FTA with MERCOSUR: Too early to call

The recent visit of the commerce minister to a number of Latin American countries concluded with an expectation to sign a free trade deal with the Southern Common Market or MERCOSUR (Spanish acronym). MERCOSUR which is the world's fourth largest...

Korean team due soon for investment deal

A high-powered South Korean delegation is expected to visit Dhaka soon to finalise an investment deal for further development of Chattogram port, official said."We hope the South Korean team will visit Dhaka shortly to ink an investment deal for the...

High-powered body suggests introduction of Sukuk bond

A high-powered committee has recommended issuing Sukuk bond on priority basis to help spur dynamism in the fixed income market.Meanwhile, the Malaysian government which has strong command over the global Sukuk market has expressed its willingness to extend their support...

China blacklists five local private banks

A good number of Bangladeshi banks are facing difficulties in settling their letters of credit (LCs) after being blacklisted by China, officials said.The Economic and Commercial Counsellor's Office of the embassy of China in Dhaka on its website has recently...

Stocks snap four-week winning streak

The stock market suffered a major correction in the outgoing week, snapping a four-week gaining streak, as risk-averse investors chose to book quick profit on large-cap stocks.Week on week, the DSEX, the benchmark index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE),...

Southernmost tip of India where sea meets land

This is my second trip to Kanyakumari. Our start of the journey from Salem could not be considered highly auspicious, although there was no mishap except that I personally had to dispense with sleep for the night. The bus was...

Erosion of social values is alarming

As the country is moving up the ladder of economic growth, there is also a gradual erosion of social values across the country. Economic growth is clearly and statistically visible, not the social values. So, it may be difficult to...

Not yet out of the woods

Water, water everywhere not a single drop to drink. Right now, there is perhaps no shortage of water per se in Southern part of Bangladesh. But pure drinking water is acutely short. The climate change causing salt intrusion into water,...

India's top ports on alert as Pakistan's nationwide protests today

NEW DELHI, Aug 29 (Reuters): India's two main ports said on Thursday they had been warned by the coastguard and intelligence officials that Pakistan-trained commandos have entered Indian waters to carry out underwater attacks on port facilities. The Mundra Port,...

Govt to cut down on bank borrowing for September

The government is set to reduce borrowing from the country's banking system for September, compared to the current month, to meet the budget deficit partly.The ministry of finance has set the bank borrowing target at over Tk 23 billion for...

Over half of BO accounts exist in name only

More than half the active BO (beneficiary owner) accounts are not playing any role in daily share transactions as they have either zero balance or have never been used in share trading.This has been happening over the last five years,...

Developing enterprise skills for economic growth

The importance of enterprise as the main source of economic growth and employment can hardly be overstated. Economic growth is fuelled, first and foremost, by the creativity and hard work of entrepreneurs and workers. Driven by the quest for profits,...

Where darkness is a symbol of defiance

The brutal murder of an app-based motorcyclist on the Rampura-Shantinagar-Razarbagh section of the 8.7 km Mouchak-Moghbazar flyover in the dead hours of Sunday night has come as a shock to most people. They are shocked by the fact that the...

Controversy over quality of milk must come to rest

The row over cow milk has suddenly died down. But the silence is disquieting rather than reassuring. There is no doubt that the publicity given to the results from laboratory tests has had a most negative impact on milk and...

BTRC moves to scrap licences of GP, Robi

The telecom regulator has started the process of scrapping the licences of the country's two biggest telecom operators -- Grameenphone and Robi, allegedly, for not paying dues to the national exchequer. The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) will serve showcause...

Committee holds meeting Sept 4 after 21 months

CHATTOGRAM, Aug 28: Chittagong Port Authority (CPA)'s advisory committee, which was made bigger in size recently, will hold its regular meeting after 21 months, although it is supposed to sit for a meeting after every three months.The committee, which sat...

Bringing dynamism in BIDA

The Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) started functioning on September 01, 2016 amid much publicity by replacing two defunct statutory bodies, namely the Board of Investment (BoI) and the Privatisation Commission (PC). One of the arguments put forward by the...

Facing up to the new climate reality

The past five years have been the hottest on record in Asia and the Pacific. Unprecedented heatwaves have swept across our region, cascading into slow onset disasters such as drought. Yet heat is only part of the picture. Tropical cyclones...

AIT exemption on capital machinery import to widen

Capital machinery importers would soon be exempted from paying Advance Income Tax (AIT) on their imports on a larger scale.The National Board of Revenue (NBR) recently took a decision to this end on requests from the local manufacturing industries.The income...

Banks’ H1 deposit growth up slightly

The overall deposit growth in the country's banking sector rose but slightly in the first-half (H1) of the current calendar year following a higher remittance inflow.Lower sales of national savings certificates (NSCs) in the recent months also helped push up...

Challenge of export diversification: Reforming trade policy

In 2009 soon after assuming power, the government led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina recognised that the development challenges for the country were many and progress would require a long-term vision and a systematic approach to development. Accordingly, the government...

How inverted yield curve flashes impending recession?

As alluded in my August 21 article "Asymmetric effects of monetary policy", this explains the essential paraphernalia as they relate to business cycle and monetary policy. Financial market experts and macroeconomists in general have uncovered the links between GDP growth...

Business environment & demographic dividend: Where is the marriage?

With a steady but high economic growth alongside other South Asia economies, Bangladesh is now undergoing a demographic transition. Its demographic structure is in such a stage when birth rate is decreasing with a declining death rate. This results in...

Biman counts $1.1m losses for cancellation of ticket bookings

A probe body of Biman Bangladesh Airlines has recommended taking punitive action against 53 travel agents of 12 countries for the cancellation of a significant number of air tickets.It has found that these travel agents cancelled ticket bookings from 75...

No more separate licences for telcos

The country's telecom regulator has moved to formulate a unified guideline for the country's mobile operators instead of separate licences for 2G, 3G and 4G services.The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has already formulated the draft guidelines titled "Regulatory and...

Lower tax-GDP ratio: Critical issues

The tax-to-GDP ratio is a ratio of an economy's tax revenue relative to its gross domestic product (GDP) or the market value of goods and services a country produces. The higher the GDP, the more tax a nation should collect....

Need for urban forests or green belts

Eiffel Tower projects a majestic sight but its surrounding, although grand and spacious, cannot be said to be famous for lush greenery. But mayor Anne Hidalgo wants to bring about a change in the site in favour of a panoramic...

Surprise components of ECB's unconventional Monetary Policy

The Lehman shock that erupted back in 2008 had mutated into global financial crisis. In response to the crisis, the US Federal Reserve (Fed) had embarked on an unprecedented non-standard monetary policy. Likewise, the European Central Bank (ECB) adopted a...

Taxing the sick, unfairly

The tax authorities will be doing a great favour to the poor consumers if they scrap the new value added tax (VAT) calculation method, introduced under an order issued on July 23 last. The revised calculation method might help the...

New VAT calculation fallout

Pharmaceuticals industry insiders are worried that prices of drugs may increase after the changes in tax calculation method under the new VAT law.They said while trade prices (TP) of medicines at the manufacturers' level will go down, the payable VAT...