03-09-2021

FRiDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2021
8
What can central banks do to address
climate risks?
The Premier Bank Limited has arranged an orientation programme at the Learning & Talent
Development Center in its Head Office for the newly-recruited TJO (General & Cash). The welcoming
programme was inaugurated by banks Advisor Muhammed Ali and Managing Director
& CEO M. Reazul Karim, FCMA. Among others, Sayed Abul Hashem FCA, Deputy Managing
Director & CFO; Sami Karim, Deputy Managing Director and COO; Mamun Mahmud, SEVP and
CHRO; Anisul Kabir - SEVP & Head of CRM; Mohd. Jamil Hossain, CMA, SEVP and Head of
Corporate Banking Division; Mohammed Emtiaz Uddin, SEVP and Head of SME & Agriculture
Division were also present on the occasion along with other high officials. At his welcoming
speech, M. Reazul Karim, Managing Director & CEO of the bank said, "As a well-paid & noble
profession, Banking is the most demanding job to fresh graduates Nowadays". He also added,
"A knowledgeable, confident and visionary person can make the difference in his professional
life. At the end of his speech, he requested to earn success through honesty and dedication to
work." The Premier Bank Limited recruited 77 Trainee Junior Officers (General & Cash) for this
year through a foolproof recruitment process.
Photo : Courtesy
Most Asian markets rise as dealers
focus on recovery outlook
HONG KONG- Most Asian
equities extended their
impressive run on Thursday
as Covid concerns eased and
traders grew more optimistic
that the Federal Reserve will
continue to provide extensive
support for some time, while
focus turned to the release of
US jobs data at the end of the
week, reports BSS.
Wall Street provided a tepid
lead-though the Nasdaq did
squeeze out yet another
record-after a private
employment report came in
well below forecast. Analysts
said there were positives as
well as negatives in the miss.
After weeks of stuttering
performances across world
markets, equities are back in
popularity after Fed boss
Jerome Powell last week
indicated that while the bank
intends to start tapering its
ultra-loose monetary policy, it
would do so cautiously.
He also suggested interest
rates will remain at record
lows for a period of time
afterwards, though he gave no
timeframe. The US non-farm
payrolls figure on Friday will
be closely monitored, with
some observers saying a
strong reading could push the
bank to start its pullback as
soon as next month.
Wednesday figures from
private payrolls firm ADP
showed firms created far
fewer posts last month than
had been expected, weighed
by the fresh surge in
coronavirus cases around the
United States.
"Although the ADP report
doesn't have a great track
record at predicting US nonfarm
payrolls outcomes, the
big miss was too big to
ignore," said National
Australia Bank's Rodrigo
Catril.
He added that a big miss in
Friday's data-forecasts are for
around 750,000 -- would
mean the Fed's goal of making
"further substantial progress"
in the jobs market would take
longer to achieve, "thus
delaying the tapering decision
from September to
November".
"Bad news in the labour
market is good news for risk
assets given the punchbowl
will remain well liquified for a
bit longer," he added.
Hong Kong led gains,
putting on more than one
percent, as it continued its
rebound from a painful selloff
in recent weeks fuelled by
China's crackdown on a range
of industries, particularly
technology.
Shanghai, helped by news
that the People's Bank of
China will provide tens of
billions of dollars in low-cost
funding to lenders to help
them offer more support to
small and medium-sized
companies, as Beijing tries to
cushion its economy against a
growth slowdown.
Tokyo, Singapore, Taipei,
Manila and Jakarta also rose.
Sydney, Seoul and Wellington
dipped.
The broadly upbeat mood
comes as investors look past a
spike in infections from the
Delta coronavirus variant,
which has forced some
countries to impose
lockdowns, and instead focus
on the long-term recovery
outlook.
"The market is fading Covid
more as a risk in terms of
really hampering economic
activity," Tracie McMillion, at
Wells Fargo Investment
Institute, told Bloomberg
Television.
"We think the Fed is going
to stick with their word and
they will start tapering later
this year. But we don't think
they are going to be in any
hurry to raise interest rates."
Oil prices extended losses a
day after OPEC and other
major producers agreed to lift
output as the economy
rebounds and demand is seen
picking up.
Sri Lanka raids sugar
stocks as food
shortages bite
COLOMBO : Sri Lankan
government officials on
Wednesday raided private
warehouses to seize
thousands of tonnes of sugar,
a day after a state of
emergency was declared over
food shortages caused by a
currency crisis, reports BSS.
A military officer put in
charge of efforts to bolster
food stocks said at least
13,000 tonnes of white and
brown sugar were found in
the raids.
"The objective is to prevent
hoarding," Major General
Senarath Niwunhella, who
was named commissioner
general of essential services
on Tuesday, told AFP.
He denied the sugar was
being confiscated.
"The government will pay a
reasonable price to the
importers based on the
valuations provided to
customs."
The general said importers
had stockpiled sugar while
market prices rose sharply.
"Today we started with
sugar and will expand this
action to other commodities
like wheat flour and rice too if
importers do not release their
stocks to the market," he said.
The raids were
concentrated on warehouses
just outside the capital.
Experts have blamed the
food crisis on a shortage of
foreign exchange to import
and maintain buffer stocks.
Authorities have increased
penalties for food hoarding.
Sugar was not easily
available at the statemandated
price of 135 rupees
($0.67) a kilo (2.2 pounds),
but could be bought in the
black market for double the
price.
Niwunhella said the seized
stocks will be given to stateowned
retail stores to sell for
below the open market price.
There have also been sharp
price rises for rice, onions and
potatoes, while long queues
have formed outside stores
because of shortages of milk
powder, kerosene oil and
cooking gas.
The shortages come as the
country of 21 million battles a
fierce coronavirus wave that is
claiming more than 200 lives
a day.
The economy shrank by a
record 3.6 percent in 2020
because of the pandemic.
Last year, the government
banned imports of vehicles
and other items, including
edible oils and the widely used
spice turmeric in a bid to save
foreign exchange.
Importers still say they have
been unable to source dollars
to pay for food and medicines.
Tokyo stocks open
higher with eyes
on US jobs data
TOKYO: Tokyo stocks
opened higher on Thursday
in cautious trade after a
mixed close on Wall Street,
with investors looking ahead
to US jobs data due this
week, reports BSS.
The benchmark Nikkei
225 index was up 0.48
percent or 135.43 points at
28,586.45 in early trade,
while the broader Topix
index advanced 0.21 percent
or 4.23 points to 1,985.02.
"A wait-and-see attitude is
likely to proliferate in
Japanese trade ahead of the
US payrolls data," Mizuho
Securities said.
Investors are also keeping
an eye on Prime Minister
Yoshihide Suga's moves in
preparation for general
elections due later this year,
it added.
The dollar fetched 110.02
yen in early Asian trade,
against 110.01 yen in New
York late Wednesday.
In Tokyo, Takeda, which
manages sales and
distribution of Moderna's
Covid-19 vaccine in Japan,
was down 0.45 percent at
3,711 yen after Moderna said
tainted batches sent to
Japan were contaminated
with stainless steel particles.
The US biotech firm said
the contamination was not
expected to pose "an undue
risk to patient safety".
SAS narrows
loss as air travel
remains muted
STOCKHOLM :
Scandinavian airline SAS said
Wednesday it sees
encouraging signs of travel
increasing that it still faces
"headwinds" from the global
pandemic as it reported a
narrower net loss, reports
BSS.
The carrier reported a net
loss of 1.36 billion ($157
million, 133 million euros)
Swedish kronor for the period
of May to July, down from a
net loss of 2.37 billion for the
same period a year earlier.
"We noted encouraging
signs during the summer
season with demand slowly
increasing," CEO Anko van
der Werff, who took over the
reins in July, said in a
statement.
"Vaccination rates are also
rising, but significant
challenges remain ahead as
new cases of the Delta variant
are multiplying and delaying
ramp-up," van der Werff
added, noting that "imposed
travel restrictions remain in
force."
NEW YORK:The world's main central
banks were seen as saviors of the global
economy in the wake of the 2008
financial crisis and when the coronavirus
pandemic hit last year, but they are less
than unified when it comes to addressing
climate change, reports BSS.
The start of central bank involvement
in climate action is sometimes attributed
to a 2015 speech by the Bank of England's
(BOE) then-governor Mark Carney
entitled "Breaking the tragedy of the
horizon-climate change and financial
stability."
While not directly involved in
addressing global warming, central banks
do have to be alert to its impact on the
economy and the financial system.
Amid increasing public concern, the
institutions are factoring considerations
about climate into their policies and
watching for threats to their main
mandate for price stability, implications
for banking supervision and economic
growth more broadly.
One tool at their disposal are bank
stress tests, which can gauge how
financial institutions would hold up in the
face of climate shocks.
While the European Central Bank
(ECB) has only just launched a climate
stress test initiative, the Bank of France
by May had already examined nine
banking groups and 15 insurance
companies, revealing a moderate risk for
these establishments.
The ECB also could take climate risk
into consideration when buying
corporate bonds or accepting those used
for collateral, giving preference to assets
of firms not involved in polluting
activities.
The People's Bank of China also is
considering climate stress tests, while the
BOE started in June, reviewing banks
such as HSBC and Barclays. It also should
announce before the end of the year its
program of greening its asset buybacks.
Many central banks have joined the
Network of Central Banks and
Supervisors for Greening the Financial
System (NGFS), which currently
comprises 95 central banks and
regulators, including those in China,
India and Brazil.
Another member, the Bank of Japan
(BOJ), in June offered zero-interest
financing to lending institutions that fund
environmental projects. The BOJ also
will buy green bonds denominated in
foreign currency. In the United States, the
Federal Reserve has been wading into the
issue, but Chair Jerome Powell said in
June that "climate change is not
something that we directly consider in
setting monetary policy."
However, "climate-related financial
risk" is in its purview, he said, so the Fed
is looking at the implications for bank
supervision and regulation of the US
financial system.
Mary Daly, president of the Fed's San
Francisco branch, explained that the
central bank "does not have the tools or
nor is it the appropriate body to think
about climate change and mitigating
climate change."
But "we are absolutely involved in
thinking about climate risk" including
issues like how severe weather, fires and
hurricanes can impact property values
and the ability to get insurance, as well as
how those could affect economic growth.
Actions so far have been "fast and
slow," said Eric Dor, director of economic
studies at the IESEG School of
Management in France.
While there is no shortage of ideas,
"putting them into practice is very
complex, you have to convince many
stakeholders," he said.
But whether that means imposing
financial constraints on institutions
during stress tests, or the selection of
green assets to buy, "you have to be
progressive."
Central bankers of the richest nations
are urging governments to take the lead
in addressing climate issues, as they did
in the two most recent economic crises.
"It is governments, not central banks,
who are primarily responsible for
facilitating an orderly transition, and who
control the main required tools," ECB
President Christine Lagarde said in July.
Romain Svartzman, economist at the
Bank of France and co-author of a report
entitled
FSIBL stands with national team
cricketer Iqbal Hossain
Md. Iqbal Hossain, 26, is the
opening batsman of
Bangladesh Physically
Handicapped Cricket Team.
At the age of one and a half, he
contracted polio and became
paralyzed. From the thigh of
his left leg, he gradually
became thinner and as a
result he lost the ability to
move normally, a press
release said.
In 2016, Md. Iqbal Hossain
got a chance in the national
team out of about five
thousand competitors after
seeing an advertisement in a
newspaper for an
advertisement for the
Bangladesh Physically
Handicapped Cricket Team.
Iqbal Hossain has
participated in several
international games at home
and abroad. Received many
awards. He has brought
respect for the country.
However, despite earning
many honors and awards for
the country, financial
prosperity did not come to
Iqbal's family. "When I got a
chance to play in the national
team, I thought that at least
my mother and brother
should not go without food. I
will be able to make the
dilapidated house a little
stronger this time, but our
luck is bad. If not, why should
my mother and brother not
eat? It is a shame to say that
there is no food in the house."
Asian markets fluctuate as traders
weigh recovery against Delta
HONG KONG : Asian markets were
mixed Wednesday as investors tried to
assess whether the global recovery will be
resilient enough to withstand the fastspreading
Delta Covid variant, with
optimism being tested by the stuttering
rollout of vaccines and a spike in
infections in some countries, reports
BSS.
China's drive to tighten its grip on the
world's number two economy with a
swathe of new regulations for private
enterprises is also weighing on
sentiment, while there are also concerns
that valuations may have run too hot as
several markets sit at record or multiyear
highs.
Federal Reserve boss Jerome Powell's
indication Friday that the central bank
will take it easy in winding back its ultraloose
monetary policy-and even more
cautious in hiking interest rates-has
helped fuel a healthy run-up this week.
But Wall Street finished Tuesday on a
In this way, the opening
batsman of Bangladesh
Physically Handicapped team
Md. Iqbal Hossain was
expressing his frustration.
Her father died about 20
years ago. Due to not playing
regularly, he was forced to
work in a food hotel. But due
to Corona Pandemic, the work
of the hotel was also stopped.
As a result, he spends his days
with his family half-starved.
Knowing about his plight
through various newspapers,
First Security Islami Bank
Ltd., a popular modern
Shariah based bank of the
third generation, has come
forward in this difficult time.
From their social
responsibility fund, FSIBL has
started giving cash assistance
to the physically challenged
cricket team cricketer Md.
Iqbal Hossain every month
from August 2021. Md. Iqbal
Hossain was very happy to
hear the news of this help and
thanked Allah Almighty with
tears in his eyes and also
expressed his gratitude to the
Managing Authority of First
Security Islami Bank Ltd. He
tepid note after a closely watched survey
showed US consumer confidence saw a
sharp drop in August to its lowest level in
six months owing to concerns about
Delta and surging prices.
"A combination of higher prices-still
much in evidence across a swathe of
incoming US data-and doubtless too the
resurgence in Delta-strain Covid-19
infections, and hospitalisations, are
taking a toll," said Ray Attrill of National
Australia Bank.
"How temporary this will prove to be of
course remains to be seen."
While the United States remains
largely open thanks to a successful
vaccine rollout, other countries that have
administered fewer jabs are struggling
with fresh waves of Covid and are being
forced to impose strict containment
measures.
This has tempered hopes that the
blockbuster economic recovery seen at
the start of the year can be maintained.
also commented that as a
result of this assistance, his
family will no longer have to
spend half a day on starvation.
It is to be noted that at any
juncture in the country, First
Security Islami Bank Ltd. has
always given priority to the
service of the needy humanity.
Since its inception, First
Security Islami Bank Ltd. has
been by the side of helpless,
distressed and disasterstricken
people with the
slogan 'All the time for all'.
In early Asian trade, Tokyo, Singapore,
Seoul and Wellington rose but Hong
Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Taipei, Manila
and Jakarta were in negative territory.
"Markets are taking a little bit of a
breather," Cliff Hodge, of Cornerstone
Wealth, said, adding they "are now trying
to grapple with: well, what's next?"
Focus is now on the release Friday of
US jobs data, which could have a huge
bearing on when the Fed decides to
start winding down its bond-buying
financial support programme.
Oil prices edged up ahead of the
monthly meeting of OPEC and other
producers who are expected to continue
raising output with the global recovery
largely still on track.
Industry body the American
Petroleum Institute said stockpiles rose
more than 2 million barrels last week,
according to Bloomberg News, and
observers expect the market to wobble
over the coming months.