Govt bins stimulus plan for accessories sector

The government has dropped commerce ministry's recommendation on cash incentive to garment accessories and packaging industry with intent to spur the current export trend of the ready-made garment (RMG) sector.Sources said finance division has recently given its dissent to the...

Tips for future applicants

Although many students from Bangladesh go to Nanyang Technological University (NTU) for graduate studies, there is hardly any student from Bangladesh who went there for undergraduate studies, let alone with a full-ride scholarship. Recently one admission candidate ended the drought,...

Charles III ... beyond the glitter of the crown

Britons will soon be going through the coronation of their new monarch, the third Charles in their history. The first Charles, as history informs us, met a dreadful end in 1649. The second, his son, came back from exile in...

Govt to revisit trade negotiation structure before LDC graduation

The government is going to revisit the existing trade-negotiation structure ahead of graduation from the poor-country club for ensuring efficient and time-bound agreements with other countries, officials said.The planned review aims to strengthen the country's negotiation capacity to successfully face...

Refiners seek to up soybean oil price by Tk 18 per litre

Citing the expiration of a VAT cut, edible oil refiners want to increase the price of bottled soybean oil by Tk 18 to Tk 205 per litre from today (Wednesday) - at a time when the global prices declined to...

Most IT firms' profit leaps to double-digit growth in Jan-Mar on rising demand

Most information technology (IT) companies posted double-digit profit growth in the third quarter ended in March as the demand for related services increased both in the local and global markets.Of the 10 IT firms that disclosed quarterly earnings until now,...

United Power's profit falls in Q3 on increased gas price, cheaper taka

United Power Generation & Distribution Company's profit fell 22 per cent year-on-year in the third quarter through March mainly for the gas price hike implemented since February. Following a government decision, independent power producers (IPPs) like United Power and rental...

How GPT-4 can transform education system

Human civilization is all set to embark on the 4th industrial revolution (4IR) courtesy of artificial intelligence (AI). Although scientists and inventors have been working over the decades, remarkable success in this sector has come to light recently. Open AI's...

A priority for Bangladesh and the EU

On 24 April, Bangladesh launched its “Indo-Pacific Outlook”. The outlook highlights stability and prosperity in the region as essential pillars when it comes to translating the vision of Bangladesh’s future as a modern, knowledge-based developed country by 2041 into reality.The...

De-dollarisation: Yet another hiccup or for real?

The ongoing de-dollarisation campaign reminds me of Edward Hickson’s Moral Song (1857): “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” For many years, many countries around the globe were getting concerned over Washington’s impositions of economic and trade sanctions as...

Leading drug makers' profits down in Q3 for high production costs

Leading drug makers endured a year-on-year decline in profit in the latest quarter through March of FY23 owing to higher production costs. Square Pharmaceuticals, Beximco Pharmaceuticals, Renata and ACI saw their profits drop up to 57 per cent year-on-year in...

Fall in Kaptai Lake water level hits power generation

CHATTOGRAM Apr 30: Power generation is being severely hampered due to drastic fall in water level of Kaptai Lake in Rangamati district caused by the prevailing drought-like situation.Besides, comke munication and business activities here are also facing hindrance due to...

IT: an indispensable factor in the economic growth

According to ND Century Code, "Information Technology (IT) means the use of hardware, software, services, and supporting infrastructure to manage and deliver information using voice, data, and video." IT has become an integral part of modern economies, playing a critical...

No relief from syndicated price hikes

The heated up market volatility of Ramadan usually cools down a little bit in the post-Eid period. But this time there is no relief for the consumers. Market has become exceptionally jittery particularly for two commodities in high demand in...

Stopping internecine in Sudan

That the government has at last taken necessary steps to rescue Bangladeshis trapped in the war-torn Sudan is definitely a commendable move. But it should have come earlier. Of some 1,500 Bangladeshis in that country, about 700 have, it is...

New push to recover investors' returns lost to a maze of real life & rules

A stock investor, Abdul Latif (not the real name) passed away in the 90's without deciding who would be inheriting his stock holdings. His two successors got locked into a fight over the ownership of the shares of listed securities....

Trade in services needs greater policy prop

Though trade in goods is predominant globally, trade in services has emerged as a critical portion of the world trade in recent decades. So, it is not possible to get a correct picture of the international trade without adding up...

Govt likely to offer cash perk from next FY

The government is considering providing cash incentive facility to the garments accessories and packaging industries - to continue the present export trend of the country's RMG sector, sources said.The industries are likely to enjoy the incentive facility from the next...

China to provide buyer's credit in yuan for dollar dilemmas

China wants to use its yuan as financing currency instead of the US dollar for projects to be funded under Preferential Buyer's Credit (PBC) to skip phenomenal forex tantrums, officials said.The Export-Import (ExIm) Bank of China has proposed to Bangladesh...

A good read for bankers

The contemporary Islamic banking activities began in 1963. For the last 60 years, the Islamic banking had significantly secured its global platform with utmost appreciation. It is not merely confined within Muslim countries but crossing the border into the non-Muslim...

In praise of Kalbaishakhi

Kalbaishakhi, a tropical storm localised in nature that sweeps across Bangladesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Assam, Tripura and West Bengal has a connotation of something ominous. Kal perhaps derived from 'mahakal' which swallows everything gives a sense of a fateful phenomenon....

Salt farmers sceptical of fair prices despite record production

CHATTOGRAM, Apr 28: Despite record production, salt farmers in Chattogram and Cox's Bazar are concerned about fair prices for their produce. The favourable weather conditions and successful pick seasons have led to a surge in raw salt production, bringing happiness...

Corporates swallowing their linkage industries sinking under tax-loads

Backward-linkage industries making packaging goods for large manufacturers like multinationals and corporates are struggling for survival following 'discriminatory' tax measures on sales turnover, and they urge budgetary relief.The industries, known as 'business to business (B2B)', usually produces primary packaging items...

BSC invites firms to study if it can go big

With larger business and diversification of its services on sight, the Bangladesh Shipping Corporation (BSC) has moved to conduct a study and assess the opportunities in merchant shipping, officials said.The state-run corporation has recently invited an Expression of Interest (EoI),...

General insurance stocks' value dwindles with profit declines

The general insurance sector lost 20 per cent of its market value in the year through April 27 as most of the general insurers posted lower profits for 2022 due to a dent in premium income from the marine insurance...

Protecting farmers from natural vagaries

This is peak Boro harvesting time. Farmers are busy gathering crops manually or in some places mowing with harvesters thanks to a late shift to mechanisation of agriculture. In fact, shortage of farm labourers has long been a problem during...

BBA gets Tk 6.60b toll from Padma Bridge

The Bangladesh Bridge Authority (BBA) collected Tk 6.60 billion as toll from the Padma Bridge since opening of the bridge for traffic. According to the BBA website, it got Tk 1.11 billion toll from the vehicles during the Eid-ul-Fitr holiday...

IMF cold-shoulders corporate-tax cut, tax waiver

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has advised the revenue authority not to cut the existing corporate-tax rates further in the budget in order to keep revenue mobilization uninterrupted, sources said.In a meeting with the National Board of Revenue (NBR) on...

MF industry: What made it sick and what can help it regain health

The Asset Under Management (AUM) of 36 listed closed-end mutual funds was Tk 57.3 billion as of Monday but the market value was only Tk 37.3 billion, according to BRAC EPL Stock Brokerage.The Tk 20 billion was lost to the...

Biggest ship to ever dock at Matarbari deep-sea port

CHATTOGRAM, Apr 26: A Panama flag carrier ship, Owusu Maru, carrying 63,000 MT of coal from Indonesia has berthed at the Matarbari jetty of the deep-sea port.The Owusu Maru, a 229-metre long and 12.5-metre draft ship, arrived on Tuesday afternoon....