries Owners Association Liakat Ali, President of Rajshahi Chamber of Commerce and Industry Md Muniruzzaaman and local unit president of Bangladesh Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry Prof Rojety Naznin spoke on the occasion. In his address, Shafiqul Islam asked the bankers to give more emphasis on the development of entrepreneurship through SME financing to accelerate the economic condition of the grass roots. Stressing the need for entrepreneurship development and increased financing for the SME sector, he also called for an increase in credit flow to the sector. SME sector can play an effective role in economic progress, employment generation and poverty reduction, Shafiqul said, adding that if SMEs are properly financed, the nation would be benefited. In this regard, he asked the bankers to expedite the SME credit programme through intensifying motivational, awareness building and monitoring activities to make the programme a total success. •
Business 13 DT FRIDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2016 Investors look at computer screens showing stock information at a brokerage house in Shanghai REUTERS Most Asia markets lower after US losses • AFP, Hong Kong Asian markets mostly turned lower yesterday following a rare drop for this month on Wall Street, with concerns about Italy’s banking sector denting confidence. With dealers winding down for the Christmas break business is thinning, making swings sharper while profit-takers close in after the recent global rally. Trading floors from Asia to the Americas have been humming since Donald Trump last month won the US presidential election, with dealers betting his big-spending, tax-cutting policies will ramp up growth in the world’s top economy. That has also fuelled a surge on US markets, with all three main indexes clocking up record closes in December. However, the Dow slipped for just the fourth time this month, having hit multiple all-time highs and bearing down on the key 20,000-point mark. And in early trade Asian markets followed their US counterpart’s lead. Tokyo ended down 0.1%, having risen for 10 of the previous 12 sessions. “Moderate losses on Wall Street, underpinned by the fall in oil prices, are providing little inspiration for Asian markets today,” Jingyi Pan, a strategist at IG Asia in Singapore, told Bloomberg News. “Thin volumes are also providing little momentum for trade into the end of the year.” Hong Kong lost 0.8%, putting it into a correction - a 10% drop from its recent high seen on September 9. Italy bank fears Singapore fell 0.7% and Seoul was 0.1% lower, while Taipei, Manila, Mumbai, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur also retreated. But Sydney closed 0.5% higher and Wellington climbed 0.7% after data showed the New Zealand economy grew more than expected July-September. Shanghai reversed early losses to end up 0.1%. Financial firms fell on worries over Italy, where the world’s oldest bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena plunged more than 12% as it struggles to stay afloat under massive debts. The lender’s troubles mirror a wider problem in Italy’s banking industry, which is buckling under bad loans, prompting parliament to approve a 20bn euro ($20.9bn) support package. There are fears a collapse in the country’s finance sector could batter the global banking industry. Expectations Trump’s spending will fuel inflation and force the Federal Reserve to hike interest rates have also boosted the dollar against all its peers and on Thursday it held its recent gains, sitting at 10-month highs against the yen and near 14-year highs versus the euro. • DSE closes week with further record • Tribune Business Desk The major price index of Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) reached about 24-month high yesterday maintaining high record like the last session of the previous week, reports BSS. DSEX, the major price index of DSE, added 31.01 points over the week at 4956.73 which was the highest after January 13, 2015 when it closed at 4,969.73. But the blue-chip index DS30 ended over 9.36 points down at 1796.64. The average daily trade volume increased by 6.5% to 30.22 crore shares when the value surged by 2.3% to Tk934.51 crore. Of the 329 traded securities, 189 closed higher against 112 losing issues when 28 remained unchanged. The five major gaining companies included Zeal Bangla, IDLC, Emerald Oil, CMC Kamal and Eastern Lubricant. The five major losing companies included Progressive Life Insurance, NHFIL, MAR- ICO, Savar Refrigerator and Jamuna Oil. The top five turnover leaders were BBS, Apollo Ispat, Square Pharma, Saportl and Lafarge Surma Cement. Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also closed the week up, with its major CAS- PI index ending 81.41 points higher at 15249.08. Like DSE, most of the issues traded here closed higher when both the trade value and the volume of shares increased significantly. • Like what you’re reading? SUBSCRIBE TODAY Call: 0161-I-WANT-DT (01614926838) | Visit: dhakatribune.com/subscribe Dhaka Tribune
Page 1 and 2: SECOND EDITION FRIDAY, DECEMBER 23,
Page 3 and 4: News 3 FRIDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2016 BN
Page 5 and 6: News 5 FRIDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2016 As
Page 7 and 8: Husband takes life of wife • Arif
Page 9 and 10: World Putin urges Russian nuclear w
Page 11: World 11 FRIDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2016
Page 15 and 16: Business 15 DT FRIDAY, DECEMBER 23,
Page 17 and 18: Feature 17 FRIDAY, DECEMBER 23, 201
Page 19 and 20: | ceremony | Biz Info ULAB’s 4th
Page 21 and 22: No place to call home Opinion 21 A
Page 23 and 24: Opinion 23 FRIDAY, DECEMBER 23, 201
Page 25 and 26: Sport 25 DT FRIDAY, DECEMBER 23, 20
Page 27 and 28: Sport 27 DT FRIDAY, DECEMBER 23, 20
Page 29 and 30: Downtime 29 FRIDAY, DECEMBER 23, 20
Page 31 and 32: Showtime Four factors of Hollywood

e_Paper (23 December 2016)

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?