ICB to offload holdings worth Tk 3b for re-investment in stocks

The state-run Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (ICB) is looking for buyers to sell Tk 3 billion worth of its holdings in listed securities for the purpose of reinvestment in the stock market. If buyers are available, share transactions will be...

Afghanistan: hungry, desolate and forgotten

Two years ago this month, the United States suddenly decided to bring its presence in Afghanistan to an end and have its soldiers go home. Over the next few days, Washington's allies followed suit. At the presidential palace in Kabul,...

Only income taxpayers qualify for candidacy in parliamentary polls

Unlike the 11th national elections, only income taxpayers will be able to contest the upcoming parliamentary election, as the amended electoral law has incorporated a new provision making the submission of tax returns mandatory for all candidates.In the next national...

Why market intermediaries need more time to comply?

The securities regulator has further extended the time for market intermediaries to invest at least 4 per cent of their portfolios in listed debt securities to March 2024. The time extension came following pleas of market intermediaries against the backdrop...

DSE erodes 110 pts in a month on corrections of overvalued stocks

The prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange eroded 110 points in just a month, tumbling to four-month low, as jittery investors dumped all the previous two months' trendy stocks.Most of the recent top-gaining small-cap stocks saw a sharp decline...

Stop sugar smuggling from India: Refiners

Local refiners have sought immediate action to put an end to sugar smuggling from India in a bid to help the domestic industry survive such odds and adversities.They apprehend that the domestic sugar industry will definitely be in dire straits...

Bangabandhu’s encounter with Castro

The meeting between Prime Minister Mujib and President Castro was arranged near the end of NAM summit. On the day of the summit, news reached Algiers at noon that food-riot and looting had started in Chile following disruptions in food...

The statesman in Bangabandhu

It is rather hard to point to a time when Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman graduated from a politician into a statesman. And yet there all those moments in Bangladesh's history when we can definitively point to phases which threw light...

PM launches Pension Scheme Thursday

The much-awaited Universal Pension Scheme gets going Thursday to bring Bangladesh's growing elderly population under a sustainable social-security system, with state exchequer paying half of poor's premium.Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina would inaugurate the scheme virtually from her official residence Ganabhaban....

Tax return submission up by over a million

A total of 1,237,357 new taxpayers were added by the National Board of Revenue (NBR) in the last fiscal year due to the fiscal measures incorporated in the Finance Bill-2022.From June 1, 2022, the revenue board made the submission of...

Brokers' apathy still keeps T-bonds inaccessible for retail investors

General investors are yet to get access to primary auctions of T-bonds though the securities regulator laid down the process for stock brokers to participate in them on behalf of their clients. The guidelines were issued about one and a...

Devising new ways to fight Aedes mosquito

The World Health Organization (WHO) has assessed Bangladesh's dengue risk at the national level as 'High'. But even before WHO's issuing the high risk alert, there was no doubt in anyone's mind that Bangladesh is experiencing the worst episode of...

Flood devastates 50km roads in Ctg city

CHATTOGRAM, Aug 13: Port city Chattogram is currently grappling with the aftermath of heavy rainfall and subsequent flooding, as primary estimate shows at least 50 kilometres of roads have been damaged in the metropolis. The deluge has left the roads...

VAT collection surges 35.5pc in Dhaka's commercial hubs

The collection of value-added tax (VAT) from retail and wholesale businesses grew by 35.5 per cent in the commercial areas of the capital, largely for the installation of Electronic Fiscal Devices (EFDs) and intensified enforcement.The Dhaka South Zone, which includes...

General insurance cos show mixed results for H1 but the sector overall registers lower profit

Persistent macroeconomic challenges, strong dollar, and runaway inflation continued to hit hard the businesses of general insurance companies, dragging down profits of most of them in the first half of this year compared to the previous year. Twenty five of...

Passenger train under attack by robbers

Train robberies are not quite uncommon in the world. Movies such as the Newton Boys (1998) based on the worst train robbery in American history at Rondout, Illinois, as early as 1924 have made viewers across the world familiar with...

Wobbly market of poultry products

Volatility is a commonly used term to describe markets everywhere when the prices of the goods and services that they represent start to rise unpredictably. But the volatility in Bangladesh's essential commodities market is perhaps a unique example in the...

Abdul Monem Ltd gets two months to end work

Work on the widening of Elenga-Hatikumrul-Rangpur highway faces an unexpected delay allegedly for a reputed local contractor, which was earlier alerted several times by the project office.Last week, the chief engineer of Roads and Highways Department (RHD) called the firm...

ICB Capital looks to overcome problems in listing of 13 state-run cos

ICB Capital Management is likely to organise a workshop this month to gauge possible solutions to problems that hinder the listing of state-owned companies on the bourses. The issue manager is currently prioritising 13 companies, including national flag bearer Biman...

Bond market still small and dull

The bond market worldwide has been growing, though not at a similar or steady pace and only in some economies. The United States (US) alone covered 39 per cent of the world bond market, followed by China having a 16...

Undercover barter trade at sea finds bonanza

Undercover barter trade at sea finds a bonanza as some unscrupulous foreign-ship crew in cahoots with private watchmen exchange goods and report piracies to information centre, according to finding by the Chittagong Port Authority (CPA). Officials have said the CPA...

Overcoming challenges and pursuing growth

Bangladesh's inspiring growth and development journey has been supported by the World Bank, as the nation aspires to achieve upper middle-income status by 2031. Since 1972, the World Bank has committed over $35 billion to support Bangladesh's development efforts, making...

Respecting the Geographical Indication

With the recognition of 'kanchagolla' as a GI (Geographical Indication) product, Bangladesh has got its 17th such agricultural produce and traditional products of local origin. If 'rasogolla' heads the list of sweetmeats, kanchagolla does not lie far behind in appeal...

Ctg emerging from deluge to dry

CHATTOGRAM, Aug 10: The weather in Chattogram has returned to normal after eight consecutive days of non-stop rainfall and flooding that disrupted daily life across the region.The incessant downpour, which began on the early morning of August 2 in greater...

Six-point combat against trade-based money laundering planned

A six-point combat is ahead to curb trade-based money laundering amid reports on flight of huge funds from Bangladesh, especially through suspected over-and under-invoicing and misdeclaration. Sources have said customs intelligence has crafted the action plan of late and recommended...

Kamalapur MmTH sees progress

The planned multimodal transport hub (MmTH) on Kamalapur rail station premises has made progress by finally appointing an Indian joint venture company as the transaction advisor (TA) to conduct an extensive study for the mega public-private partnership (PPP) project.The Public...

Big power rivalries and small nations

China has extended an invitation to Bangladesh for joining the China-Indian Ocean Region Forum on Development Cooperation. Bangladesh is reportedly studying the geopolitical implications of becoming a member of the forum. The China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA) hosted an...

Why positive half-yearly earnings reports not reflected on the market?

Large-cap stocks, such as Grameenphone, British American Tobacco Bangladesh, and Robi Axiata, have failed to draw investors though they posted remarkable profit growths for the first half of this year.Almost all the top 10 large-cap stocks, including some renowned local...

The blighted star we inhabit

There is not much to be happy about the world we inhabit in these times. There are no good reasons to be optimistic about the future, for on that future hang heavy and increasingly thickening clouds of gloom. It is...

CCCI gets new leaders

CHATTOGRAM, Aug 08: The newly elected directors of Chattogram Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) unanimously elected Omar Hajjaj as president, Tarafdar Md Ruhul Amin as senior vice-president and Raisa Mahbub as vice-president of the chamber for the term 2023-25....