Dhaka Bank to expand businesses embarking on SME, digitisation

Dhaka Bank will decentralise its loan concentration from corporate to retail and small and medium enterprises (SME) to minimise credit risk, said the top executive of the leading private commercial bank (PCB) recently.The second generation PCB is also aiming to...

Chinese leadership assures Hasina of prompt resolution of Rohingya crisis

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina paid a five-day official visit to China from July 02-06 during which she attended the Summer Davos of the World Economic Forum (WEF) at Dalian During the visit, PM Hasina met with President Xi Jinping and...

It is not time to say goodbye!

The news of sudden death of Dr Toufiq M Seraj was a bolt from the blue, no doubt. Country's one of the leading real-estate businessmen and urban planners died aboard a Doha-bound flight from Dhaka in the early hours on...

BD likely to move to WTO

The government is scrutinising the merit of filing petition against the imposition of anti-dumping duty (ADD) on some products by four countries with the dispute settlement body of World Trade Organization (WTO), officials said.India has imposed ADD on import of...

BTRC mulls over SMS rate cut

The telecom regulator is mulling bringing down the upper ceiling of SMS (short message service) rate to Tk 0.25 from the existing Tk 0.50. The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) would set the price limit after reviewing the previous pricing...

Rules on the anvil for non-life insurance cos

The finance ministry has held firm to the investment of non-life insurance companies' 30 per cent assets in government securities, officials said.The move has been made to bring transparency and accountability in fund utilisation of the insurance companies, they added.Currently,...

Businesses asked to redo VAT reg

All existing VAT-registered businesses will have to provide some additional information this month as per new VAT Act-2012 to keep their nine-digit Business Identification Number (BIN) active.Businesses will have to sign-up again on the site of electronic BIN (e-BIN) and...

Soaring NPL poses downside risk to growth momentum

Rising non-performing loans (NPLs) and tight liquidity condition on the domestic front alongside external challenges are likely to pose downside risk to growth momentum, the central bank has said.The external challenges include global economic slowdown, uncertainties over a lingering US-China...

Rapid Pass yet to gain popularity

More than one year after its introduction, Rapid Pass, the IC card-based mass transport ticketing system, is yet to gain popularity among passengers in Dhaka city mainly due to lack of adequate measures.Unwillingness of most bus operators to introduce integrated...

CCH tax collection falls 24.8pc short of FY '19 target

CHATTOGRAM, July 05: The Chattogram Customs House (CCH) failed to achieve the tax collection target in the last fiscal year (FY 2018-19) as it bagged Tk 432.11 billion, which is 24.8 per cent short of the period's target of Tk...

Stocks slip back into red despite tax review

Stocks slipped back into the red in the outgoing week that ended on Thursday as tax review measures failed to jack investors' confidence up.Although the government brought some changes to the budgetary measures for the capital market, they failed to...

Saving Arghya from encroachment

Arghya. What a beautiful name! Meaning 'offering', it resonates like the soft retreating sound of a symphony. It is the name of an island -not an island in the sea or river but a road island at the confluence of...

The coming Libra panics

Facebook's unveiling of a new digital currency, Libra, has produced a tidal wave of sceptical, critical, and outright hostile responses. That is understandable, given Facebook's reputation for carelessness about user data and personal privacy. Nonetheless, public angst won't stop the...

Flawed taxation on savings certificates

The increased rate of tax at source on yields or profits from all types of savings certificates came into effect on July 1, the first day of the new fiscal year (FY20). The finance minister has increased the rate from...

South Asian backwardness

South Asia is the most populous and the most poor region on earth. For decades, the region has been struggling for sustainable survival. No doubt that over the past decades, there was a lot of improvement on socio-economic front but...

Financialisation undermines real economy

The relationship between finance and the real economy is arguably at the root of the contemporary economic malaise. Unlike earlier acceptance of simple linear causation, recent recognition of a curvilinear relationship between finance and economic growth, implying 'diminishing returns', has...

How much can be written with how little

Micro-fiction, a sub-genre of short stories, is increasingly becoming popular among many young writers across the globe. Placed within this category, six-word stories or sixes are considered to be the minimum size for such fiction, which are also called 'short...

RHD's chronic dilemma

It is no secret that a sizeable part of roads and highways under the state agency called Roads and Highways Department (RHD) does need repair and reconstruction every year. But the long stretches of roads and highways that actually require...

Addressing the social rot

Before the trauma of hacking a husband to death in front of his wife in broad daylight at Barguna could dissipate, another man was hacked with a machete in front of his wife at Narayanganj. The man did not die...

How to save the Internet

In a scene in the US sitcom Silicon Valley, digital startups compete for funding by presenting their ideas. In each presentation, company founders repeat the Silicon Valley mantra of "making the world a better place." One founder pledges to make...

Eye on increased Japan investment

Bangladesh is set to seek increased Japanese investment and assistance for infrastructure and human resources development at a high-profile dialogue with Japan beginning here today.However, Japan is likely to seek measures by Bangladesh to help enter its products, mainly consumables,...

Youths’ rendezvous to learn about career in Japan

Prominent American writer and novelist Pearl S Buck said, "The young do not know enough to be prudent, and therefore they attempt the impossible, and achieve it, generation after generation." This is the true beauty of youth that has enabled...

How South Asia can continue as world's fastest growing sub-region

Since 2014, South Asia has been the fastest growing sub-region in the world, with its eight economies collectively boasting average annual growth of 7.0 per cent. This is higher even than East Asia (6.2 per cent), which includes China; Southeast...

Libra's likely impacts on the global banking system

Still at the nascent stage of the financial technology development era, global corporations and financial intermediaries from banks to payment mediums are engaged in a "treasure hunt" to come up with a financial breakthrough, thanks to the mobile data-driven young...

Addressing the FDI challenges

The 2019 World Investment Report published by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) paints a mixed picture about Bangladesh's progress in attracting investments. The country recorded the highest growth of 67.9 per cent among the least developed...

Bank of Japan's QQE - evolution and effectiveness

The bubble economy burst in the 1990s left painful consequences for Japan's economy. In the aftermath of that burst, Japanese firms had been confronting three excesses namely: excess production capacity, excess employment and excess debt. Moreover, the financial institutions were...

Interpreting Swiss bank data

The proposal to whiten black money by investing in land didn't finally get through in national parliament. Nevertheless, the legal scope to whiten black money by investing in apartments and buildings still remains. Moreover, FY20 budget allows declaring any undisclosed...

Remittances hit record $16.42b in FY' 19

The flow of remittances grew by 9.65 per cent to a record US$16.42 billion in the just-concluded fiscal year (FY) as the exchange rate of local currency weakened against the US dollar.The figure jumped from $14.98 billion in FY 2017-18,...

14,000 jewellers, traders legalise 1.8m bhoris of gold

Some 14,000 jewellers and gold traders legalised around 1.8 million bhori of gold and gold ornaments by availing the month-long opportunity ended on June 30.A bhori is equivalent to 11.664 grams or 21,000 kilograms of the yellow precious metal.According to...

BR to seek large-scale investment to upgrade railway bridges, tracks

The Bangladesh Railway (BR) has taken an initiative to invite large-scale investment for upgrading its existing bridges, tracks and rolling stock workshops.The BR comes up with this move as part of its efforts to develop a regional corridor under the...