Stocks extend losing streak for third day

Stocks extended their losing streak for the third straight session Wednesday with choppy trading as investors' selling spree continued. Amid the countrywide shutdown, the market opened with a mixed trend. At the end of the session, DSEX, the prime index...

DSE, CSE open positive

Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) saw positive trend in early hours of trading on Wednesday, the 4th session of the week. DSEX, the prime index of the DSE, reached 5,069.09 points, gaining 4.77 points after the...

Holy Ashura being observed

The holy Ashura is being observed in Bangladesh and elsewhere in the Muslim world with due respect and religious solemnity. The Holy Ashura is observed on the 10th of Muharram, the 1st month in Arabic calendar, to commemorate the Karbala...

Draft national urbanisation policy shelved for a decade

The proposed National Urbanisation Policy remains shelved for more than a decade due to government's attaching less importance to it and an inter-ministerial tug of war, officials said. Bangladesh Urban Forum (BUF), a public private partnership- based national platform placed...

Govt body starts work to identify trade barriers

A government-formed committee has started working to identify the existing trade barriers at domestic and international levels to address those in the draft Comprehensive Trade Policy (CTP), officials said.  "The official sub-committee is scrutinising the trade barriers and problems that...

Tax evasion allegation against Robi now under ACC scanner

The anti-graft watchdog has launched investigation into the alleged tax evasion involving the replacement of SIM (subscribers' identification module) by the cell phone operator Robi. It has collected necessary documents from the National Board of Revenue (NBR) in this connection....

Economies of micro-finance

The Asia-Pacific Regional Agricultural Credit Association (APRACA) recently organised a workshop on microfinance in agriculture in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Representatives from Bangladesh, India, Nepal,  Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar and a few other countries participated in the...

Challenge of attaining middle-income status

Bangladesh is one of the 47 least developed countries (LDCs) in the world. The country also belongs to the World Bank's list of 34 low-income countries (LICs). The United Nations categorises a group of countries with low levels of income...

Sweeping reforms in the financial sector

In this era of rapidly changing global financial environment, people's demand and society's needs are changing at a faster pace. Technological breakthrough also changes everything from customer relationships to business models. As elsewhere, banking in Bangladesh faces a multitude of...

Portfolio investment drops 54pc

Net foreign investment in Dhaka stocks fell 54 per cent in October from September as overseas investors adopted 'wait-and-see' policy after previous month's big investment. Overseas investors bought shares worth Tk 3.02 billion and sold shares worth Tk 1.07 billion,...

Stocks end lower amid choppy trading

Stocks ended lower back-to-back session Monday with declining turnover as the investors remained in selling mood amid countrywide strike. At the end of the session, DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) ended at 5,065.14 points, shedding...

Stocks open mixed amid volatility

Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) witnessed mixed trend while and Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) saw positive trend in the early hours of trading on Monday amid nationwide general strike. DSEX, the prime index of the DSE, stayed at 5,105.46 points, gaining...

Bureaucratic dysfunctions: A theoretical overview

As defined by Max Weber, bureaucracy is generally characterised by the following features: (a) specialisation; (b) rationality; (c) professionalism; (d) impersonal authority; (e) autonomy; (f) stability. However, the same organisational and management techniques that make a bureaucratic organisation potentially superior...

Tying the nuptial knot

Controversies and difference in opinions notwithstanding, marriage still has survived -- and hopefully will do so -- as an institution. Men like Bernard Shaw, though, had no doubt about the frivolity in the marriage ceremony where the couple vows to...

The pains of being worst

The first impression a foreign traveller gets of a country is its airport, how it is maintained and the facilities it offers to incoming and outgoing passengers. The Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA), the premier international airport of Bangladesh, as...

India\\\'s turn to deliver

Uncertainty has descended upon Bangladesh-India relations since Narendra Modi became the new Prime Minister of India in May this year. For the entire last term of the Awami League-led government and part of this present term until the Congress was...

Lankan diplomat stresses FTA

Signing of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) can help Bangladesh and Sri Lanka narrow the trade imbalance, a diplomat of the island nation has said.    "FTA is an effective means through which we can increase bilateral trade. This can also...

Edible oils much dearer than production costs

Millers are selling edible oils at much higher rates than production costs, according to a government study on the price rises and possible remedies.     The study report recommends that the ministry of commerce (MoC) take steps to bring the jacked-up...

Ship-breakers left out of insurance cover

Workers in the ship-breaking industry are still left out of group-insurance coverage, despite the fact that some fatal accidents have occurred in recent times.        Absence of proper government inspections is mainly attributed to leaving thousands of people working at the...

Certification issue holds back organic exports prospects

Local producers are missing huge opportunities of export of their organic foods to the international chain superstores and other market places mainly due to lack of an accreditation board for transparent and credible certification. Industry circles said around 15,000 farmers...

Re-listing of OTC cos draws mixed opinions from experts

Experts and stakeholders have expressed mixed opinion regarding re-listing of the companies which were de-listed from main bourses because of their non-performance. Their opinion came following the tendency of the companies of OTC (over-the-counter) to be re-listed with main bourses....

Stocks return to red amid shutdown

Stocks returned to the red Sunday after previous session’s gain as the investors went for selling spree amid countrywide shutdown enforced by Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami. Despite the countrywide shutdown, the market opened with a positive mood, but could not sustain as...

DSE up, CSE down at opening

The Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) witnessed positive trend while the country’s 2nd bourse – Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) – saw negative trend in early hours of trading on Sunday amid countrywide shutdown. DSEX, the prime index of the premier bourse...

NBR puts on hold transfer order of 27 tax officials

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) last Thursday put on hold an order, issued only three days back, transferring 27 of its income tax commissioners in one go. A final decision on the transfer of these officials, according to sources,...

Delay in tannery relocation irks govt

In view of the delay in relocating tanneries by the owners from city's Hazaribagh to Savar the government expressed its annoyance last week. Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu announced on October 25 last that the government would shut down tanneries...

Some recent updates about primary to higher education

An astonishing piece of news published in a Bangla daily that has just stunned me when the whole vicinity of education is concerned with the sloping quality of education. All parts of the country -from northern to southern and hill...

PMO seeks Tk 27b to acquire land for 3 economic zones

The prime minister's office (PMO) has sought a fund of Tk 27.0 billion from the ministry of finance in urgent allocation for land acquisition to set up three of a bunch of economic zones (EZs), officials said. They said such...

Transiting from a regime of shortage to adequacy

AID, DEFICIT FINANCING, UNEMPLOYMENT, INFLATION: The test of success, or effectiveness, of aid is graduating out of aid.  Aid to Bangladesh has been on the decline and since FY06 financed less than 2.0 per cent of the deficit, measured as...

Financial institutions and economic development

Financial institutions play an important role in the economic development of a country. The objective of these institutions is to accumulate the scattered deposits and invest them in a productive manner for economic upliftment. The financial market is created to...

Stocks post marginal gain as fear of fall haunts investors

Stocks posted a marginal gain last week after previous week's significant correction as investors proceeded meticulously amid mixed corporate earnings declaration. The week mostly displayed investors' reaction to quarterly earnings, dividend disclosures and macroeconomic phenomenon, said a merchant banker. He...