Rough weather halts lightering in Ctg port

CHATTOGRAM, June 18: Ship handling at the outer anchorage of Chittagong Port has been stopped on Thursday, as the Bay of Bengal is now very rough due to incessant rainfall for the last three days. Haji Shafique Ahamed, president of...

BR suspends operation of two intercity trains

Bangladesh Railway is getting lesser number of passengers than its permissible seats due to the coronavirus pandemic, forcing it to suspend services of two intercity trains.Officials said Sonar Bangla and NoakhaliUpokulexpress trains will not be operated from Saturday on Dhaka-Chattogram...

Vessels' docs auto-renewed for six months

The Department of Shipping (DoS) has extended the validity of certificates, surveys, audits and inspections of Bangladeshi flag vessels, which have already expired or are going to expire before October, for six months considering barriers (in renewing those) amid the...

BB slashes CRR to 2.0pc for OBO

The central bank has slashed cash reserve ratio (CRR) by 200 basis points to 2.0 per cent only from existing level of 4.0 per cent for the offshore banking operation (OBO) in Bangladesh.Under the new rules, the banks are required...

Milking the tobacco sector more

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal since his presentation of the budget in parliament on June 11 last has, at least, on a couple of occasions said he would spend first and then locate sources of earning. The inner spirit of...

Implementing the budget on a quarterly basis

The proposed budget amounting to Tk 5680.00 billion for the fiscal year 2020-2021 is the largest-ever in the history of Bangladesh. This is a dilemma to have this big budget during these Covid-19 days. On one side, we need more...

Social security for vulnerable migrant workers

According to UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) 2019, the number of international migrants estimated 272 million, of which two-thirds are migrant workers. Labour migration from Bangladesh remains a viable strategy to find better employment and livelihood...

No more free lunch

Banks have started deducting value added tax or VAT on the subscription of Netflix and other global entertainment platforms after orders from the central bank and the tax authority.The subscribers of the channels will have to pay VAT at the...

Padma bridge project installs corona unit

The Padma bridge project office has set up a corona unit on its construction site with an estimated fund of Tk 10 million to avoid viral infection.It is aimed at providing immediate medical care for people working on the country's...

Move to provide loans to CMSMEs

The Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) has taken a move toprovide loans to cottage, micro, small and medium enterprises (CMSMEs) forcontinuing their businesses amid the coronavirus pandemic, an official said.As recommended bythe BSCIC, he said, the ministry of...

Move to reconvene stalled JBJP meet, virtually

The government has taken a move to reconvene a meeting of the Japan-Bangladesh Joint Platform (JBJP) virtually at the end of this month, officials said.They said the Public Private Partnership Authority (PPPA) has already contacted with Japan Ministry of Land,...

Utopian budget in dystopian times

The common people across the globe are spending their days in anxieties and uncertainties in the midst of Covid-19 pandemic, which is now racing towards a peak in Bangladesh. The world is also gripped by an unprecedented recession and nobody...

NBR may target pvt staffers' nest egg

Private sector employees, who have received gratuity as retirement benefit in the outgoing fiscal year, may have to pay taxes on it.The National Board of Revenue or NBR has imposed taxes on retirees according to the proposed Finance Bill-2020 if...

Saif Powertec donates equipment for Ctg Port hospital

CHATTOGRAM, June 16: The Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) has prepared the Chittagong Port Hospital as specialised hospital for coronavirus patients. The hospital will start its health service from Thursday.Meanwhile, Saif Powertec Limited has donated four oxygen concentrator machines, four ventilator...

Major dev projects need special allocation to tackle Covid-19

An allocation has been necessary to prevent the spread of coronavirus on the construction sites of major development projects including mega and fast-track ones aiming to keep the progress of those up in the next fiscal year.According to experts and...

Renewable energy: Future for greener and resilient economy in post covid-19 era

In the context of challenges in meeting the SDG targets by 2030 and forestalling the worst effects of climate change at the soonest, the costs of ignoring the relevant science would be too much to bear which were exacerbated by...

Move to ease burden on small taxpayers

Individual taxpayers with gross assets lower than Tk 4.0 million will not be required to submit wealth statement in tax returns.The Finance Bill-2020, placed in parliament on June 11, has incorporated the provision to simplify return filing.In the past, such...

Loan taken by TCB hits record high this fiscal

The volume of loan taken by Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) has hit a record high of around Tk 2.60 billion in the outgoing fiscal year, sources said. The state-run agency took the loan to supply an increased amount of...

Renewables 'neglected' in proposed budget

The renewable energy sector has received a 'very cold' response from the government in the proposed budget for the next fiscal year, stakeholders say.Apart from granting value-added tax (VAT) exemption on solar battery production, they said, the sector got no...

Covid-19 and opportunity to bring pedagogic revolution

Resource constraints in countries like ours led to innovating solution as required and seen in our agriculture through use of fallow land or cultivation in once barren char areas. Some social sector innovations were also witnessed in poverty reduction process...

NBR expects Tk 110b in additional taxes

Four new fiscal measures, including taxes on cigarettes and mobile phone use, are expected to fetch nearly Tk 110 billion in additional VAT and excise duty in the upcoming fiscal year.The National Board of Revenue or NBR, has projected around...

Ctg commoners unaware of budget

CHATTOGRAM, June 14: Most of the commoners in Chattogram, especially the low-income group or the commonest of commons, have no idea about the proposed national annual budget.They are worried about unusual hiking of prices of essentials, including staple foods and...

Tragedy unfolds in myriad forms

With the Covid-19 wreaking havoc the world over, lives perish in their thousands every day. Already the number is staggering and where the death toll will come to a stop or at least become tolerable is unpredictable. By this time,...

A conventional budget in extraordinary time

The finance ministers in this part of the world have a habit of setting 'ambitious' revenue targets in the national budgets. No amount of criticism could deter them from doing so. However, the world is now not the same it...

HCQ imports from India rise sharply

The Bangladesh mission in New Delhi has requested the government to keep watch on the situation as import of some medicines including hydroxychloroquine and its API from India has increased significantly following the rapid spread of Covid-19, officials said.It has...

Bill of entry submission time cut to five days

The customs authority has made it mandatory for importers to submit the bill of entry within five working days of arrival of imported goods at the ports.A provision to this effect has been incorporated in the Finance Bill-2020 to expedite...

Importers disinterested to take delivery of containers from off-docks

CHATTOGRAM, June 13: Decision by the government to shift containers from Chittagong Port to warehouses or off-docks has financially benefited owners of off-docks made the importers losers, alleged importers.The importers are showing reluctance to move their imported goods from jetties...

Reducing corporate tax for non-listed cos won't benefit the stock market

Stakeholders have expressed mixed opinion on the budgetary proposal of reducing corporate tax for non-listed companies amid the unchanged rate of the same for listed companies.Most of them said the proposed reduction of corporate tax for non-listed companies will leave...

Mega projects may see slow progress

Mega projects, including the fast-track ones, are likely to see slow progress during the upcoming fiscal year (FY), 2020-21, as the new budget has proposed lower allocation than the ongoing fiscal for their implementing ministries and agencies.Mega projects like Padma...

Marginal taxpayers worried over mandatory return submission

Bank depositors, mainly marginal taxpayers, are worried over a new budget proposal to make the submission of tax returns mandatory for most of the TIN-holders.A number of housewives and senior citizens have obtained TIN or taxpayers identification number to avoid...