e_Paper_Wednesday_December 12, 2016

14
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2016
DT
Basic Bank to
get Tk2600cr
bonds in
installments
• Asif Shawkat Kallol
Finance Minister AMA Muhith
has refused to hand over
Tk2600cr bonds to the Basic
Bank in one go.
The minister came up with
the decision at a meeting of
the governing body of Climate
Change Trust Fund held at the
Ministry of Environment and
Forest yesterday.
The minister said: “We
cannot provide Tk2600cr to
the bank in cash but we will
provide it in bonds. And finance
ministry will provide
the bonds in different slots of
Tk500cr and Tk600cr.”
“We cannot stop providing
support to the bank even if it is
bankrupt,” he added.
Muhith said the ministry
had to provide funds in this regard
as the government decided
to keep the Basic Bank operational
despite its bankruptcy.
Last year, Basic Bank received
Tk2300cr in aid from
the finance ministry. •
Business
Oil steadies above $55 ahead of
supply cut deal
• Reuters
Oil steadied above $55 a barrel yesterday,
drawing support from expectations
of tighter supply once
the first output cut deal between
OPEC and non-OPEC producers in
15 years takes effect on Sunday.
Jan 1 is the official start of the
deal agreed by the Organisation
of Petroleum Exporting Countries
and several non-OPEC producers
to lower production by almost 1.8
million barrels per day (bpd).
Brent crude LCOc1 was unchanged
at $55.16 a barrel at 1128
GMT (6:28 am ET). The global
benchmark reached $57.89 on Dec
12, the highest since July 2015. US
crude CLc1 gained 15 cents to $53.17.
There was no trading on Monday
after the Christmas holiday, and
volume was expected to be light
on Tuesday. Crude may struggle to
rally much further before evidence
is available of OPEC’s compliance
with the cuts, analysts said.
“To go above $60 is going to be
difficult. We’re already close to
the top rather than the bottom of
the range right now,” said Olivier
Jakob, oil analyst at Petromatrix.
“From January, we’ll start to
A PetroChina gasoline-station attendant pumps fuel into a car in Beijing
have a better idea about the level of
OPEC production. That is going to
be more and more of a focus.”
Major OPEC members such as
Saudi Arabia and Iraq have informed
customers of lower supplies. But
Libya and Nigeria - which are exempt
from reductions because conflict
has curbed their output - have
been increasing production.
Libyan output was 622,000 bpd
on Monday, up slightly from levels
recorded before an armed faction
agreed to lift a two-year blockade
REUTERS
on major western pipelines on Dec
14, the National Oil Corporation
(NOC) said.
While the outright price of crude
is being supported by the prospect
of lower supplies, the impact in the
physical market will probably differ
according to the type of crude.
Price differentials for lighter
crudes could weaken once the supply
cut comes into force as producers
are expected to trim back output
of their heavier grades, analysts at
JBC Energy said in a report. •
‘Monte dei Paschi
bailout must be
carefully weighed’
• Reuters
European Central Bank policymaker
Jens Weidmann said plans for a
state bailout of Italian bank Monte
dei Paschi di Siena should be
weighed carefully as many questions
remain to be answered, according
to German newspaper Bild.
“For the measures planned by
the Italian government the bank
has to be financially healthy at its
core. The money cannot be used
to cover losses that are already expected,”
Bild quoted Weidmann as
saying in a summary of an article
due to be published today. He said
there must be a risk of severe economic
turbulence, adding: “All this
must be carefully examined.”
The Italian government approved
a decree on Friday to bail
out Monte dei Paschi after the
world’s oldest bank failed to win
investor backing for a desperately
needed capital increase.
Monte dei Paschi emerged as
the weakest of some 51 European
banks subjected to stress tests
earlier this year by the ECB. It was
given until the end of the year to
sort out its problems or face being
wound down. •