05-09-2021

SunDAY, SEPtEMBER 5, 2021
8
Delta hits US hiring in new
setback for Biden
Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited organized Annual Risk Conference-2021 on Saturday, September 4,
2021 on virtual platform. Md. Anwarul Islam, General Manager, Bangladesh Bank addressed the
function as Chief Guest. Mohammed Monirul Moula, Managing Director and CEO of Islami Bank
presided over the function. Muhammad Qaisar Ali & Md. Omar Faruk Khan, Additional Managing
Directors, J.Q.M. Habibullah, FCS, Deputy Managing Director, Mohammad Ali, Chief Risk Officer &
Md. Motiar Rahman, Senior Executive Vice President of Islami Bank and Aminur Rahman
Chowdhury, Deputy General Manager of Bangladesh Bank addressed the conference. Executives and
officials of different levels of Islami bank participated in the conference.
Photo: Courtesy
Asian markets mostly rise after
Wall St record with eye on jobs
HONG KONG: Most
markets rose in Asia on
Friday following another
record close on Wall Street,
with traders zeroing in on the
release of US jobs data later
in the day, reports BSS.
The broad gains put the
region on course to end a
strong week on a positive
note as concerns about the
fast-spreading Delta variant,
which weighed on
confidence for much of
August, gave way to
optimism over the recovery
outlook.
Data showing fewer people
than expected applied for
jobless benefits in the United
States last week-the lowest
since March 2020 -- provided
a positive lead ahead of the
non-farm payrolls, which
could have a huge bearing on
the Federal Reserve's plans
for tapering its ultra-loose
monetary policy.
Fed boss Jerome Powell
last week indicated that the
bank would take it easy in
winding down the financial
support-and would be even
more careful in lifting
interest rates-but offered no
timetable for doing so.
Observers say a strong jobs
reading would likely mean
the Fed would move sooner
than later.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq
on Wall Street finished at
fresh records after the
figures, and the buying
filtered through to Asia.
Tokyo, Shanghai, Sydney,
Seoul, Wellington, Taipei
and Manila were all in the
red, though Hong Kong was
weighed by profit-taking
after four days of gains.
Singapore and Jakarta also
dipped.
While there is a general
consensus that the global
economy will continue to
recover from the pandemic
as economies are reopenedalbeit
some slower than
others-there remains a sense
of caution.
"Historically, September is
a weak month for equities,
particularly in the US, and
some investor caution is
natural given elevated
valuation multiples and a
challenging macro
environment," said Lewis
Grant, at Federated Hermes.
"The Delta variant
continues to soften
consumer confidence across
the world. Concerns over
parts shortages and supply
chain frictions have not
eased. Afghanistan reminds
us how quickly geopolitical
risks can appear, while
Hurricane Ida demonstrates
our vulnerability in the face
of increasingly common
extreme weather events."
He said Friday's figures
would be "likely to see a
return to the 'bad news is
good news' attitude, with a
worse-than-expected
slowdown in the US labour
market likely to send stocks
higher in anticipation of
continued stimulus".
Analysts said a speech by
Xi Jinping announcing plans
to set up a new stock
exchange in Beijing for small
and medium-sized
enterprises suggested he
remained supportive of the
role of markets in the
country's development.
Equities in the mainland
and Hong Kong have been
strained in recent months by
a crackdown on a range of
industries-particularly vast
tech firms-as part of a
government drive to get a
firmer grip on the economy.
"It is particularly
interesting that the
recommendation for the
creation of the smallmedium-enterprise
exchange
is coming personally and
publicly from Mr Xi himself,"
said Patrick Springer, at
Huatai Securities USA.
"For investors concerned
about how Mr Xi sees the
financial markets, a
constructive view would be
that it means that Mr Xi
recognises the further
development of the capital
markets is critical for China."
Alamgir Kabir and Duluma
Ahmed re-elected as Chairman
and Vice Chairperson of SBL
Alamgir Kabir and Duluma
Ahmed re-elected as
Chairman and Vice
Chairperson of the Board of
Directors of Southeast Bank
Limite of its 636th Board
Meeting held recently, a
press release said.
Alamgir Kabir, FCA was
born on December 28, 1947.
He did B. Com (Hons.) from
the University of Dhaka and
M. Com from Punjab
University. He is a
professional Chartered
Accountant. He has wide
experience and profound
knowledge in Auditing,
Accounting, Banking,
Insurance and Financial
Institutions both at home
and abroad.
Kabir has been Chairman
of the Board of Directors of
the Bank since September
29, 2004. He is the
Chairman of its all
subsidiary companies. He is
the honorary Advisor of
National Life Insurance
Company Limited.
On the other hand
Duluma Ahmed has been reelected
as Vice Chairperson
of the Board of Directors of
Southeast Bank Limited.
She was unanimously reelected
Vice Chairperson of
the Bank in its 636th Board
Meeting held recently.
Duluma Ahmed being
member of educationist and
philanthropic family is the
main organizer of founding
Bathania Duluma Azim
High School, one of the top
schools of Feni area. She is
also contributing for other
educational institution of the
area.
Duluma Ahmed is
involved with a number of
socio-cultural organizations
of the country. She is the
patron of Benuka Lalitakala
Academy, Dhaka, a famous
cultural organization.
Alibaba shares
slide after $15
bn 'prosperity'
pledge
BEIJING : Shares in
Alibaba slumped Friday
upon the Chinese e-
commerce giant's
announcement it would
invest 100 billion yuan
($15.5 billion) in charitable
causes, after President Xi
Jinping called for the rich to
do more to tackle inequality,
reports BSS.
Xi last month urged
China's wealthiest
companies
and
entrepreneurs to strengthen
philanthropy efforts and
"give back to society", in
order to redistribute wealth
as part of his "common
prosperity" initiative.
In response Alibaba-which
has already fallen foul of
Beijing's sharp scrutiny this
year-said it would put
money into areas including
tech innovation, small and
medium-sized businesses,
the welfare of gig-economy
workers and healthcare
equality.
Daniel Zhang, Alibaba
chairman, said the group
was "eager to do our part to
support the realisation of
common prosperity".
Shares in Alibaba slumped
as much as 4 percent on the
news in Hong Kong trading
on Friday, as traders worried
about the potential impact
on the company's bottom
line.
Tokyo stocks
open higher with
eyes on key US
jobs data
TOKYO : Tokyo stocks
opened higher on Friday as
investors took heart from US
rallies with investors looking
ahead to US job data due later
in the day, reports BSS.
The benchmark Nikkei 225
index was up 0.25 percent or
70.23 points at 28,613.74 in
early trade, while the broader
Topix index edged up 0.27
percent or 5.39 points to
1,988.96.
"Japanese shares are seen
supported by rallies in the US
market, but traders could turn
to a wait-and-see attitude
ahead of US jobs data,
Toshiyuki Kanayama, senior
market analyst of Monex, said
in a note.
The dollar fetched 109.96
yen in early Asian trade,
against 109.95 yen in New
York late Thursday.
On Wall Street, both the
S&P 500 and Nasdaq
finished at fresh records
following better weekly
jobless claim data ahead of
the closely-watched August
employment report.
WASHINGTON: The United States
added far fewer jobs than expected in
August as businesses grappled with the
Delta wave of Covid-19, a major
disappointment and yet another
complication for President Joe Biden's
plans to remake the world's largest
economy, reports BSS.
Employment rose by just 235,000
jobs last month, according to Labor
Department data released Friday, and
while the unemployment rate fell to a
pandemic low of 5.2 percent, the report
was nowhere near the job gains seen in
recent months, which have topped one
million.
In some ways, the lackluster hiring
told a familiar tale, with the world's
largest Covid-19 outbreak once again
hurting the labor market and
underscoring that it is unlikely to make
much improvement if infections
remain high.
Biden, who is negotiating passage of
two massive spending bills through a
Congress where even his ostensible
allies have shown a willingness to defy
him, said he had pulled the country
from "economic free fall."
"What we're seeing is an economic
recovery that is durable and strong," he
said in a speech from the White House.
But he acknowledged the job
numbers fell short of expectations and
added a somber message: "We have a
lot more work to do."
The president is urging Congress to
enact both a $1.2 trillion infrastructure
overhaul and a $3.5 trillion social
welfare package. But on Thursday a
moderate senator urged fellow
Democrats to delay voting on the latter
bill, which cannot pass without his
support.
The Federal Reserve is also paying
close attention to the data, as it could
impact when it begins slowing its
massive purchases of bonds meant to
help the economy weather the
pandemic.
Chair Jerome Powell has signaled
that could start by year's end.
The August payroll increase was
sharply lower than the upwardly
revised 1.1 million positions added in
July, and considerably below the
750,000 new jobs expected by analysts.
The weak hiring comes as states and
businesses impose mask-wearing
requirements and other restrictions to
fend off the fast-spreading Delta
variant.
Covid-19 vaccines have allowed for
strong rehiring in recent months after
more than 20 million people lost their
jobs when the pandemic began last
year, but as of August 5.3 million
positions still haven't been recovered,
according to the Labor Department
report.
The leisure and hospitality sector,
which bore the brunt of the pandemic's
initial layoffs, had added an average of
350,000 jobs per-month over the last
six months, but in August it added zero
positions, the data said.
There was no improvement either in
the labor force participation rate
indicating the share of people
employed or looking for work, which
was at 61.7 percent in August, around
the range it has hovered at for more
than a year.
Adult men and white Americans saw
their unemployment rates decline, but
joblessness remained widespread for
others, including Hispanics, for whom
unemployment was 6.4 percent, and
Black Americans, which saw a 0.6
percent jump to 8.8 percent
unemployment.
The number of people reporting they
could not work because their employer
lost business or closed due to the virus
rose to 5.6 million from 5.2 million in
July.
"September likely will be weak too,
and we're becoming nervous about the
prospects for a decent revival in
October, given that behavior lags cases,
and cases are yet to peak," Ian
Shepherdson of Pantheon
Macroeconomics said.
In an interview with CNBC, National
Economic Council Director Brian
Deese said, "even with the headwinds
of Delta... we have an economy that's
able to continue generating durable job
growth," pointing to employment gains
since Biden took office in January.
Industries that did add jobs last
month include professional and
business services, which rose by
74,000, transportation and
warehousing, which gained 53,000,
and private education, which added
40,000, though state government
education and local government
education saw declines.
A positive surprise was seen in wages,
where average hourly earnings rose 0.6
percent to $30.73 after four straight
months of increases.
IUBAT & ICFAI organize joint seminar
The two days
International Seminar on
"Emerging Challenges and
Opportunities in Business
and Economy; Lessons from
Covid 19 Pandemic" jointly
organized by International
University of Business
Agriculture and Technology
(IUBAT) and University',
Tripura, India. Participants
from India, Bangladesh.
Nepal, Bhutan. Pakistan.
Contributed in the event
with their thoughts and
'observation, a press release
said.
In the opening session,
Pro-Vice- Chancellor Prof.
Dr. Biplab Haider, from
ICFAI University, Tripura
welcomed the august
gathering with a message to
on how Covid-19 has been a
challenge but has also
shown tis the opportunities
for development and
innovation in various sectors
including higher education
Prof. Dr. Abdur Rab, Vice-
Chancellor IUBAT
mentioned how business
could face the challenges
and take the opportunity
during these tough times. As
a Keynote speaker Dr.
Mohammad Nurunnabi
What can central banks do to
address climate risks?
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.
from Prince Sultan
University, Riyadh. Saudi
Arabia emphasilet1 oh the
need for data driven
research that informs policy
making during and after the
pandemic. In the speech or
Chief Guest Prof. Dr,
Arunahha Seb, Professor,
Arizona State University,
USA, highlighted the role of
technological advancement
in combating the negetiveive
consequences Or the
pandemic and turning those
into ,advantages in the
future.
In his vote of thanks, Dr.
A. Ranganath, Registrar,
IUT ex-tended his best
wishes to the Seminar
Organizers from the two
countries and said that
technological advancements
are instrumental to negate
risks from pandemics in the
present and future. Dr. Sujit
Deb spoke on innovative
ideas to revive business,
empower people and create
meaningful employment,
especially after exit from the
lockdown. The Converter of
the Seminar was Prof. Dr.
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
Khair Jahan Sogra & Dr.
Sujit Deb and Joint
Conveners were Dr.
Trinankur Dey,. Dr.
Anindita Sinha and Dr.
Mozaffar A. Chowdhury
respectively. Nearly 78
research papers from
different countries were
presented in the seminar.
The two days seminar came
to an end with a hope that
ICFAI University Tripura
would continue in
conducting
such
international events in due
course of time.
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.