Capital market in intensive care

The capital market of our country is in a total disarray. More specifically, it is under intensive care and curative doses need to be applied immediately if we want it to recuperate and survive. Nobody appears to be bothered except...

The innovation of Social Business Village

Whole process begins with the identification of a potential NU (Nobin Udyokta). The implementation structure of the investor, which has village-level staff to work with the entrepreneurs, is responsible for identification of the potential entrepreneurs, helps them develop their business...

Investment drought hits country

Investment is facing a drought-like situation in Bangladesh. Political instability, lack of electricity and gas connectivity, high interest rate, loan processing charges and non-availability of black money for investment in industrial sector are retarding investment. Industrialisation is stuck up for...

Sisi era begins: Future of democracy looks bleak in Egypt

Former army chief Abdul Fattah al-Sisi has taken over as the new president of Egypt following recent elections in which he won "97 per cent of the votes". Before a panel of judges of the supreme constitutional court, Field Marshal...

Stocks return to red

Stocks returned to the red on Tuesday, a day after sharp gain as investors remained cautious amid post-budget psychological hit. DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) ended at 4,401.88 points, shedding 14.07 points or 0.32 per...

GSP revival for BD may be considered next month

The GSP (generalised system of preferences) scheme of the United States may be renewed next month, creating a hope for the revival of its benefit for Bangladeshi products to the US market, Bangladesh trade officials have said. The US GSP...

Capital gain from transfer of farmland under tax net

The government has brought capital gain from transfer of agricultural land under the tax net for the first time with imposition of 1.0 per cent tax on it from the upcoming fiscal year (FY). Currently, the gain from transfer of...

Regulator cautions MFIs on money laundering, terror financing

The microcredit regulator is cautious now about money laundering and terror financing activities by micro-finance institutions (MFIs). The Microcredit Regulatory Authority (MRA) issued a circular recently requiring the country's MFIs to directly report to the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU)...

BPC outstanding loans land state banks in trouble

The state-owned commercial banks (SoCBs) were facing a problem, as a large volume of loans was lying unrealised from the government's petroleum product distribution wing. Until March last, the loans of the state-run Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) with the SoCBs...

American exceptionalism: A critique of Obama\\\'s foreign policy

President Obama in a speech at the commencement ceremony of cadets at the Military Academy, New York summed up his foreign policy on May 28. Obama said, "America must always lead, if we don't, no one else will. The military...

Turning unemployment into entrepreneurship

Grameen Bank started out with a tiny initiative in the village of Jobra in 1976. In 1983 it became a formal bank. Now in 2014 it has over 8.5 million borrowers. Right from the beginning we paid attention to two...

Sushma\\\'s visit: Will it answer Bangladesh\\\'s worries?

What will Narendra Modi do with Bangladesh? This has been the subject of concern in the country's politics ever since the new Indian Prime Minister led the Bharatiya Party (BJP) to the biggest victory by a party/alliance in the last...

Stocks mixed at opening

The Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) opened positive while the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) saw negative trend in early part of the session on Tuesday, the 3rd trading day of the week. DSEX, the prime index of the DSE, went down...

Stocks see sharp rise

Stocks ended higher on Monday after previous session’s sharp decline as investors went for buying spree on lucrative stocks amid optimism. The market opened with a positive trend and the uptrend continued till the market closure. Eventually, DSEX, the prime...

DSE, CSE open positive

The prices of most of the shares on Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) saw positive trend in early hours of trading on Monday after previous day’s sharp decline. DSEX, the prime index of the DSE, went...

No gain for now, but BD businesses eye China investment, technology

KUNMING (China), June 8: Bangladesh business leaders feel they find hardly any immediate benefit from the ongoing China-South Asia Expo and Kunming Fair, but are hopeful that it will facilitate Chinese investment and transfer of technology in the coming years....

BB\\\'s role praised at IEA World Congress

Dead Sea (Jordan), June 8:  The role of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) has been appreciated at the 17th World Congress of the International Economic Association (IEA) for its ongoing financial inclusion and development finance campaigns to confront multiple challenges. The...

When even a live chicken poisonous!

Shoppers used to feel a sense of relief when they found signboards dangling at the entrances of some reputed kitchen markets in Dhaka city saying "Formalin-free Market". There is, alas, now hardly any market where one can find any fish,...

The \\\'AAA\\\' rating for FY\\\'15 budget

Karim Mollah, a rickshaw-puller or Ehsanuddin, who owns a small grocery on Kalshi Road in Mirpur, finds no reason for all the hullabaloos the media create centring around the budget presentation by the finance minister in the month of June...

The Alibaba culture: Kung fu commerce with a dash of theatre

When Jack Ma and his colleagues sat down in 2001 to lay out Alibaba's defining values, they named them after a martial arts technique drawn from Ma's love of kung fu novels and their heroic themes. But the corporate culture...

Budgetary allocation on education inadeqaute

Finance Minister AMA Muhith placed the 2014-15 fiscal budget in parliament on Thursday last.  Education is undoubtedly a major driving force of development in any country. There lies a direct relationship between education and poverty alleviation. Also it has close...

BJMC exporting Tk670m hessian cloth to China

The Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) has started exporting 15,000 bales of hessian cloth worth Tk 670 million to China, officials said. The first-ever shipment of hessian cloth to China was made in December 2013. And so far, 8,700 bales...

N\\\'ganj RMG factory amicably settles due benefits of \\\'terminated\\\' workers

An apparel factory in Narayanganj has amicably settled due benefits of its 'terminated' workers in the face of their legal initiative against alleged deprivation from the management, sources at the Labour Court said. The workers, mostly unaware about their rights,...

100 cooperative audit officers to face action for negligence of duty

More than one hundred audit officers under the Department of Cooperatives (DoC) might face stern punitive measures for their alleged negligence in auditing multipurpose co-operative societies which resulted in massive financial loss to hundreds of thousands of people across the...

TCB to supply enough items to keep Ramadan market stable

The Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) is set to intervene in the kitchen market with adequate stock of essential commodities aiming to keep their prices within the commoners' reach during the month of holy Ramadan, officials said. "Our stock of...

BD seeks sukuk rule amendment

Bangladesh's central bank is seeking to amend rules on its existing Islamic bond (sukuk) programme to broaden its use and allow for a sovereign issuance by the government, enhancing the prospects of Islamic finance in the country. Bangladesh, a majority-Muslim...

Stocks see sharp decline

The stocks witnessed sharp decline on Sunday after previous session's flat movement as investors reacted to budgetary measures negatively and went for selling spree. It was the 1st trading session after the announcement of the national budget for the 2014-2015...

Stocks dip at opening

The prices of most of the shares on Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) witnessed sharp decline in the early hours of trading on Sunday, the first trading day after the budget announcement. DSEX, the prime index...

Details to be available by end of current month

Owners of houses are set to receive rents from tenants through banking channels from the upcoming fiscal year if their aggregate amount of rents exceeds Tk 25,000. A dedicated bank account will have to be opened by the house owners...

Will Ukraine crisis show improvement following the ‘D-Day’ gathering?

A meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine's president-elect Petro Poroshenko in France on the sidelines of the "Victory day" celebrations has raised hopes about a possible ceasefire in the eastern Ukraine where the "Kiev" troops are battling the...