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...

A vision of sustainable business: A road map to future value creation

Sustainability of products has a value for some clients who like to buy sustainable products or enter "functional business" contracts. Companies selling products must convince the buyers that products are made in sustainable ways -- from use of raw materials...

Amazon fires heat up political crisis in Brazil

August is the month of major political crises in Brazil, but no one suspected that an environmental issue would be the trigger for the storms threatening the government of President Jair Bolsonaro, just eight months into his term.Protests against the...

Belt and Road Initiative -- a critical analysis

The Asia Pacific region appears to be enthralled by China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) which is basically aimed at developing infrastructure in the participating countries. According to Eric Brown, Research analyst of the Geopolitical Economic Risk, Belt and Road...

UK wants equal treatment for all RMG operators

The United Kingdom (UK) is worried over the growing incentive packages for domestic apparel manufacturers as such facilities have caused widening disadvantages to foreign-owned clothing units inside the export processing zones (EPZs).For ensuring equal treatment for both EPZ factories and...

Shipbuilding policy soon to tap export potential

The government has drafted the shipbuilding industry development policy-2019 with an eye to developing the sector in view of its export potential, officials said.Under the move, industries ministry has prepared the draft policy so that the shipbuilding sector could boost...

Police favour e-sealing for goods containers

Law enforcement agencies favour application of the digital lock rules, but businesses oppose the system fearing cost escalation.The digital system allows exporters to self-guard their containers using electronic seals.In June last year, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) issued the...

Farm credit disbursement falls 15 per cent in July

Farm credit disbursement dropped by over 15 per cent in July, the first month of the current fiscal year (FY), 2019-20, mainly due to flood at different parts of the country. Disbursement of agriculture loan came down to Tk 9.77...

Stocks ride four-week winning streak

Stocks maintained their gaining streak for the fourth straight week that ended on Thursday, with investors showing their appetite for June year-end companies' shares.It was also the first week after Eid-ul-Azha holiday, which saw the DSEX, the prime index of...