19-10-2022

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2022
8
LC for capital machinery down by 6 5pc, to
have long-run effects on exports: Experts
Closing Ceremony of month-long Entrepreneurship Development Program of Islami Bank Training and
Research Academy (IBTRA) was held on October 18, 2022, Tuesday at IBTRA Auditorium. The program was
organized in collaboration with Bangladesh Bank's SME and Special Programs Department. Md. Jaker Hossain,
Director of SME and Special Program Department, Bangladesh Bank addressed as chief guest. Presided over by
Muhammad Qaisar Ali, Managing Director (Current Charge) of the bank S.M. Rabiul Hassan, Principal, IBTRA,
Md. Nazrul Islam, Additional Director & Mohammad Zahid Iqbal, Joint Director of SME and Special Program
Department of Bangladesh Bank, Md. Mahboob Alam, K.M. Munirul Alam Al-Mamoon, Senior Executive Vice
Presidents, Mohammad Rokan Uddin & A.K.M Shahidul Hoque Khandaker, Executive Vice Presidents and Abdul
Hamid Miah, Senior Vice President of the Bank were also present on the occasion. 25 promising entrepreneurs
from different business sectors were awarded certificates for participating the workshop. Photo : Courtesy
BGMEA, Fashion Design Council
to promote khadi globally
DHAKA : The Bangladesh
Garment Manufacturers and
Exporters (BGMEA) and the
Fashion Design Council of
Bangladesh (FDCB) have
agreed to forge a collaboration
Star casino
Record fine for
Australian operator
over money laundering
Australian gambling giant
Star Entertainment Group
has been fined A$100m
($62m, £55m) for failing to
stop money laundering at its
Sydney casino.
The group's licence to
operate the casino has also
been suspended.
The Star has promised to
"do everything in [its] power"
to regain its licence and the
community's trust.
Casino operators in
Australia have been under
great pressure to reform their
gambling operations
following reports of
widespread criminal activity.
The record penalties were
announced in response to a
damning inquiry in New
South Wales (NSW) earlier
this year.
It heard the Star had
allowed money laundering
and organised crime to
infiltrate their Sydney
casino, taking a "cavalier"
approach to governance and
at times making deliberate
moves to cover its tracks. At
the time, the regulatory chief
Philip Crawford said: "The
institutional arrogance of
this company has been
breathtaking."
The fine announced on
Monday is the maximum
allowed, but the NSW
Independent Casino
Commission stopped short of
removing Star's licence
altogether, to protect
thousands of jobs.
Under the conditions of the
suspension, the casino will
still operate under a manager
appointed by the regulator.
to promote and develop highend
fashionable garments
using home grown fabrics and
materials.
FDCB President Maheen
Khan and Vice-President
Emdad Haque met with
BGMEA President Faruque
Hassan in Dhaka Monday.
They discussed how the
BGMEA and FDCB could
work together to present
Tunisian protesters
denounce ‘coup’, demand
president's removal
TUNIS : Thousands of
Tunisians demonstrated
Saturday in the capital
Tunis, denouncing a power
grab by President Kais Saied
and demanding accountability
for the country's longrunning
economic crisis,
AFP correspondents said.
Saied staged a dramatic
power grab in July last year
and later pushed through a
constitution enshrining his
one-man rule, in what critics
have called a return to autocracy
in the only democracy
to have emerged from the
Arab Spring.
Protesters in central Tunis
chanted, "Down, down",
"Revolution against dictator
Kais" and "The coup will
fall."
The march was organised
by the National Salvation
Front, a coalition of opposition
parties including the
Islamist-inspired Ennahdha
that had dominated
Tunisia's parliament before
its dissolution by Saied.
Ali Laarayedh, Tunisia's
former prime minister and a
senior Ennahdha official,
told AFP that the protest was
an expression of "anger at
the state of affairs under
Kais Saied".
"We are telling him to
leave."
Saied's power grab was
welcomed by some
Tunisians tired of what they
saw as a fractious and corrupt
system established after
the 2011 revolution that
ousted late dictator Zine El
Abidine Ali.
But a worsening economic
situation, compounded by
supply shortages in the wake
of Russia's invasion of
Ukraine in February, has
agitated many in the North
African country of 12 million.
If Saied stays, "Tunisia will
have no future," said
Laarayedh, citing growing
despair, poverty and unemployment.
The National Salvation
Front has announced it will
boycott a December vote to
elect a new parliament with
limited powers.
Ennahdha's deep ideological
rival, the secular Free
Destourian Party (PDL),
also organised a protest in
the capital on Saturday.
Saied "is doing nothing,
and things are only getting
worse", said Souad, a pensioner
in her 60s at the secular
party's demonstration.
Some of the protesters carried
empty containers to
symbolise the rising cost of
water due to inflation, which
hit 9.1 percent in September.
Around 1,500 people
joined the Ennahdha-led
demonstration, while nearly
1,000 attended the PDL
protest, the interior ministry
told AFP.
In public remarks, Saied
has argued he was working
to "correct" economic troubles
he had inherited from
Tunisia's post-Ben Ali leadership.
Bangladeshi culture and
fashion globally and create a
market for the country's
products around the world,
especially khadi, a hand-spun
and woven natural fibre.
They also talked about
possible avenues of
collaboration to make khadi
products globally acceptable
in terms of design and quality
by bringing diversity in
innovative design and fabric
development.
Both BGMEA and FDCB
associations will join hands to
explore the opportunity of
exporting products made of
khadi, a fabric that illustrates
the rich heritage and culture
of Bangladesh. Faruque
invited Maheen and Emdad to
join the Made in Bangladesh
Week which will be organised
by BGMEA on 12-18
November 2022 to promote
Bangladesh and its apparel
industry. He also invited
them to use the weeklong
event as an ideal platform to
showcase khadi products to
the global audience.
UK's Truss
struggles to
salvage
premiership
LONDON : Britain's Prime
Minister Liz Truss insisted
on her devotion to "sound"
economics heading into
crisis talks Sunday with
her all-powerful new
finance minister, and a
tense week of plotting by
Conservative critics,
reports BSS.
With even US President
Joe Biden joining in
attacks on her economic
agenda, Truss admitted it
had been a "wrench" to fire
her friend Kwasi Kwarteng
as chancellor of the
exchequer.
But writing in the Sun on
Sunday newspaper, she
said: "We cannot pave the
way to a low-tax, highgrowth
economy without
maintaining the
confidence of the markets
in our commitment to
sound money."
That confidence was
jeopardised on September
23 when Kwarteng and
Truss unveiled a rightwing
programme, inspired
by 1980s US president
Ronald Reagan, of o45
billion ($50 billion) in tax
cuts financed exclusively
by higher debt.
Markets tanked in
response, driving up
borrowing costs for
millions of Britons, and the
Conservatives' poll ratings
have similarly slumped,
leading to open warfare in
the governing party mere
weeks after Truss
succeeded Boris Johnson.
DHAKA : New investment
and business expansion saw a
slow pace after tightening
import and global recession
warnings, brought about by
the Russia-Ukraine war.
As a result, opening letter of
credit (LC) for importing
capital machinery decreased
by 65 percent in July-August
of the current fiscal year
2022-23. This has no shortterm
effect, but in the long
run, it affects Bangladesh's
export trading, experts have
said.
Business owners are saying
no one is being brave enough
to make new investments
during the current turbulent
times. Due to the gaselectricity
crisis, sustaining
existing businesses has also
become challenging.
According to Bangladesh
Bank data, from July-August,
loans for importing industrial
machinery stood at USD 400
Electric Mini production
to move from Oxford
to China
BMW insists Oxford will
"remain at the heart of Mini
production" despite it moving
the manufacture of some of its
electric cars to China, reports
BBC.
The first electric Mini was
built at the city's Cowley plant
in 2020. All Minis will be
electric by 2030.
BMW said its hatchback
and small SUV electric Minis
will start being built in China.
Its electric Countryman
model will be built in Leipzig,
Germany. A spokesperson
said there will be no impact on
jobs in Oxford.
BMW said it was going to
produce electric cars in China
as well as Oxford after it
agreed a deal with Chinese
manufacturer Great Wall
Motor in 2018.
It said workers at Cowley
will build the Mini Cooper
three-door and five-door
Hatch models. The Mini
Convertible will also be built
at Plant Oxford from 2025.
"This is one of our most
important cars and a global
best-seller, and further signals
our commitment to the
future. Plant Oxford will
remain at the heart of Mini
production," a BMW
spokesperson said.
"Oxford plays an important
role in the BMW Group's
production strategy, with its
high degree of flexibility,
competitiveness and expertise
- also in the area of
electromobility. There is no
impact on jobs," they added.
Susan Brown, Oxford City
Council's leader, said: "I have
sought reassurance from
BMW and understand that
while BMW is looking to
rebalance the production of its
Mini range globally as it
moves towards being allelectric
by 2030, there is an
ongoing commitment to the
city, building on significant
recent investments in the
Cowley plant."
million, compared to USD
1.15 billion during the same
period last year. Loan LCs for
production purposes
decreased by around 65
percent.
However, during this
period the settlement of debt
securities opened earlier has
increased by about 55
percent.
In the last fiscal year (FY
22), LC opening for
importing capital machinery
was USD 6.46 billion, which
is 15 percent higher than the
previous FY 21. And debt
settlement was USD 5.26
billion, which is 40 percent
higher than the previous
year.
Bank officials say that now
Bangladesh Bank has to be
informed 24 hours before the
opening of LCs for more than
USD 3 million in case of
import.
In many cases, the central
bank blocks the opening of
large LCs. Again, due to the
shortage of dollars, many
banks have stopped or
reduced the opening of large
LCs. The impact of this
regulation on opening LCs
also causes decreasing capital
machinery import, they
pointed out.
Khandkar Golam
Moazzem, Research Director
of CPD, told UNB that
Bangladesh witnessed high
growth in the import of
capital machinery in the last
one-and-a-half years.
The main reason for this is
that many entrepreneurs
increased their production
capacity due to the increased
growth in garment exports.
At present, there is no high
growth in exports. Because of
that business expansion is
decreasing, he said.
"This will not cause any
problems in the near future.
But worryingly, future
investments are suffering. If
this trend continues,
industrial production, export,
and employment growth may
stagnate in the long run,"
Moazzem said.
President of the
Bangladesh Textile Mill
Association (BTMA), an
association of textiles owners,
Mohammad Ali said that
some of the new mills had
opened capital equipment
import credit before the
current crisis.
Those who did not open the
LCs earlier now folded their
hands. Due to this, all the
new factories will not be able
to come into production at
the scheduled time, he said.
Ali mentioned that the
condition of gas supply to
textile factories has become
worse than before and
impacted production and
machine equipment import.
Bangladesh House Building Finance Corporation (BHBFC) observed the Sheikh
Russel Day with due dignity on 18, October. The organization took different programs
as per the govt. dirrectives for the day. First of all, the BHBFC Managing
Director (MD) pays homage lying floral wreath to the potrait of Sheikh Russel at
BHBFC Bangabandhu Pavillion. All head office officials were present at that time.
A discussion meeting, special prayers and cutting of birthday cake were followed
as another programs at BHBFC Ideal High School in the capital. Then a discussion
on 'The Birthday and Life of Sheikh Russel' was held virtually connecting all
officials of the organization. The MD of the organization presided over the discussion.
All field offices of the organization also ovserved the day through different
programs.
Photo : Courtesy
UK PM Truss ‘sorry’ for economic
'mistakes' but vows to stay on
LONDON : Embattled UK Prime Minister
Liz Truss on Monday apologised for going
"too far too fast" with reforms that triggered
economic turmoil, but vowed to remain
leader despite a series of humiliating
climbdowns.
"I do want to accept responsibility and say
sorry for the mistakes that have been made...
we went too far and too fast," she told the
BBC.
However, she said that she was
"completely committed to delivering for this
country" despite questions over who was
now in control of government policy.
Her government on Monday axed almost
all of its debt-fuelled tax cuts unveiled last
month to avert fresh market chaos.
The shock move by new finance chief
Jeremy Hunt-parachuted into the job on
Friday to replace sacked Kwasi Kwartengleaves
Truss's position in a precarious state,
with Conservative MP Roger Gale saying
that Hunt was "de facto prime minister".
Hunt estimated the tax changes would
raise about £32 billion ($36 billion) per year,
after economists estimated the government
faced a £60-billion black hole. He also
warned of tough spending cuts.
The chancellor of the exchequer said no
government could control markets-but
stressed his action would give certainty over
public finances and help secure growth.
"The prime minister and I agreed
yesterday to reverse almost all the tax
measures announced in the growth plan
three weeks ago," Hunt told parliament,
flanked by a grim-faced Truss.
The chancellor also announced the
formation of an economic advisory council,
featuring four experts outside of
government.
Hours earlier, he had used a brief televised
statement to announce the dramatic
reversals to nervous markets, conceding last
month's budget from his predecessor had
harmed the public purse.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between International Convention City Bashundhara
(ICCB) and Bangladesh Computer Council (BCC) on Sunday to host the 'International Collegiate Programming
Contest (ICPC) World Finals 2022'. Chief Operating Officer (Brand & Marketing) of International Convention
City Bashundhara (ICCB) MM Jasim Uddin, General Manager (Accounts & Finance) S M Monirul Islam Polash,
Secretary of Bangladesh Computer Council (BCC) Mohammad Rashedul Islam and senior officials were present
at the programme.
Photo : Courtesy