Travel tax proposed to be hiked

The national budget for fiscal year (FY) 2014-15 has proposed to increase travel tax for air, land and waterway freight. The newly proposed travel tax rate for SAARC countries has been raised to Tk 1,200 through airways as per the...

Spain to start repaying banking rescue

MADRID, June 7 (AFP): Spain announced Friday it will make a confidence-boosting early start to repaying a 41-billion-euro ($56 billion) banking rescue loan from the eurozone. Spain snatched the rescue line in 2012 to overcome a financial emergency in the...

IMF urges China to focus on reforms, target 7.0pc growth in 2015

BEIJING, June 7 (Reuters): The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recommended that China adopt an economic growth target of about 7 per cent for 2015 and urged authorities to avoid further stimulus measures and concentrate on curtailing financial risks instead. In...

Uzbek president slams Russia-led economic union

TASHKENT, June 7 (AFP): Uzbekistan's president on Friday criticised a new economic union clinched last month between Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, warning of a loss of political independence for the ex-Soviet countries. President Vladimir Putin and his Belarussian and Kazakh...

Photo: Bangladesh Economic Association (BEA)

Vietnam conflict won\\\'t hit China-Asean trade

BEIJING, June 7 (Xinhua): China's economic cooperation with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) will not be held back by the dispute with Vietnam and recent riots there which targeted foreigners. The issue is not one between China and...

RMG workers block busy road in Ctg

CHITTAGONG, June 7: The workers of two readymade garment (RMG) factories laid siege to the busy Sheikh Mujib Road at Dewanhat intersection in the city today (Saturday) in protest against termination of their colleagues and demanding payment of their wages....

Saudi Arabia mulls launching of sovereign wealth fund

RIYADH, June 7 (AFP): Saudi Arabia is preparing to launch its first sovereign wealth fund to manage budget surpluses from a rise in crude prices estimated at hundreds of billions of dollars, state media reported Saturday. The central bank has...

WB agrees with China growth targets

BEIJING, June 7 (Gulf News): China is likely to meet its economic growth target of 7.5 per cent this year, the World Bank said, but must persevere with fiscal and financial sector reforms to deal with the root cause of...

Sydney to host supporting event for BFA in 2015

SYDNEY, June 7 (Xinhua): Sydney will host a supporting event for one of the world's leading economic forums, the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA), in 2015, the deputy premier and minister for trade and investment of New South Wales (NSW),...

British trade deficit expands

LONDON, June 7 (Xinhua): British deficit on trade in goods and services was estimated to have been 2.5 billion pounds (US$4.2 billion) in April 2014, significantly bigger than the 1.1 billion pounds a month before, said Office for National Statistics...

SVAC in Dhaka relocated

The Schengen Visa Application Centre (SVAC) in Dhaka has relocated its office at 4th Floor, Delta Life Tower, Gulshan 2. The SVAC serves the client of the governments of Spain and Sweden, said a press release. From now on it...

Photo: Guests pose for photograph at the launching ceremony of Direct-to-Bank (D2B) money transfer service recently.

Photo: Members of Team Potter from IBA that won the Bangladesh final of the CIMA

IMF \\\'ready to help\\\' Egypt

WASHINGTON, June 6 (AFP): International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Christine Lagarde has personally congratulated Egypt's President-elect Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and stressed the global lender remains ready to help the country, the IMF said Friday. "IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde spoke...

Holiday at RMG factory as workers fall sick

 CHITTAGONG, June 7: Authorities declared holiday at a factory in the Chittagong Export Processing Zone (CEPZ) Saturday as several workers fell sick with diarrhoea after drinking water supplied by the ready-made garment (RMG) factory. The incident occurred at the Peninsula...

The role that Dhaka University has played so far

The headline "Bangladesh after four hundred years of its existence" reminded me of a course I took in Sociology at the Dhaka University. It was taught by National Professor Dr Rangalal Sen, a renowned sociologist and I am honoured to...

Some thoughts on World Environment Day, 2014

The United Nations Organization observed 41st World Environment Day on June 5, 2014 through its specialized Agency on Environment   the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) - throughout the world. The UNO along with the governments of its member states has...

How will Narendra Modi change India?

The Bharatiya Janata Party's landslide victory in parliamentary elections has ended an era of shaky coalition governments in India. The desire for change among the country's youthful electorate after a slump in economic growth, years of policy drift and a...

Climate change adaptation research in Asia and Africa

IN the book titled 'Global Warming and the Political Ecology of Health', authors Hans Baer and Merrill Singer mentioned, "Our world is changing in dramatic and consequential ways. From melting glaciers to rising seas, and from increases in violent storms...

Detailed DSE

Budget to benefit stock market: DSE

The proposed budget for the forthcoming financial year 2014-15 (FY15) would benefit stock market and share investors, observed the authorities of the country's prime bourse. "We welcome the budget as it proposes many things for the development of the stock...

The proposed national budget and the economy

The 'business-as-usual' national budget that has been proposed for the fiscal year (FY), 2014-2015, provides an account of the government's overall fiscal operations in pursuit of its declared goals and objectives to help promote "accelerated" and "inclusive" economic growth. It...

\\\'Identify stocks now, wait for good days\\\'

Now-a-days, investors take note of companies' earning per share or EPS more closely than any time in the past. Whenever, a news item on the EPS comes on the online trading system of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, they rush to...

Corruption: Where to draw the line

Corruption takes many forms. It is not easy to draw a line to define corruption. The definition of corruption no longer fits into a definite pattern as the ways of corrupt practices are becoming increasingly wide ranging. Definition of corruption...

Challenges of consultancy

Most people perceive consultancy as an easy source of earning handsome amount of money and consultants as persons having least accountability for their activities.  But in reality this perception is not true. In fact, though monthly salary of a consultant...

Derivatives: A long way to go

'Derivative' is the new buzz word in the financial sector of Bangladesh. Some local and international experts are continuously telling about the importance of introducing a derivatives market to mitigate investment risks in a developing country like Bangladesh. The Bangladesh...

FDI: Key to multi-pronged development

Like most other developing and least developed countries, Bangladesh also considers Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) as an important tool for development. In order to attract more and more FDI, the country has taken many initiatives. One such initiative was the...

Typhoon Yolanda: Lessons in post-disaster management

It has been more than six months since the fiery typhoon Yolanda (the local name of Haiyan) struck. Most of the affected people in the Philippines are still recovering from the devastation. Responding to the Yolanda aftermath was quite different...

D-Day forged \\\'beachhead\\\' for new democratic age: Obama

FRANCE, June 6 (agencies): President Barack Obama Friday paid poetic tribute to the men who breached "Hitler's Wall" and stormed ashore to liberate Europe on D-Day, saying their sacrifice secured a still-evolving age of democracy and freedom. Obama, speaking as...