20-09-2021

MOnDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2021
8
Mutual Trust Bank Limited (MTB) has signed an agreement with SME Foundation to disburse
stimulus loan arranged by Government of Bangladesh recently. MTB is among the 15
(fifteen) banks who are participating under this stimulus package of SME foundation for
Micro, Small and Medium enterprises. Under this agreement, the fund will be disbursed at
4% interest rate to Rural & Marginal Micro, Small and Medium entrepreneurs with special
focus on marginalized people of rural area of Bangladesh with a view to elevating their life
standard and accelerating the recovery from the loss incurred due to COVID-19 pandemic.
M. A. Mannan, MP , Minister, Ministry of Planning, People's Republic of Bangladesh
attended the event as the Chief Guest while Kamal Ahmed Mojumder, MP, State Minister,
Ministry of Industries, Zunaid Ahmed Palak, MP, State Minister, Ministry of ICT and Zakia
Sultana, Secretary, Ministry of Industries were also present as Special Guests. Professor Dr
Md. Masudur Rahman, Chairperson, SME Foundation presided the event. Dr Md Mafizur
Rahman, Managing Director of SME Foundation and Syed Mahbubur Rahman, Managing
Director & CEO of Mutual Trust Bank signed the agreement on behalf of their respective
organization.
Photo: Courtesy
Lankabangla Distributes Health
Equipment to Prevent Covid-19
Lankabangla Foundation
has distributed protective
materials at the Faridpur
Civil Surgeon's Office to
prevent corona infection.
On 16th September 2021,
on the occasion of
prevention of corona
infection, the program
was organized by
Lankabangla Foundation
at Faridpur Civil Surgeon's
Office. By maintaining the
social distancing The
Executive Vice President
and Head of Risk
Management Division
Mohammed Kamrul
Hasan FCA has handed
over thehealth equipment
items to the Medical
Officer of Faridpur Civil
Surgeon Office Dr. Tansiv
Jubayer. On the occasion,
Senior Vice President and
Head of Human
Resources Division
Mohammad Hafiz Al
Ahad; Senior Assistant
Vice President and Head
of General Infrastructure
and Services Division
Muhammad Habib
Haider; Senior Manager
and Head of LankaBangla
Finance's Faridpur
Republicans withhold
support for US debt
ceiling increase
WASHINGTON : Republican leaders in
Congress on Tuesday continued to withhold
support for efforts by the Democratic
majority to increase the US debt ceiling,
reports BSS.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned
last week that the government will run out of
money next month unless lawmakers take
action, and banking groups have urged
Congress to move to prevent "irreparable
harm" to the US economy.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy called for raising
the debt ceiling in an interview with CNBC. "I
think it's scary for consumer confidence and
for confidence in US businesses and potential
credit ratings if we don't make sure that we
raise that debt ceiling," Jassy said.
The Securities Industry and Financial
Markets Association (SIFMA), American
Bankers Association and other industry
groups said in a letter to congressional
leaders that defaulting "on our existing
obligations would be irresponsible and do
irreparable harm to the US economy and
taxpayers."
Even "a short-term delay would cause
serious harm at a time when our economy
continues to recover from the impact of the
Covid-19 pandemic," the letter read.
The country's debt and deficit have soared
during the Covid-19 pandemic after
Washington approved three massive
spending bills aimed at lessening the damage
to the economy. But Republican Senate
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said
Democrats will have to resolve the issue on
their own.
"The Democratic leaders have every tool
and procedure they need to handle the debt
limit on a partisan basis, just like they are
choosing to handle everything else,"
McConnell said on the Senate floor.
Congress is currently considering a $1.2
trillion infrastructure plan that has the
backing of Democrats and some
Republicans.
Also on their agenda is a massive social
spending plan costing $3.5 trillion over 10
years, which has only garnered the support of
Democrats who plan to pay for it with tax
increases on corporations and the wealthiest
Americans.
McConnell objects to what he called a
"massive reckless tax and spending spree."
"When it comes to spending," he said,
Democrats "have made a conscious decision:
They don't want Republican governing
partners. They want to go it alone."
Democrats could wrap a debt ceiling
increase into the spending package, which
would allow them to approve it without
Republican votes, but the party's leaders have
indicated they want a separate, bipartisan vote.
"When President (Donald) Trump was in
office, Democrats stepped up on three
separate occasions to work with Republicans
to suspend the debt ceiling and continue to
ensure that the US was able to pay its bills,"
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said
Tuesday. But now Republicans "recklessly,
irresponsibly... seem eager to push our
economy to the brink of total catastrophe by
suggesting they will oppose any effort to raise
the debt ceiling." "Shame on him," Schumer
said of McConnell.
Congress suspended the debt limit for two
years in 2019. That lapsed on July 31,
resetting the cap at $28 trillion and forcing
Treasury to begun taking "extraordinary
measures" to continue funding government
operations without breaching the limit.
Raising the debt limit does not increase
spending, but simply allows Treasury to pay
for projects already approved by Congress.
Without an increase, the United States could
face an unprecedented default on payments.
Branch Mohammad
Shahadut Hossain and
Senior Consultant of
Faridpur General Hospital
Dr. Abu Ahmed Abdullah
(Masud) were also present
with other higher officials
of LankaBangla Finance
and Faridpur Civil
Surgeon's Office. VTM
Sticks & Tubes, 3-Layer
Surgical Masks, N-95
Masks, KN-95 Masks,
Hexisol Hand Sanitizers,
Oxygen Cylinders, Pulse
Oximeter, etc. were
distributed at the Faridpur
Civil Surgeon's Office as
part of the Lankabangla
Foundation Health
Equipment Handover
Program. It is to be noted
that, the Lankabangla
Foundation has organized
the program as part of the
Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR)
program to provide
assistance to the affected
and at-risk families of the
country in the fight against
the ongoing pandemic.
Central banks
tiptoe towards
tapering
PARIS:To taper or not to
taper? That is the question
facing central bankers as
they debate when they
should unwind the massive
economic support measures
they deployed last year to
prevent a pandemicinduced
Great Depression,
reports BSS.
"The withdrawal of
monetary and fiscal support
is inevitable. The key
question is timing," said Eva
Sun-Wai, fund manager at
M&G Investments.
As the US Federal Reserve
and other central banks hold
meetings this week, here are
key questions regarding
their monetary policies:
The Fed, the European
Central Bank and their peers
in Japan, Britain and
elsewhere brought down
interest rates and unleashed
huge asset-buying
programmes last year to
prevent an economic
catastrophe.
The goal of the
programmes is to keep the
economy humming by
making it cheaper for
people, businesses and
governments to borrow
money.
The Fed, which begins a
two-day policy meeting on
Tuesday, slashed rates to
zero at the start of the
pandemic in March 2020.
To provide liquidity to the
world's biggest economy, it
is buying at least $80 billion
a month in Treasury debt
and at least $40 billion in
agency mortgage-backed
securities.
UAE, Israel eye trillion-dollar prize
one year into Abraham Accords
DUBAI : The United Arab Emirates
marks one year since normalising ties
with Israel on Wednesday, a move
which drew Palestinian anger but that
leaders hope could reap a trillion
dollars in economic exchanges, reports
BSS.
Watched by then US president
Donald Trump, the UAE and Gulf
neighbour Bahrain formally recognised
Israel on September 15, 2020 in
Washington, prompting Palestinian
accusations of a "stab in the back".
The surprise step, under the USbrokered
Abraham Accords, broke with
decades of Arab consensus that ruled
out formal ties while the Palestinian
conflict was unresolved.
However, it marked a thaw in the
region, with Morocco and Sudan soon
following suit and regional power Saudi
Arabia, the world's top oil producer,
allowing some overflights from the
Jewish state.
The economic benefits have come
quickly for the UAE and Israel, who
signed a series of deals ranging from
tourism to aviation and financial
services.
Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid
made a landmark visit to the UAE in
July, opening an embassy in Abu Dhabi
and a consulate in Dubai, while the
UAE established an embassy in Tel
Aviv.
In this age of information
technology, the Minister
Group has brought new
model of smart televisions
to the market to let the
customers to have a smart
experience enjoy watching
TV. TV is no longer just an
opportunity to watch
programs broadcast from
television stations. In this
age of internet, TV is an
smart way for checking e-
mails, social media,
knowing the situation of
the country, reading news.
Following in his footsteps,
Minister's Glorious Voice
Control Smart Android
LED TV has come as a new
surprise in the country's
market which can be
controlled through voice.
As the quality of
domestic products is
increasing day by day, the
prices are being
competitive and also
decreasing to make the
products more affordable.
"After a year of the Abraham Accords,
we have a story to say," UAE Minister of
Economy Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri
told a panel discussion by the Atlantic
Council, a US think-tank, on Monday.
"We exchanged ambassadors, we
have signed over 60 MOUs
(memorandums of understanding). We
have 600-700 million of bilateral trade
happening, we have funds of billions of
dollars that has been announced.
"We're looking to create over a trillion
dollars of economic activity over the
next decade."
Further benefits will come if a major
deal to ship Emirati oil to Europe via an
Israeli pipeline clears objections from
environmentalists, who fear damage to
unique coral reefs in the Red Sea.
Beyond economics, the
rapprochement was also pushed by
mutual concern over Iran, with the
regional rivalry even pushing Riyadh
into quietly building relations with the
Jewish state over the past several years.
'It's really strategic' - Online criticism
of Israel is frequent in both the UAE
and Bahrain but open dissent over the
normalisation is rare, likely to avoid
angering authorities.
Even when Israeli air strikes levelled
buildings during an 11-day conflict with
Hamas in May, triggering an upswell of
outrage, the relationship continued
unhindered.
The 32-inch Glorious Voice
Control Smart Android
LED TV is available for
only Tk 24,900. In addition
to voice control, this
unique TV can be
controlled with any
smartphone equipped in
Android and iOS. The new
Glorious Voice Control
Smart Android LED TV
has Dolby sound system
which is enough to produce
crystal clear sound, it is
equipped with Bluetooth
and IR, Bluetooth
speakers, A 53 1 GHz 4
cores powerful processors.
To ensure smooth gaming
performance the TV has
Mali 450 MP 2 graphics
and has Android 9.0 (pi)
operating system and 1 GB
RAM and 8 GB internal
memory.
The Glorious Voice
Control Smart Android
LED TV includes lightning
prevention system which
will definitely save TV from
"All the Arab world was a bit
preoccupied with what was happening
in Gaza and with the pictures coming
out," Ilan Sztulman Starosta, head of
the Israeli consulate in Dubai, told AFP
in an interview.
"But still they didn't change the policy
because the peace with Israel is a
national interest for the Emirati
government, and the same from the
Israeli government.
"For us, it's really strategic."
Sztulman Starosta said about
200,000 Israelis had visited the UAE
over the past year, despite Covid, and
an estimated 40 companies from his
country had set up in the Gulf state's
free-trade zones.
The Emirates now has its first
students enrolled in Israeli universities,
added Sztulman Starosta, who is
hoping the Abraham Accords can
inspire further ties around the region.
"If we can make it work here, we can
make it everywhere," he said.
"If we managed to make this peace
work, and it is working, for the better of
Israeli and Emirati citizens, then this
model can be applied to other countries
in the area.
"And that's how we're going to
change the paradigm that Jews and
Muslims can live and have normal
relations and fruitful and enjoyable
(collaborations)."
Minister launches Voice Control
smart Android TV to the market
LONDON: British retail sales fell last
month as the grocery sector was hit by
people returning to restaurants and pubs
after virus curbs were lifted, data showed
Friday, reports BSS.
Sales by volume slid 0.9 percent in
August from the prior month, the Office
for National Statistics (ONS) said in a
statement, after a 2.8-percent drop in
July. Food store sales suffered from the
recovering hospitality industry, which
was shuttered by lockdowns during much
of the pandemic but reopened earlier this
year. "Sales fell again in August, though
not nearly by as much as July and,
UK retail sales
drop as more
consumers eat out
overall, remained above their prepandemic
level," said ONS statistician
Jonathan Athow. "Other data suggest
that the drop in food stores' sales is linked
to an increase in eating out following the
lifting of coronavirus restrictions."
Motor fuel sales rose on the month as
people ventured out more after the
economy fully reopened in July.
any damages during
storms or load shedding.
This voice control TV will
be available at all the
Minister's showrooms,
dealer points and online
stores, all across the
country at the reach of the
customers. Also, customers
can buy the necessary
household items from the
Minister through cash on
delivery and online
payment with easy
installments sitting at
home.
Overall retail sales are 4.6 percent
higher than before the start of the deadly
coronavirus outbreak.
However, Britain's economic recovery
is flattening as a result of the stubborn
pandemic, supply chain bottlenecks and
the elevated cost of commodities.
Annual inflation meanwhile spiked in
August to a nine-year peak of 3.2
percent, data showed this week.
"The decline in retail sales volumes in
August suggests that the stalling in the
economic recovery in July continued into
August," noted economist Paul Dales at
research consultancy Capital Economics.
An agreement was signed between SIBL & SME Foundation to disburse SME investment under the second
phase of incentive package announced by Honorable Prime Minister. Dr. Md. Mofizur Rahman, Managing
Director of SME Foundation and Md. Tajul Islam, Managing Director & CEO (C.C) of SIBL, signed the agreement
in favor of their respective organization at the event organized by SME Foundation on 16 September,
2021. Planning Minister M.A. Mannan, MP, State Minister of Industries, Kamal Ahmed Majumder, MP, State
Minister of ICT, Zunaid Ahmed Palak, MP, and Secretary of Ministry of Industries, Zakia Sultana were also
present at the event. Professor Dr. Md. Masudur Rahman, Chairman of SME Foundation presided over the
program.
Photo: Courtesy