01-10-2020

THuRSDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2020
10
ECB's Lagarde downplays diverging
views among board members
Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited inaugurated its 358, 359, 360 & 361st Branch as Bheramara in
Kushtia, Khulshi in Chattogram, Kalai in Joypurhat and Ashulia in Dhaka recently. Md.
Mahbub ul Alam, Managing Director and CEO of the bank inaugurated the branches at virtual
platform as chief guest. Mohammed Monirul Moula, Muhammad Qaisar Ali and Md. Omar
Faruk Khan, Additional Managing Directors of the Bank addressed the program as special
guest. Md. Mosharraf Hossain, Deputy Managing Director presided over the program. Head
Office Executives & Officials, Head of concerned Zones & Branches, executives & officials,
clients, well-wishers & dignitaries participated in the local functions and were also connected
with the Head Office program virtually.
Photo: Courtesy
Markets mixed after
Trump-Biden debate;
data lifts China
Stocks were mixed in Asia
on Wednesday while upbeat
manufacturing data lifted
shares in China as investors
studied the outcome of the
debate between President
Donald Trump and his
Democratic challenger, Joe
Biden, reports UNB.
Hong Kong and Shanghai
led regional gains while
Japan's Nikkei 225 edged
lower. Overnight, the S and
P 500 lost 0.5% as heavy
selling of banks helped
reverse some of the gains
the market a day earlier.
Investors remain cautious
with COVID-19 infections
on the rise again in the U.S.
and elsewhere. The Trump-
Biden debate occurred as
coronavirus deaths
worldwide have surpassed 1
million. Many millions of
people worldwide are
jobless.
A survey of Chinese
manufacturers, t he Caixin
manufacturing purchasing
manager's index, showed
economic activity
accelerating further in
September as businesses
recovered from the
downturn earlier this year
due to the pandemic.
The Caixin manufacturing
PMI slipped to 53.0 from
53.1 in August, on a scale of
1-100 where 50 marks the
cutoff between contraction
and expansion. China's
official manufacturing PMI
rose to 51.5 from 51.0, its
highest level in two years.
"The economic recovery
has picked up pace with
supply and both domestic as
well as overseas demand
improving," Stephen Innes
of AxiCorp said in a
commentary.
The Hang Seng in Hong
Kong jumped 1.4% to
23,593.51, but fell back from
a 2.1% gain earlier in the
morning. The Shanghai
Composite index surged
0.6% to 3,243.79.
Overnight, stocks ended
with moderate losses
Tuesday as investors waited
for the first debate between
President Donald Trump
and Democratic challenger
Joe Biden.
The debate's likely impact
on markets, if any, was
unclear. The atmosphere
was antagonistic, as to be
expected, but for voters still
undecided about who'd
better handle the multiple
crises that have beset the
nation, the faceoff may not
have offered anything new.
Japan's Nikkei 225 index
lost 0.7% to 23,366.81, while
the S and P/ASX 200
skidded 0.8% to 5,902.10.
Markets were closed in
South Korea.
Shares fell in Thailand and
Indonesia but rose in
Taiwan and Singapore.
On Wall Street, banks,
energy companies and
stocks that depend on
consumer spending had
some of the biggest losses.
The price of oil fell 3.2%,
dragging much of the energy
sector down with it. On
Wednesday, U.S. crude fell
20 cents to $39.09 per
barrel in electronic trading
on the New York Mercantile
Exchange. Brent crude, the
international standard, gave
up 25 cents to $41.31 per
barrel.
Uncertainty over the
course of the pandemic and
over how it will affect the
economy has clouded
sentiment, with the
benchmark S and P 500 on
track to fall 4.7% this month,
its worst month since March
when the stock market
plunged sharply as
outbreaks spread in the U.S.
"The market needs the
economy to remain open,"
said Mark Hackett, chief of
investment research at
Nationwide. "We can handle
bumpy economic data, but
markets are not priced for
the economy to shut back
down."
The S and P 500 index fell
16.13 points to 3,335.47,
after rallying the day before.
The Dow Jones Industrial
Average 0.5%, to 27,452.66,
and the technology-heavy
Nasdaq composite lost
0.3%, to 11,085.25.
Congress still is arguing
over the size of a new
economic support package
after
additional
unemployment benefits
expired. House Speaker
Nancy Pelosi and Treasury
Secretary Steven Mnuchin
have agreed to hold another
round of stimulus talks.
However with the death of
Supreme Court Justice Ruth
Bader Ginsburg, Congress
has redirected much of its
attention to President
Trump's nominee to replace
her.
Walmart looks to
airports as inspiration
of new store layout
Walmart is getting
inspiration from the
airport terminal as it
revamps the layout and
signage of its stores to
speed up shopping and
better cater to
smartphone-armed
customers, reports UNB.
The nation's largest
retailer, based in
Bentonville, Arkansas, said
that the look, which
includes signs with bold
dimensional typeface
spotlighting sections, is
currently in one store. It
will be rolled out to 200
stores by early next year.
with plans to add another
800 stores by early 2022.
Walmart says it was
working on a new store
layout a year ago. But the
pandemic accelerated
those efforts as customers
are increasingly focused on
contactless shopping amid
safety concerns.
"We were inspired by
airport wayfinding systems
as best-in-class examples
of how to navigate large
groups of people," says
Janey Whiteside, executive
vice president and chief
customer officer at
Walmart's U.S. division, in
a corporate blog.
As part of the overall
signage, the exterior and
interior of the stores will
reflect the Walmart app
icon. As customers enter
the store, they will see
colorful iconography and a
store directory that
encourages them to
download and use the
Walmart app while they
shop. It says its aisles will
feature letter and number
combinations to guide
customers from phone to
products.
The 12-year anniversary of the country's leading advertising and event management company
Ingenious Group was held at the Westin Hotel in the capital and launched their new
online e-commerce store, sheraa.com.bd. recently. Planning Minister of the Government of
the People's Republic of Bangladesh M.A. Mannan MP announced the good start of the site
in the presence of dignitaries of the country. Md. Hasan Ekram Ahmed, CEO and MD of
Ingenious Group, the mother company of the website, spoke on the occasion. He pledged to
provide quality services to the potential buyers in this business in Bangladesh. Since then,
it has established itself as a high-functioning marketplace, ensuring maximum access to its
customers and partners.
Photo: Courtesy
European Central Bank chief Christine
Lagarde said Monday she wasn't "overly
concerned" about differences among
governing council members over the
future direction of the bank's pandemic
stimulus, reports BSS.
Senior members are becoming
increasingly split on future moves to
address the economic fallout from the
coronavirus between those who believe
the ECB's monetary policies should be
more restrained and those who think
support for the bloc's economy should
carry more weight.
"I'm not overly concerned that people
can have slightly different views and
opinions," ECB chief Lagarde told an
online hearing before the European
Parliament.
"What is important is actually once a
decision has been made and once a
majority has been established it's a
question of discipline, staying the course,
being together," the former French
finance minister said.
Lagarde, 64, said she was a "consensus
builder" and could only build agreements
"if views are slightly different amongst
members".
The current president of the Frankfurtbased
institution succeeded Italian
Mario Draghi last November when the
board was divided as never before, after
hawkish German policymaker Sabine
Lautenschlaeger resigned in what was
seen as a rebuke at Draghi's stimulus
policies.
Lagarde managed the transition,
before the coronavirus pandemic
brought unprecedented challenges
prompting the ECB to take exceptional
measures to keep liquidity flowing in the
eurozone.
However, cracks have started to form.
ECB executive board member Fabio
Panetta last week said that, in response
France launched a freespending
budget plan on
Monday, saying a fresh spike
in new Covid-19 cases
justified its unprecedented
loosening of the purse
strings, reports BSS.
After 460 billion euros
($537 billion) of emergency
spending this year to save
the economy from the virus
fallout, the government built
its 2021 budget plan around
a 100-billion "recovery plan",
first announced this month
and partly funded by EU
money.
The budget came after
France's health services
Saturday reported 14,412
new virus cases over the
previous 24 hours - only
slightly lower than the record
16,000 registered on both
Thursday and Friday.
The fresh spike threatens
to overwhelm hospitals,
health officials warned, while
the government imposed
fresh curbs to limit the
spread of the virus, including
on restaurants, bars and
sports facilities. "There is no
reason to give up the idea of
a recovery just because the
health difficulties have reemerged,"
Finance Minister
Bruno Le Maire told a news
conference.
The spending boost is to
help the French economy to
rebound strongly next year,
by eight percent according to
the budget, after crashing by
an expected 10 percent this
year, Le Maire said.
"We are implementing this
recovery fund so it can be
used up quickly and have the
greatest possible impact on
growth," he said.
But the growth forecast
immediately drew criticism
from France's high council
for public finance, a state
body charged with making
sure that government
budgetary assumptions are
realistic.
The growth target was
"pro-active", given the "great
uncertainties" weighing on
the economic outlook
because of the coronavirus,
the council said.
to Covid-19, "the risks of a policy
overreaction are much smaller than the
risks of policy being too slow or too shy to
react and the worst-case scenarios
materialising."
In contrast, outgoing board member
Yves Mersch believes the ECB should
limit itself to reacting to the economic
effects of the pandemic through its
emergency bond-buying programme,
known as PEPP.
PEPP is "exceptional and therefore
temporary," Mersch said, and that
transferring any of the PEPP features to
the bank's asset-purchase program,
would be legally "very curious".
The ECB is ready to "adjust all its
instruments" to allow the economy to
recover, Lagarde reiterated on Monday.
The crucial moment for the ECB could
come in December, when it is expected to
announce further action armed with new
projections for 2023.
NRB Global Bank formally opened its Chapainawabganj Islami Banking Branch at Chapai
Nawabganj recently. Syed Habib Hasnat, Managing Director of the bank has inaugurated the operation
of the branch as chief guest through online. Additional Managing Directors Md. Golam Sarwar
& Kazi Mashiur Rahman Jayhad, Deputy Managing Director Mohammad Shamsul Islam & Ataus
Samad, Divisional Heads from Head office, Branch Managers & distinguished clients were also present
on the occasion. NRB Global Bank has been providing Islamic banking services along with conventional
banking through the launch of Islamic Banking window from among the existing branches.
It was expected that through the latest technological support, the bank will provide quality service
to the customers & will expand its network in home & abroad to provide "Great Experience" to its
stakeholders.
Photo: Courtesy
NOVOAIR announces
attractive 'winter
holiday package'
NOVOAIR is offering
attractive Winter Holiday
Package for Cox's Bazar,
Sylhet and Chattogram,
reports UNB.
The package includes air
fare and hotel, hotel
transfer at airport,
breakfast and many more
on twin share basis for two
nights three days, the
airlines said in a press
release on Wednesday.
NOVOAIR has partnered
with 19 leading private
banks and card holders of
these banks can enjoy this
package at zero interest
which is payable in six equal
monthly installments, it
said.
Cox's Bazar package from
Dhaka starts from Tk 1,777
per person per month and
from other destinations, the
starting rate is Tk 2,666 per
person per month.
Partner Hotels includes
Royal Tulip Pearl Beach
Resort, Sayeman Beach
Resort, Ocean Paradise
Hotel and Resort, Long
Beach Hotel, Windy terrace
Boutique Hotel, Best
Western Heritage,
Neeshorgo Hotel and
Resort, Grace Cox Smart
Hotel and Praasad Paradise
Hotel and Resort.
Sylhet package from
Dhaka starts from Tk 1,515
Per person per month.
Partner Hotels are Hotel
Rose View and Hotel
Noorjahan grand.
Chattogram package
from Dhaka starts from Tk
2,222 per person per
month and the partner
hotel is Hotel Agrabad.
Dhaka package from
Cox's Bazar starts at Tk
2,222 per person per
month and from other
destinations Tk 1,888 per
person per month. Partner
hotel is Lakeshore hotels.
France unveils big
budget as virus
cases worsen
It also called on the
government to be mindful of
public debt which has
ballooned out of recognition
since the start of the crisis.
France's annual deficit is
estimated at 10.2 percent of
GDP this year, and is to come
in at 6.7 percent in 2021, the
government said.
This compares with a
permitted ceiling of three
percent for eurozone
countries, which the EU has
however lifted temporarily
as governments grapple with
the crisis.
US Democrats come down to $2.2
trillion in new Covid proposal
US Democrats unveiled a $2.2 trillion relief bill Monday to
help millions of Americans gutted by the coronavirus
pandemic, trimming more than $1 trillion off their earlier
version hoping to reach agreement with Republicans after
months of stagnation, reports BSS.
In a deeply polarized Congress, the chances of reaching an
agreement ahead of the November 3 election have sharply
diminished in the past several weeks.
But the top Democrat in Washington, House Speaker
Nancy Pelosi, and Trump's Treasury Secretary Steven
Mnuchin, were poised for a fresh round of negotiations.
The pair spoke briefly by telephone Monday evening "after
House Democrats introduced an updated version of the
Heroes Act," Pelosi spokesman Drew Hamill said on Twitter.
"The two agreed to speak again tomorrow morning."
The new plan "provides the absolutely needed resources to
protect lives, livelihoods and the life of our democracy over
the coming months," Pelosi told her Democratic caucus in a
letter.
She said the measure includes new funding that would
"avert catastrophe" for schools, small businesses,
restaurants, performance spaces, airline workers and
others.