Local-Business
IBBL launches new website, two new investment schemes
Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited has launched a new website and two new products - Overseas Employment Investment Scheme -Swapnojatra -Health Care Investment Scheme.
Mohammed Monirul Moula, Managing Director and CEO of the bank, inaugurated the new website and investment schemes as the chief guest through a virtual platform on Thursday.
Muhammad Qaisar Ali, Additional Managing Director was present at the function as a special guest. Md. Altaf Hossain, Additional Managing Director of the bank, presided over the function. Senior officials of the banks and heads of zones, heads of branches, and sub-branch’s in-charges joined event virually .
The new user-friendly website will provide customers with wide information regarding of the bank. It is also interactive, device adaptable, and accessible for visual and hearing-challenged persons, a press release said.
Under the newly launched Overseas Employment Investment Scheme, people who are willing to go abroad for employment can avail of up to Tk 10 lakh investment for purchasing a job visa, payment of agency fees, and other services for employment in abroad.
Under the Health Care Investment Scheme up to Tk 30 lakh can be availed for medical expenses including diagnosis fee, hospital bill, operation bill, cost of medicine, artificial organ replacement, medical supplies, and air ticket for going abroad for medical purposes.
ICC,B condoles demise of its Vice President Rokia Afzal Rahman
International Chambers of Commerce, Bangladesh (ICC,B) Executive Board and its members have expressed deep shock at the demise of ICC Bangladesh Vice President Rokia Afzal Rahman.
“We are deeply shocked and saddened at the sad demise of ICC Bangladesh Vice President Rokia Afzal Rahman,” ICC.B said in a media release on Thursday.
She died at the Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital in Singapore at 2am on 5 April and left behind two daughters, one son and a number of grandsons and daughters.
ICC Bangladesh prayed for the eternal salvation of the departed soul and offered condolences to the grieving family.
2 lakh tonnes of potatoes to be exported to Russia next year: Agri Minister
Bangladesh is expected to export around 2 lakh tonnes of potatoes to Russia next year, Agriculture Minister Dr Md Abdur Razzaque has said.
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between the two countries in this regard at the capital's Hotel Intercontinental on Tuesday.
Abdullah Sajjad, chairman of Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation and Abdus Sattar Mia, chairman of National Group, signed the agreement on behalf of the respective countries.
Agriculture Minister Dr Md Abdur Razzak, Agriculture Secretary Wahida Akhter, Executive Chairman of BARC Sheikh Md Bakhtiar, Russian Ambassador to Bangladesh Alexander Mantitsky, member director of BADC Mostafizur Rahman were also present at the signing ceremony.
The minister said currently more than one crore tonnes of potatoes are being produced in Bangladesh annually.
"Our annual demand is 80 lakh tonnes, the remaining 20 lakh tonnes can be exported, and the government is working on this," he added.
Earlier in 2014, Russia banned Bangladesh's potatoes owing to the detection of brown rot disease in potatoes.
In March 2022, Russia lifted its restrictions and resumed the import of potatoes from the entire territory of Bangladesh as the government has taken various measures to free the vegetable from brown rot disease and make it safe.
Bangladesh exported 20,000 tons of potatoes to Russia for the last time in 2015.
Add money to Nagad from Mastercard, become Lakhpati
Nagad, a mobile financial service of Bangladesh Postal Department, has come up with another exciting campaign for its customers ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr.
A customer stands a chance to become Lakhpati only by adding money to their Nagad wallets from debit, credit or prepaid Mastercard issued by Bangladesh Bank-approved banks and non-bank financial institutions. The campaign, which began on 1 April, will continue till 30 April 2023. Besides, customers will also get cash bonuses against add-money using Nagad app, says a press release.
There are seven add-money slabs. The cash bonuses will vary depending on specific amounts under the slabs, which Nagad customers will add to their wallets from Mastercard.
Customers will get a cash bonus of BDT 25 for an add-money of BDT 3,025, a cash bonus of BDT 35 for an add-money of BDT 5035, a cash bonus of BDT 75 for an add-money of BDT 10,075, a cash bonus of BDT 115 for an add-money of BDT 15,115, a cash bonus of BDT 245 for an add-money of BDT 30,245, and a cash bonus of BDT 350 for an add-money of BDT 40,350.
A customer can enjoy a cash bonus once under each add-money slab - a total of BDT 1,000. The cash bonuses will be posted to a customer’s Nagad wallet within three working days.
Three customers will be chosen from those who make the highest amounts of add-money during the campaign for three mega prizes – the first BDT 1 lakh, the second BDT 75,000 and the third BDT 50,000.
To become eligible for this mega campaign, a customer needs to have an active Nagad account and will have to make add-money of the seven slabs.
Talking about this exciting campaign, Md Shihab Uddin Chowdhury, chief commercial officer of Nagad Limited, said, “We are very happy to have launched such a mega campaign for our customers. We want them to get used to digital lifestyle by adopting non-cash transactions.”
To know in detail about the campaign, customers can visit Nagad’s Facebook page or its website.
Shop Owners Association demand initial allocation of Tk700 cr for Bangabazar businesses
Bangladesh Shop Owners Association on Tuesday urged the government to allocate Tk 700 crore initially for the small traders of Bangabazar market to recoup their losses caused by the massive fire incident.
After visiting Bangabazar market, president of the association Helal Uddin told reporters that around 5000 shops, mostly owned by small traders, were damaged in the fire incident.
As Eid festival is ahead, all the shops were full of clothes and other products which were almost fully damaged in the fire.
Goods of worth over Tk2500 crore were damaged in the fire incident, Helal said.
He said that the capital of these businessmen is the goods of the shops. As the goods are burnt, now they have no assets left of the businesses.
“Now for them, we are demanding from the government Tk700 crore initially to compensate the losses ahead of Eid, “ he added.
Inflation rises to 9.33 percent in March, highest in 7 months
Inflation rose to 9.33 percent, the highest in 7 months, the Planning Ministry said on Tuesday citing data from the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).Inflation jumped to 8.78 percent in February, up from 8.57 percent in January, on a point-to-point basis, according to the BBS.The higher inflation forces people reduce their consumption and fixed and limited income groups of people have to return home with less in shopping basket. In the month of February, 8.19 percent of inflation was recorded in food and 9.98 percent in non-food products. At that time, there was a 7.98 percent inflation in food products and 9.61 percent in non-food products in the city.Earlier in August last year, inflation rose to over 9 percent. That rate of inflation was the highest in the last 11.9 years (144 months). In May 2011, the highest rate of inflation was 10.20 percent. After that, inflation never exceeded 9 percent.After August 2022, the inflation rate continued to decline again. In January this year, it decreased by 8.57 percent.On the other hand, according to the latest estimates, inflationary pressure is still higher in rural areas than in urban areas.
ADB lowers Bangladesh’s GDP growth forecast to 5.3% in FY 23
Asian Development Bank (ADB) has lowered Bangladesh’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth projection to the 5.3% for fiscal year (FY) 2023 from its earlier forecast of 6.6%.
In September 2022, it trimmed its growth forecast for Bangladesh's GDP to 6.6% for the current fiscal year from a 7.1% projection made in April.
Inflation is expected to accelerate from 6.2% in FY2022 to 8.7% in FY2023 as price pressures increase due to the upward adjustment of domestic-administered prices for fuel oil, gas, and electricity, and higher global commodity prices, said the latest ADB report, Asian Development Outlook (ADO) April 2023, released on Tuesday.
The ADO April 2023 states that private investment growth will be lower because of energy shortages and higher production costs. With a shortfall in revenue collection, austerity measures, and depleting foreign exchange reserves, public investment growth will also be slower.
The current account deficit is anticipated to narrow from 4.1% of GDP in FY2022 to 1.6% of GDP in FY2023 as imports loosen and remittances grow.
The main risk to this growth projection is a greater economic slowdown in Bangladesh’s major export destinations driven by global uncertainty over the prolonged political tensions.
The slower growth forecast reflects subdued domestic demand and weaker export expansion due to slow global growth following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“The government is managing relatively well against the impact of external adversities and has embarked on the reform programs as precautionary measures,” said ADB Country Director for Bangladesh Edimon Ginting.
“Accelerating key reforms during these difficult times would help the country sustain higher growth in the medium term. These reforms include strengthening public financial management and domestic resource mobilization, deepening the financial sector, and enhancing competitiveness to promote the creation of productive jobs in the private sector,” Ginting said.
“This is also a high time for enhancing resilience against the global energy market volatility by creating an enabling environment for rapid expansion of domestic renewable energy supply to reduce dependence on fossil fuels in line with the country’s climate agenda.”
In its 50-year partnership with Bangladesh, ADB has mobilized over $50 billion in loans and grants, including cofinancing, to improve infrastructure, public services, and social development for the country’s people. ADB’s current sovereign portfolio in Bangladesh has 50 projects worth about $11.9 billion.
1 crore families to get smart cards to remove anomalies in TCB work: Commerce Minister
Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi said on Monday that they were working to provide smart cards in place of current family cards to 10 million low-income families to give them essential products at affordable prices.
He disclosed the development while speaking as the chief guest at the opening ceremony of the second phase of TCB product sales programme of essential products in Dhaka’s Uttara during Ramadan.
The programme is covering one crore low-income families, which have designated family cards across the country.
The minister said that the piloting work of conversion of family cards to smart cards has been completed in Dhaka North City Corporation, Narayanganj and Barishal.
“All handwritten cards will be converted into smart cards with QR codes. Changing these cards to smart cards will make it easier to eliminate irregularities,” he said.
The minister also opened temporary warehouse of TCB products in Uttara.
Regarding stocking the TCB products, the minister said, “We have enough stocks of products. If we compare with the previous few years, it is in a strong position for supply and distribution.”
He expressed dissatisfaction for not praising good work by his ministry.
“Everyone raises questions when the price of a product increases. But when the price goes down, nobody says anything. Along with criticism, good work should also be praised,” he said.
When asked why the prices in the market are higher even though the stocks of products are sufficient, he told reporters that the Ministry of Commerce does not control the prices of all products in the market.
There is a misconception in this regard that the increase of prices means that the Ministry of Commerce is involved. Certain products including broiler chicken, meat and fish are handled by other ministries, he said.
“Still, we are working in coordination with the concerned ministries so that it is possible to keep the prices reasonable,” the minister said.
BKMEA wants Tk 1500cr govt assistance to pay workers’ Eid bonus, salaries
Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) wants Tk 1500 crore assistance from the government to pay workers’ bonus and salaries ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr.
The knitwear factory owners’ association claimed that the export-oriented sector may be in dire straits over paying workers ahead of Eid if the financial assistance is not provided.
BKMEA has sent a letter regarding the financial assistance to the senior secretary at Finance Division, under the Ministry of Finance.
The letter, signed by BKMEA President AKM Salim Osman, on March 30 made a request to the government for cash assistance.
Read more: Payments to 3,428 garment workers, families approved from Central Fund
BKMEA Executive Vice President Muhammad Hatem confirmed the development to UNB today (April 02, 2023).
The letter stated that global economy is in an adverse situation due to the Russia-Ukraine war. Bangladesh’s export sector is going through a challenging time during this struggle for survival as well.
Due to the ongoing global recession, most factories do not have enough work orders, so production is running at 50 to 60 percent capacity. It has become difficult to pay the workers’ salaries at the end of the month, BKMEA mentioned in the letter.
International buyers are also not paying their dues on time for the products already being exported. There is huge pressure regarding paying salaries and Eid bonus this month, the letter added. “In such a situation, it will be very difficult to handle this pressure without the cooperation of the government and the finance department,” BKMEA said.
Read More: Selim Osman elected as BKMEA president for 6th term
Gold at Tk 1 lakh per bhori knocking on door
The price of gold in the domestic market has been set at yet another all-time high, just below Tk 1 lakh per bhori.
Bangladesh Jeweller's Association (BAJUS) announced a hike of Tk 1516 for 22-carat gold, setting the new price at Tk99,144 per bhori, effective from Sunday.
BAJUS in a press release on Saturday said the price of 22-carat gold with hallmark would be sold at Tk99144. Apart from this, the price of hallmarked 21-carat gold bars will be Tk 94,653, 18 carats will be Tk 81,123 and traditional gold bars will be Tk 67,593.
However, the price of another precious metal, silver, was left unchanged.
On Saturday, a bhori of 22-carat gold ornaments was sold at Tk97,628, 21-carat at Tk93,195, 18-carat at Tk79,898 and traditional style gold ornaments are being sold at Tk 66,543.
In other words, from tomorrow, 22-carat gold bars will be increased by Tk 1,516, 21-carat by Tk 1,458, 18-carat by Tk 1,225, and traditional gold bars by Tk 1,500.