United News of Bangladesh

Like elsewhere in the country, consumers in Khulna are struggling with rising rice and edible oil prices. However, prices of all varieties of vegetables remain under buying capacity of the consumers. Buyers alleged that market monitoring by mobile courts to keep prices of commodities under control and hanging the price lists of essentials don’t yield benefits for them. The prices of commodities are increasing by leaps and bounds regularly as each kilogram of rice went up by Tk six to seven on an average and per litre of soybean oil also marked an increase by Tk three to five, crushing daily life of the low-income and poor people.  The rice prices on all varieties hiked over the past three months, said consumers, blaming the middlemen for this. Read: Drives conducted in Dhaka’s kitchen markets to monitor prices of essentials Visiting several markets in Khulna city on Thursday, UNB’s Khulna correspondent found that per kilogram of potato cost Tk 20, local variety of onion prices Tk 40 to 45, garlic at Tk 235 to 240, winter bean at Tk 30, green chili Tk 60, eggplant at Tk 30, sweet pumpkin at Tk 20, and papaya Tk 20. Besides, a bunch of spinach was charged Tk 15 to 20. Per kilogram of coarse rice (Swarna) was sold at Tk 54, Atash Balam at Tk 65, Miniket at Tk 75, Miniket (substandard) at Tk 65, Basmati at Tk 75 to 76 and Kalojira at Tk 100. Edible oil ranks the top on the list of commodities at grocery shops, showing five litre of Fresh, Teer and Bashundara edible oil at Tk 875. Consumers have to count Tk 1758 for per litre of oil. On the other hand, surprisingly per litre of loose (open) soybean oil was being sold at Tk 195. Read more: Essentials’ prices up in Khulna kitchen markets One Md Abu Jafar Sheikh who came to KCC SuperMarket to buy commodities, told this correspondent that the businesspeople have been increasing prices of commodities at their own will. The price hikes of rice and edible oil can’t be brought under control despite drives, he said. Echoing buyer Jafar, most consumers urged the government to rein in the commodity market.

Bangladesh Bank has issued a new directive for the promotion of officials in non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs), clarifying the requirement for the Banking Professional Diploma. Under the updated instructions, NBFIs are now required to allocate 10 percent of the promotion marks to officials who have passed the two-phase Banking Professional Exam, formerly known as the Banking Diploma Exam, administered by the Institute of Bankers, Bangladesh (IBB). Stock markets decline throughout week, investors left disheartened This follows a similar directive issued on January 16 for banks, which also mandated the passing of the two-phase exam for promotions. The Financial Institutions and Markets Department of Bangladesh Bank issued the latest instruction on Thursday, ensuring consistency across the banking and financial sectors. In a significant change, the new rule stipulates that starting January 1, 2026, passing the Banking Professional Exam will be a mandatory requirement for officials seeking promotion to higher positions in banks. Some weak banks will merge, depositors will get back money: BB Governor From February 1, 2025, it will be mandatory for officers joining or being promoted to senior officer or equivalent positions to pass this exam before being considered for further promotions. This condition must be explicitly stated in the promotion or appointment letters moving forward, according to the instructions.

Bangladesh Jewelers Association (BAJUS) has announced a third price hike for gold this month. This time, price has increased by Tk 1,365 per bhori. The new price of 22-carat bhori of gold will be Tk 1,42,791. It was Tk 1,41,426 so far. According to a press release signed by Masudur Rahman, Chairman of the BAJUS Price Determination and Price Monitoring Standing Committee, on Wednesday, the new price will be effective from Thursday (January 30). The best quality or 22-carat gold will be sold at Tk 1,42,791 per bhori, 21-carat at Tk 1,36,306 per bhori, 18-carat gold at Tk 1,16,827 per bhori, and Tk 96,018 per bhori gold in the traditional method. Although the price of gold has been increased, the price of silver remains unchanged. According to the category, the price of 22-carat silver per bhori is Tk 2,578, 21-carat is Tk 2,449, 18-carat is Tk 2,111 and traditional silver is Tk 1,586. According to BAJUS, when buying gold and silver, the buyer will have to add 5 percent VAT and 6 percent wages to the fixed price. That is, now if the buyer wants to buy 22-carat gold, it will cost Tk 1,56,983 (gold price is Tk 1,42,791, VAT is Tk 7,140 and wages are Tk 8,667).

Two ships carrying a total of 37,000 metric tonnes of rice from India and Myanmar have arrived at Chattogram Port. Imdad Islam, senior information officer at the Public Relations Office of the Ministry of Food, confirmed the development in a press statement on Wednesday morning. The Indian vessel MV BMC Pandora docked at the port carrying 15,000 metric tonnes of parboiled rice, imported through an open tender. Read: 3,320 mts rice imported from India thru Benapole in 25 days Meanwhile, Myanmar’s MV ATN Victory arrived with 22,000 metric tonnes of Atap rice under a government-to-government (G2G) agreement. Authorities have taken the necessary steps to begin unloading the consignments promptly.

On the campaign trail last year, President Donald Trump talked tough about imposing tariffs as high as 60% on Chinese goods and threatened to renew the trade war with China that he launched during his first term. But now that he's back in the White House, Trump appears to be seeking a more nuanced relationship with the country that both Republicans and Democrats have come to see as the gravest foreign policy challenge to the U.S. China is also a major trading partner and an economic powerhouse, and it has one of the world’s largest military forces. “We look forward to doing very well with China and getting along with China,” Trump said Thursday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in comments that suggested Beijing could help end the war in Ukraine and reduce nuclear arms. As he moves forward with plans to impose 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico on Feb. 1, Trump has not set a firm date for China. He’s only repeated his plan for a much lower 10% tax on Chinese imports in retaliation for China's production of chemicals used in fentanyl. On Tuesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump was “very much still considering" raising tariffs on China on Feb. 1. Trump, who spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping days before taking office, seems to be showing restraint and bowing to a more complicated reality than he described while running for office. Speaking of potential tariffs on China in a recent Fox News interview, he said: “They don’t want them, and I’d rather not have to use it.” Liu Yawei, senior adviser on China at the Carter Center in Atlanta, said Trump has become “more pragmatic.” “The signaling, at least from the election to the inauguration, seems to be more positive than has been expected before,” Liu said. “Hopefully, this positive dynamic can be preserved and continued. Being more pragmatic, less ideological will be good for everyone.” A Chinese expert on American foreign policy acknowledged that there are many “uncertainties and unknowns about the future" of U.S.-China relations. But Da Wei, director of the Center for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University in Beijing, also said Trump's recent change in tone offers "encouraging signals.” In his first term, warm relations were followed by a trade war When Trump first became president in 2017, Xi and Trump got off to a good start. Xi was invited to Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. A few months later, he treated Trump to a personal tour of the Palace Museum in the heart of Beijing, only to see Trump launch the trade war the following year. Tech stocks slide as Chinese rival threatens AI industry; Nvidia falls 17%  The U.S.-China relationship soured further over the COVID-19 pandemic, and it hardly improved during President Joe Biden's administration, which saw a controversial visit to the self-governing island of Taiwan by then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and a Chinese spy balloon aloft over U.S. territory. Biden kept Trump's tariffs on Chinese goods and intensified the economic and technological rivalry with export controls, investment curbs and alliance building. Now it will be up to Trump's top diplomat, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, to help chart a new path for the second term. During his confirmation hearing, Rubio said China has “lied, cheated, hacked and stolen” its way to global superpower status “at our expense." He called China “the most potent and dangerous near-peer adversary this nation has ever confronted.” Hours after he was sworn in, Rubio met foreign ministers from Australia, Japan and India, sending signals that he would continue to work with the same group of countries that Biden elevated to blunt China’s expanding influence and aggression in the Indo-Pacific region. Yet Rubio, who was twice sanctioned by Beijing and is known for his hawkish views on the Chinese Communist Party, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the U.S. should engage with China because “it's in the interest of global peace and stability.” In a Friday phone call, China's veteran foreign minister issued a veiled warning to Rubio, telling him to behave. Wang Yi conveyed the message in their first conversation since Rubio’s confirmation. “I hope you will act accordingly,” Wang told Rubio, according to a Chinese Foreign Ministry statement that included a Chinese phrase typically used by a teacher or a boss warning a student or employee to be responsible for their actions. Rubio agreed to manage bilateral relations in a “mature and prudent” way, the ministry said. Members of Congress have noted Trump's seemingly softer attitude toward Beijing. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, a Democrat from Connecticut, wants to ensure "that Trump does not let China off too easy.” She urged the president to act now on measures that have won broad bipartisan support, including closing a tariff loophole on low-value packages, reviewing outbound investments and setting up a domestic industrial policy agenda. Beijing seeks opportunities and stays ready to play tough Beijing is seeking opportunities to create more breathing room in its relations with a U.S. president known for his transactional style. Chinese leaders are betting on engaging with Trump directly when his Cabinet members and advisers appear to hold clashing views. Trump "is the most important person above all those different voices, and he can at least set the tone of future policy,” Da said. Asian shares gain after S&P 500 climbs to a record and Bank of Japan raises rate The Tsinghua professor expects Trump and Xi to meet at some point. Effective communication channels will be crucial, Da said, to keep differences from spiraling out of control, as they did in Trump's first term. “The two presidents can have a good starting point. That’s very important,” he said. “But then we need to set up some mechanisms to let the cabinet-level members talk to each other.” That may explain Beijing's friendly overture at the start of the second Trump administration. In response to Trump's inauguration invitation, Xi sent a special representative. Beijing has also signaled a willingness to be flexible on the future of TikTok, which Trump sought to ban during his first administration. But he has now come to the social media app's rescue, offering more time for its Chinese-based parent company to sell and downplaying TikTok’s national security risks. After Trump said he preferred not to use tariffs on China, the Chinese Foreign Ministry echoed that trade and economic cooperation between the two countries are mutually beneficial. But Beijing is also ready to play tough, if necessary, after learning a lesson from Trump's first term. Over the past several years, Beijing has adopted laws and rules that allow it to retaliate quickly and forcefully to any hostile act from the U.S. In its toolbox are tariffs, import curbs, export controls, sanctions, measures to limit companies from doing business in China and regulatory reviews aimed at inflicting pain on American businesses and the U.S. economy. Miles Yu, director of the China Center at the Hudson Institute, said Trump is now “more nuanced, and more focused, towards China.” “He’s keeping his eyes on the prize, which is to maintain U.S. supremacy without risking open and avoidable confrontation with China, while perfectly willing to walk away from the negotiation table and play the hardball,” Yu said.

The Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) witnessed a decline in all its indices during the first hour of trading, whereas the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) recorded a slight gain. But share prices of most companies fell across both markets. DSE Performance In the first hour of trading, the DSE’s benchmark index, DSEX, dropped by 11 points. Among the other indices, the Shariah-based DSES declined by 6 points, while the blue-chip DS30 fell by 3 points. Read: Stock Market Slump: DSEX index falls by 40 points in three days The DSE recorded a total turnover of Tk 76 crore during this period. Out of the traded stocks, 117 companies saw their share prices increase, while 151 declined, and 99 remained unchanged. CSE Performance Conversely, the CSE's overall index rose by 5 points in the first hour of trading. At the CSE, the share prices of 19 companies increased, while 24 declined, and 6 remained unchanged. The total turnover stood at Tk 55 lakh. Despite the mixed performance in indices, the broader market sentiment remained cautious as investors assessed market trends.

Bangladesh Bank (BB) Governor Ahsan H. Mansur has said some weak banks will merge and customers will get their deposits back in phases. “The central bank will give back the depositors’ money or bonds against the deposited money in the S Alam related weak banks, but it required time,” he said while speaking as the chief guest at a workshop on ‘Microfinance in Bangladesh’ organised by the Microcredit Regulatory Authority (MRA). Dr. Mansur said this in reply to a query from a top official of a Micro Finance Institution (MFI), who made FDR in S Alam Group-owned bank but did not return the money despite matured the tenure. The Governor said, “I have been personally saying for the last 10 years that you should not keep money in S Alam's bank. But you have kept the money. They have given two percent more interest, and you have kept the money there; now you have been caught. You will get your deposited money back, but you will have to give some time for this. This money will be returned in stages.” Read: Bangladesh Bank appoints Ernst & Young, KPMG to audit 6 troubled banks Dr. Mansur said, "Now we will rescue you; but that is not possible right now. We will do it step by step; we will have to give time for this. We are moving towards the ‘Bank Resolution Act’, and some banks will have to be merged. Many things can be done and will be done. Maybe many things will be done this year. All I can say is, you get money, and you get bonds, you will get something." The program was held at the CIRDAP auditorium in the capital on Tuesday. The event was presided over by MRA Executive Vice Chairman Mohammad Helal Uddin and was attended by Financial Institutions Division Secretary Nazma Mobarek and Palli Karma Sahayak Foundation (PKSF) Managing Director (MD) Md. Fazlul Kader.

Dhaka's stock market has faced a continuous decline this week, with the DSEX index losing 40 points over three consecutive trading days. Despite a slight rise during the first hour of trading, the main index, along with the Shariah-based index, ended the day in negative territory on Tuesday. The DSEX index, which closed at 5,166 points last week, dropped to 5,126 points following three days of losses. On Tuesday alone, the DSEX fell by 3 points, while the Shariah-based DSES index decreased by 4 points. But the blue-chip DS30 index managed to rise by 2 points. Mixed Trading Performance Despite the index decline, most companies saw a rise in their share prices. Of the 402 companies traded, prices increased for 173, declined for 152, and remained unchanged for 77. Category A: Out of 222 companies, 91 witnessed price increases, 87 saw declines, and 44 remained unchanged. Category B: Most companies in this category experienced losses. Prices rose for 33 of the 91 companies, fell for 40, and stayed static for 18. Category Z: This underperforming category showed a relative improvement, with 48 of its 85 companies seeing price hikes, 22 experiencing declines, and 15 remaining stable. In the mutual funds segment, prices for nine funds rose, nine fell, and 18 remained unchanged out of the 36 traded funds. Sector-Wise Trends Sector-wise, the ceramics sector recorded the highest price increase at 3.58%. Other sectors showing gains included food, textiles, telecommunications, paper, insurance, mutual funds, and corporate bonds. Conversely, sectors like leather, technology, and jute experienced the steepest declines. Banks and financial institutions also saw an overall negative trend. Read: DSEX index gains over week, but banking sector remains weak Top Gainers and Losers Among the gainers, Omex Electrode Ltd, a B-category company, saw the highest price increase of 6.87%, with shares trading at Tk 28. On the other hand, ADN Telecom Ltd led the decliners with a 9.78% drop, closing at Tk 97.80 from a peak of Tk 108.10 during the day. Dividend Announcements On Tuesday, 10 companies distributed dividends. Notably, the Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (ICB) declared a 2% dividend, marking its lowest payout in a decade. ICB's dividend rates have been steadily declining, dropping from 35% in 2015 to 2.5% in 2023. Meanwhile, Square Pharmaceuticals provided the highest dividend of 110%, its largest in a decade. Another Square Group company, Square Textiles, declared a 32% dividend, up from 30% in 2023. Kohinoor Chemicals distributed a 50% dividend, an increase from 40% in 2023. Despite this, Kohinoor's shares declined by 3.7%, closing at Tk 534.60. Singer Bangladesh declared a 10% dividend for 2024 despite incurring losses. The company reported a per-share loss of Tk 4.91 for 2024, compared to a profit of Tk 5.24 per share in the previous year. Singer attributed the loss to rising financing costs, which escalated from Tk 60.40 crore in 2023 to Tk 143.30 crore in 2024 due to higher bank interest rates. Chittagong Stock Market Shows Resilience Unlike Dhaka, the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) saw its overall index rise by 21 points on Tuesday. Out of 186 companies traded, 86 experienced price increases, 70 saw declines, and 30 remained unchanged. Read more: DSE sees sharp fall as most stocks suffer price drops However, trading volume dropped significantly, with Tk 10.28 crore in turnover compared to Tk 21 crore in the previous session. The ongoing volatility across the capital markets indicates investor caution, with mixed performance across sectors and trading categories.

Bangladesh Export Processing Zone Authority (BEPZA) has contributed 29 percent of total Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) of the country in the fiscal year 2023-24. BEPZA Executive Chairman, Major General Abdul Kalam Mohammad Ziaur Rahman revealed this at a press conference at BEPZA Complex in the capital on Monday. He said BEPZA exported US $ 7.07 billion which is 16 percent of total 44.47 billion export income in FY 2023-24. Despite different challenges due to different global issues, BEPZA signed with 28 foreign companies to invest $568.49 million in Bangladesh, he added. A total of 38 countries invested in Export Processing Zones under BEPZA. Among these companies, 108 are Chinese, 61 South Korean, 29 Japanese, 19 Indian, 19 UK, US 17, 7 Sri Lankan. BEPZA member investment Md. Ashraful Kabir in a presentation highlighted achievement and future plans. Read: BEPZA signs deal with Chinese company to set up battery plates manufacturing industry He showed that in these EPZs 48 percent diversified products are being produced. Since the inception, BEPZA has deposited Tk 1215.94 crore in the treasury till December 2024. BEPZA members Engineer Md. Imtiaz Hossain, ANM Foyzul Haque and BEPZA Director public relations ASM Anwar pervez also spoke at the event.

On the second trading day of the week, all indices on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) experienced a decline during the first hour of trading. Despite the drop in indices, a majority of companies saw their share prices increase. By 10:30 am on Monday, DSE's benchmark index, DSEX, had fallen by 5 points. Among the other indices, the Shariah-based DSES dropped by 2 points, while the DS30, comprising blue-chip stocks, fell by 4 points. In the first hour, the turnover on the DSE stood at Tk 70 crore. Out of the traded companies, the share prices of 154 advanced, 116 declined, and 93 remained unchanged. Read: DSEX index gains over week, but banking sector remains weak Meanwhile, the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) saw a slight increase in its overall index, which rose by 1 point during the same period. On the CSE, 20 companies recorded gains, 18 saw declines, and the share prices of 11 companies remained unchanged. The total turnover at the CSE during the first hour was Tk 1.35 crore.