Banks' VAT collection from overseas ads under scrutiny

The VAT authorities have made an initiative to scrutinise major commercial banks' VAT collection from overseas payment of advertisement bills on Facebook, YouTube and other online networks.To this end, the Large Taxpayers' Unit (LTU) under the Value Added Tax (VAT)...

Story that beats wild, wild West

Deceit and intrigue are no monopoly means used ruthlessly to achieving the coveted goals. Such negative qualities can be taken to their bizarre extremes by even apparently simple folks. Ingenuity displayed in the execution of the ill conceived plans beats...

Food procurement: The bypassed target

Farmers across the country are now busy harvesting their Boro rice crop. After the setback they had suffered due to two consecutive floods last year, the nature has blessed them with a plenty of Boro output this year, as if,...

Managing investment risks

All investments entail some form of risk. Stocks, bonds, mutual funds and exchange-traded funds can lose value, even all of their value, if market conditions sour. Even conservative, insured investments, such as Fixed Deposit (FDs) issued by a bank, come...

Land acquisition delay backpedals on regional railway project

The railway's regional connectivity project faced delay as over 100-kilometre rail line from Dohazari of Chattogram to Cox's Bazar could not be constructed upon failure to acquire land.Officials said due to the delay, state-run Bangladesh Railway (BR) revised its annual...

Govt cuts AIT on imported LNG

The revenue board cut advance income tax on the import of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in order to keep its prices low on the local market.The National Board of Revenue (NBR) slashed the advance tax to 2.0 per cent from...

Chinese co willing to build 2nd nuke power plant in BD

Ismail Hossain from SichuanChina's state-owned company -- Dongfang Electric Corporation (DEC) -- wants to build the proposed second nuclear power plant in Bangladesh.A top official of the corporation said recently that the Chinese company had shown interest to build the...

Premier Cement witnesses steady turnover growth in last five years

Premier Cement Mills has displayed a mixed trend in net income in last five years despite a steady growth observed in the company's turnover values during the period.Officials at the company said their net profits sometimes failed to keep pace...

Living wage in RMG sector: Some conceptual issues

The ready-made garment (RMG) industry has been Bangladesh's key export industry and one of the main job-creating sectors for the last three decades. Minimum wage for RMG workers is Tk 5,300, which was set by the government in December 2013....

Developing a self-reliant country: Concept and practice

Bangladesh was born out of a liberation war nurturing the values of freedom, democracy, social justice and self reliance -- all of which, according to Andre Malraux, together were "the last noble cause." Since independence in 1971, our densely populated...

Capacity building key to accessing Green Climate Fund

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) was established under article 11 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) by the parties to the convention at the 16th Conference of the Parties (COP 16) held in Cancun in 2010....

Square Pharma attains 20pc growth in 5 yrs

Square Pharmaceuticals has attained an average growth rate of 20 per cent in the past five years, beating the national average growth rate, riding on the expanded domestic market as well as new export frontiers.The other highlights including gross margin,...

Stocks nosedive as selling frenzy continues

Stocks extended the loss for fourth straight week as worried investors continued heavy sell-offs amid lack of confidence.Core index of the Dhaka bourse hit one-year low, much to the chagrin of general investors.Market operators said investors were mostly on selling...

Lone bidder set to bag work on metro-rail’s Package-7

A Japan-India joint-venture (JV) firm is set to get the job of implementing the last component of Dhaka's metro-rail project, as it has emerged the lone bidder for the Package-7, sources said.The state-owned Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTC) has...

Carriage of transit cargo to figure in meeting with Nepal

Operational modalities for the carriage of transit cargo between Bangladesh and Nepal will figure in the commerce-secretary level meeting beginning in Kathmandu on May 30, officials said. Besides, the meeting will also review the agreement on regulation of motor vehicles...

BPC fears Tk 80b loss in next FY

The Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) fears incurring a loss of about Tk 80 billion in the upcoming fiscal year because of selling fuel oil at lower rate than import price, officials said.To cope with its financial loss, the BPC has...

Govt decides to issue floating rate bonds

The government, for the first time, has decided to issue new investment bonds having a floating rate.The objective behind introducing the bonds is to meet the government's own rising financial need and develop debt profile, officials said.Primary dealers (PDs) think...

The workforce for implementing Vision 2041 agenda

The government has digitalised different services, multimedia classrooms have been introduced and broadband Internet connections have been taken to every nook and cranny of the country. These are the giant steps towards making the Vision 2021 a reality by achieving...

The mastery of weed management

Weeds in crop fields are a real hazard that reduces the yield. In a field, weeds compete with the crops for light, nutrients and water causing the loss of yield up to 80-90 per cent in worst cases. Experts said...

Is this going to be the wettest ever Baishakh?

Had there been a wetter Baishakh than the one just gone by? Kalbaishakhi (tropical storm in this part of the world), the name of which is derived from the month, has been synonymous with this inaugural month of the year....

Reviewing Global Food Policy Report 2018

The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) recently organised a launching ceremony of the 2018 Global Food Policy Report in the capital. The ceremony kicked off with welcome address by the Country Representative and keynote paper from the Director General...

Computing energy prices

News on moves to revise energy prices often hit the headlines in both print and electronic media. Gas and electricity being two most critical inputs for production of goods and services, any variation in the price of one or both...

Hassles at ferry crossings

Bangladesh is a riverine country endowed with 24,000-kilometre long waterways. But the navigable water network for mechanised vessels varies from 5,968 km during monsoon to 3,865 km during the dry season. Inland water transportation continues to be a vital mode...

Govt to phase out tariff value system from FY ‘19

The government is set to start phasing out the tariff value system from the upcoming fiscal year (FY), 2018-19, as it is found that consumers are not getting benefit of it.The National Board of Revenue (NBR) is likely to withdraw...

The case for research universities

Among the total educational institutes of a country, universities play the critical role in producing skilled human resources. Besides the mission of teaching-learning, the modern universities now have a new identity as the locus of knowledge creation through research on...

When 'adjustment' hurts consumers

The Dhaka Water and Sewerage Authority (DWASA) is set to make its annual ritual -- a hike in water tariff. This time the increase will be at the rate of 5.0 per cent, equivalent to that of 2017. However, the...

Where education fails to deliver

Although the problem of private tutoring in education has emerged at the top in newspaper reports here, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation's (UNESCO) Global Education Monitoring Report 2017-18 treated it as no more than a side issue....

Making Zakat collection and distribution meaningful

The continued growth of Bangladesh economy along with the rising income disparity makes a case for distributive injustice of resources. Being the second largest Muslim country in the world, Bangladesh can address such injustice by means of promoting Zakat as...

IFC to pump $72m into two local industrial groups

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has sought the government's approval for investing US$ 72 million in two local conglomerates to make sure both groups get working capital, officials said. According to its articles of agreement, the World Bank's private lending...

Tax and duty exemptions: A prudential shift is needed

William Spencer Vickrey (June 21, 1914-October 11, 1996) wrote a week before his death and three days before he received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics the famous 'Fifteen Fatal Fallacies of Financial Fundamentalism: A Disquisition on Demand Side Economics'....