Local-Business
BB extends small digital loans fund to Tk 500 crore, considering growing demand
Bangladesh Bank's internal evaluation said that digital small loans are being popular to meet the urgent needs of fixed-income groups of people, as it's hassle-free and gets loans just using mobile devices.
As per Bangladesh Bank (BB) approval, Mobile Financial Service Provider bkash and city bank jointly introduced such digital loans with an amount of Tk100 crore in December 2021. In one and a half years under the microcredit distribution programme, bkash disbursed so far Tk300 crore.
Also read: Bangladesh Bank simplifies receiving remittance
According to BB, the City Bank disbursed Tk100 crores to small and micro-loans through bkash in the last two months. Borrowers have also repaid Tk 203 crore of the Tk 275 crore loans on time. At present there is an outstanding loan of Tk72 crore in the market.
Considering the need of lower and fixed-income groups of people, Bangladesh Bank (BB) on Sunday reconstructed a refinancing fund of Tk100 crore to Tk500 crore for 'digital microcredit' facilities to raise the scope of these small loans in the country.
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The central bank’s notification in this regard said that the size of the refinancing fund for the 'Digital Microcredit' facility has been increased to improve financial inclusion and the quality of life of marginalized people.
Also read: Bangladesh Bank to announce new monetary policy tomorrow, 9% interest rate cap to be withdrawn
The BB provides a refinancing facility from the fund at 1.0 percent interest to the banks of the country to provide micro and small loans in digital mode. Such loans provided by banks using Internet banking, mobile apps, mobile financial services, and e-wallets are supported by refinancing funds.
Bangladesh Bank has provided the facility of very small microloans from Tk 500 to Tk 50,000 for general customers. However, considering the risk of the banks, the maximum loan limit can be set below Tk 50,000. The loan tenure will be a maximum of six months.
Foodpanda introduces in-store grocery pickup
Food and grocery delivery platform Foodpanda Bangladesh has introduced its in-person store pickup service through pandamart, its own grocery delivery dark store in the capital’s Gulshan-2 recently.
Following the model of food pickups from restaurants, this new service will provide customers with the convenience of picking up their groceries and daily essentials from the pandamart dark store.
Also read: foodpanda launches pandamart
The introduction of the pick-up feature is in line with pandamart's strategy to deliver an outstanding shopping experience by embracing online-to-offline (O2O) commerce, responding to the evolving expectations of customers, according to a press release.
The option will be especially appealing to busy urban consumers who prefer to see the products before making their selections, it said.
Also read: Foodpanda wins national Digital Bangladesh Award 2022
“We are dedicated to enriching the shopping experience for our customers by providing top-notch quality and convenience," said Mohammad Tabrej Khan, director, Dmart of Foodpanda.
"With pick-up, customers’ experience on the Foodpanda platform can now be complemented with a physical in-store experience, on top of savings on delivery fees and numerous other discounts specifically designed for pickup customers, giving them more options in the way they shop and receive their orders that better suit their lifestyles and preferences. We are thrilled to elevate the grocery shopping experience in Bangladesh to new heights,” he added.
Also read: Foodpanda launches 'pandapro' subscription in Bangladesh
The feature is currently available in Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Singapore, and soon will be rolled out in Pakistan, added the release.
US-Bangla Airlines celebrates its 9th founding anniversary
US-Bangla Airlines, one of the private airlines of Bangladesh, is going to celebrate its ninth founding anniversary on Monday.
On 17 July 2014, the US-Bangla started its journey in Bangladesh Aviation by operating a flight on Dhaka-Jashore route with DASH8-Q400 aircraft.
According to the plan, it has strengthened the air communication system in the shortest possible time by operating flights to all airports within Bangladesh within the first one year, said a media release.
It operates flights from Dhaka to Chattogram, Cox's Bazar, Sylhet, Jashore, Saidpur, Barishal, Rajshahi. On 15 May 2016, the flight on the Dhaka-Kathmandu route took off.
US-Bangla’s international routes include Kolkata, Chennai, Male, Muscat, Doha, Dubai, Sharjah, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Bangkok and Guangzhou.
Read: US-Bangla Airlines launches initiative to train aircraft maintenance engineers
The US-Bangla ranked 5th among South Asian airlines in Skytrax World Airline Awards,
There are 19 aircraft, including eight Boeing 737-800, eight ATR 72-600 and three-Dash 8-Q400 in its fleet now.
There are websites and mobile apps for collecting US-Bangla tickets. It has more than 40 sales offices of its own in the country and abroad. There is ‘Skystar’ program for frequent flyers.
US-Bangla Airlines is going to set up its own MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Operations) soon. US-Bangla has taken initiatives to establish flying school, engineering schools to create skilled human.
Mohammed Abdullah Al Mamun, Managing Director of US-Bangla Airlines, said on the occasion of stepping into 10th year, “In a competitive world, we are ready to take on any kind of competitive challenge. In today's world there is no substitute for brand new aircraft to provide proper service to passengers. US-Bangla is constantly adding new aircraft to the fleet to ensure comfortable service for passengers.”
He said the US-Bangla family is very happy and proud to be associated with the country's economic progress.
Read: US-Bangla Airlines sending 11 more pilots to USA on training
“With the nine years of success of US-Bangla Airlines, all the government and non-government organizations, various travel agents, tour operators, civil aviation authority, various corporate offices, various print, electronic, online media journalists for US-Bangla Airlines has been successful crossing nine years,”
Read more: US-Bangla Airlines enters 9th year Sunday
AIBL organizes business performance meeting
Al-Arafah Islami Bank Limited (AIBL) organized a business performance meeting with different branches at its head office on Saturday.
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AIBL Managing Director and CEO Farman R Chowdhury presided over the meeting, according to a press release.
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Among others Deputy Managing Directors Shabbir Ahmed, Md Shafiqur Rahman, Syed Masodul Bari, Md Mahmudur Rahman, Mohammed Nadim, Abed Ahmed Khan, Abdullah Al Mamun, Fazlur Rahman Chowdhury and senior Executives were present in the meeting.
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Managers of different branches of the bank also participated in the meeting.
Tamim Iqbal to hand over Nagad’s BMW car to the winner on Tuesday
Mobile financial service provider Nagad, will give the BMW car to the winner chosen through public voting on Tuesday.
Nagad’s brand ambassador and Bangladeshi cricketer Tamim will hand over the vehicle’s key to one of the 71 shortlisted people who secured the highest number of votes given by Nagad customers across the country at a hotel in the capital on Tuesday, according to a press release.
Also read: 71 shortlisted for Nagad’s BMW
Posts and Telecommunications Minister Mustafa Jabbar and the founder and managing director of Nagad Limited will be present on the occasion, it said.
Besides, celebrities from different fields and dignitaries will attend the programme.
The megapayment campaign, which started in the last week of March and ended on June 30, has earned a massive response from people across the country. Over the last three months, Nagad’s transactions, mainly in the form of merchant payments and mobile recharges, have reached a record high, riding on this mega BMW campaign, said the release.
Also read: Nagad welcomes govt’s move to increase safety net allocation
Through random selection in phases using "Bangla AI", 71 people were shortlisted at the end of the three-month campaign. Later, Nagad customers across the country were invited to vote for their favourite candidates for the BMW car by logging in to their Nagad accounts, it added.
Earlier, as part of the campaign, a show titled "Ke Jitbe BMW?" (Who will win BMW?) was telecast on several TV channels, with the participation of popular celebrities and social media influencers as guests.
"We have got a great response to our BMW campaign. That is why we ourselves have not gone for selecting the ultimate winner; rather, we have now left it to our crores of customers to choose from the 71 shortlisted candidates," said Sadat Adnan Ahmad, Nagad’s chief marketing officer.
Also read: Nagad now has 8 crore customers
Under the mega payment campaign, Nagad handed over several Sedan cars, nearly 500 motorbikes, refrigerators, smart televisions, mobiles, smart watches, and headphones to the winners, the press release said.
Bangladesh’s per capita debt Tk95,019: BB
Bangladesh’s domestic and external debt stands at around Tk16.14 lakh crore, according to the latest report of Bangladesh Bank (BB).As a result, the per capita debt of people stands at Tk95,019. But income is still higher than per capita debt. The current annual per capita income of the people of the country is $2793, which is around Tk3.3 lakh in Bangladeshi currency.
Read: Bangladesh’s foreign exchange reserves now $23.57 billion as per IMF formulaThough Bangladesh is still in a good position in terms of debt-GDP ratio compared to many countries in the world, a big portion of the national budget is spent on loan interest payments, Said economist Ahsan H Mansur.Even if the income is higher; the risk of debt is now a headache due to lower revenue collection, and the supply chain disrupted by the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war and the trade deficit is reducing the government's debt repayment capacity, he said.
Read: Heard a ‘strong commitment’ from PM, ministers in support of free, fair, peaceful elections in Bangladesh: Uzra Zeya“Considering the debt-GDP ratio it is not risky yet, but the problem is a slow revenue collection and the lowest tax –GDP ratio of the country,” he told UNB.Foreign exchange crisis, higher non-performing loans, global economic slowdown, and decreasing trend of inward remittances flow are the challenging matter to secure the debt repayment capacity, he added.
Walton Mobile opens smart point at Shyamoli
Walton Mobile’s new smart point ‘A J Telecom’ has recently started its journey at Shyamoli Square Super Market in Dhaka.
All models of Walton smart and feature phones and other accessories are available at this exclusive brand shop.
Walton is launching mobile phone’s smart point across the country due to huge sales growth and demand for Walton mobiles. To response it an initiative was taken to provide these digital services to the people’s doors. Nearly one dozen of smart points have been inaugurated across the country. Earlier, another smart point ‘Mobile Neer’ was opened at Madbar Mansion at Rokeya Sarani Mirpur-10 in the capital.
Walton Mobile's Head of Business Intelligence (BI) Rezaul Hasan, Chief Business Officer (CBO) Abu Jahid, Head of Research & Innovation (R&I) Shamim Islam and National Sales Manager (NSM) Wahiduzzaman were present at the inaugural ceremony of ‘A J Telecom’.
Walton Mobile's CBO Abu Jahid said Walton Mobile is ensuring maximum benefits and the best after sales service for customers. Walton has become a giant company through customers’ acceptance over the years. Walton shows it capabilities in giving the best after sales service besides manufacturing international standard digital devices.
He also said Walton has recently opened country’s first mobile phone service point naming- Mobile Touch Point- at Nagar Siddiqui Plaza in Old Dhaka’s Laxmibazar.
Citing reports found from their sales representatives from different smart points, the authorities say, they are witnessing huge crowd at their countrywide smart points with putting records on sales growth.
Juhi Electronics, one the Walton Mobile’s smart points at Shah Ali Plaza in Mirpur-10, has already been awarded as the best seller of Walton mobile. On this occasion, they have recently celebrated the success cutting a cake.
Bangladesh’s foreign exchange reserves now $23.57 billion as per IMF formula
Bangladesh Bank (BB) has finally accepted the formula prescribed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in calculating foreign exchange reserves that stood at $23.57 billion on Thursday.
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However, according to the Bangladesh Bank's calculations on Wednesday the reserve was $29.97 billion.
Read: Heard a ‘strong commitment’ from PM, ministers in support of free, fair, peaceful elections in Bangladesh: Uzra Zeya
One of the conditions for the IMF's $4.7 billion loan to Bangladesh was to release the reserve account by June as per a model called BPM-6.
IBBL holds workshop on effective internal audit procedure
Islami Bank Training and Research Academy (IBTRA) organised a workshop on “Journey Towards Universal Banking: Auditing for Achieving Excellence in Bank” at Islami Bank Tower recently.
Read: IBBL signs agreement to use 'Sonali Payment Gateway'
Mohammed Monirul Moula, Managing Director & CEO of the Bank inaugurated the workshop as Chief Guest. Presided over by K.M Munirul Alam Al-Mamoon, Principal of IBTRA (Current Charge), J Q M Habibullah, FCS, and Md. Altaf Hossain, Additional Managing Directors, Md. Nayer Azam and Kazi Md. Rezaul Karim, Deputy Managing Directors of the bank conducted different session of the workshop.
Read: IBBL launches ‘Smart Bangladesh Smart Banking’ campaign
Around 100 executives and employees of the Audit and Inspection Division attended the workshop.
RMG exports to EU grew 9.93% in FY 2022-23: Export Promotion Bureau
RMG exports from Bangladesh to the European Union (EU) saw 9.93 percent growth during the fiscal year 2022-23 — from $21.40 billion in FY 2021-22 to $23.52 billion in FY 2022-23, according to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB).
Read: Bangladesh to retain duty-free access for 98% of exports, including RMG as UK introduces new scheme
However, exports to some major markets in the EU region, such as Germany and Poland, have declined significantly, said BGMEA Director Mohiuddin Rubel quoting the facts.
In FY 2022-23, apparel exports to Spain, France, Italy, Denmark and Netherland were worth US$ 3.37 billion, US$ 2.94 billion, US$ 2.27 billion, US$ 1.28 billion, and US$ 1.85 billion respectively.
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Export to USA, the top apparel export destination of Bangladesh, declined by 5.51 percent to US$ 8.51 billion, from US$ 9.01 billion in FY 2021-22, in the mentioned period.
At the same time, RMG exports to the UK and Canada increased by 11.78 percent and 16.55 percent respectively.
During the mentioned year, Bangladesh’s exports to non-traditional markets has achieved significant growth of 31.38 percent.
Read: RMG exports in FY23 almost $47bn, 85% of total exports
Among the major non-traditional markets, exports to Japan, Australia and India crossed the one billion dollar milestone.
The share of non-traditional markets in total RMG export also increased by 17.82 percent in FY 2022-23 from 14.96 percent in FY 2021-22.