Inflation slows to 7.39pc

Inflation slows to 7.39pc in Aug as commodity prices fall

Inflation slowed 0.46 percentage points to 7.39 percent in August, compared with the previous month, on the back of stability in food and non-food prices and sluggish economic activities.
Average inflation fell slightly last month because the taka remained stable against the dollar, said Zaid Bakht, research director of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies.
“Our imports from India were little bit cheaper due to the depreciation of the rupee. It has ultimately impacted the local market.”
The rupee, which sank to a record low of 68.845 on August 28, has weakened 16.8 percent this year, the worst performance after the South African rand among 24 emerging-market currencies.
On the other hand, the average exchange rate of the taka to the dollar yesterday was Tk 77.75, which has remained almost the same since June 30, according to statistics from Bangladesh Bank.
Apart from this, lower prices of some imported commodities helped contain food prices.
In August, except for onion, prices of cooking oil and pulse slipped, according to Department of Agricultural Marketing.
Food inflation stood at 8.09 percent, down from July’s 8.14 percent, while non-food inflation saw a fall of 1.05 percentage point to 6.35 percent.
Bakht said the prices of essentials normally go up during Ramadan, but it did not happen this year. “That has ultimately helped in stabilising the prices.”
“Though the onion prices went up last month, it did not impact the price basket,” said Golam Mostafa Kamal, director general of Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.
The inflation figures this time were arrived at following the new base year of 2005-06, which replaced 1995-96 as the base year, he added.

 

Source: http://www.thedailystar.net/

ONE Bank launches Mobile Banking

ONE Bank Limited, a leading commercial bank has recently launched their Mobile Banking Service “Nagad Takar Din Shesh Ebar OK Bangladesh” with this slogan, says a press release.
Inspired to promote a modern banking system and to extend support to the mass people for their socio economic development, people of remote areas around the country will be facilitated with this banking service..
The Deputy Governor of Bangladesh Bank Md. Abul Kashem formally inaugurated the Logo of OBL “Mobile Banking” Service on September 05, 2013 at the Grand Ballroom (Lohori) of Hotel Radisson Blu Water Garden, Dhaka. In his speech, the Governor appreciated OBL’s initiatives and emphasized on the importance of Mobile Banking for the betterment of the mass people and the economy as a whole.
Sayeed H Chowdhury, Chairman of the Bank, gave his special speech of Mobile Banking in this program.
M Fakhrul Alam, the Managing Director (Current Charge) of OBL concluded the ceremony with a vote of thanks to the Governor and all others present in the ceremony. Mainur Rahman Bhuiyan, Chief Finance Officer, Grameen Phone and Mehboob Chowdhury, Chief Executive Officer, City Cell, social elites of the country, Directors and high officials of the Bank also attended the program.

Will optional PSI help?

Will optional PSI help?

So the vacillation is yet to be over. The National Board of Revenue

(NBR)'s decision to stick to pre-shipment inspection (PSI), though as

an optional practice, seems to suggest a lack of belief in its own

capacity to shoulder the responsibility of customs valuation. It comes

as a partial reversal, if not an u-turn from the government's earlier

decision to do away with PSI by phases -- a practice followed for

around a decade in Bangladesh to ease valuation-related problems

faced by the customs authorities. To this end, the NBR has decided

to offer the existing four PSI companies the job of conducting

optional pre-shipment inspection of imported goods. The curious

part of the government's decision is that making PSI optional is not

being mentioned as a step in the direction of gradually scrapping it.

No doubt, the government is in a dilemma whether it can face up to

the task of customs valuation on its own, despite repeated

announcements of customs automation, believed to provide a good

respite in the intricacies of the job.

Mandatory introduction of PSI, in some countries including

Bangladesh, was mainly intended to ensure that imports comply with

the stipulated regulations. Non-compliance with these regulations

can result in the loss of duty and tax revenue, loss of foreign

exchange reserves and importation of substandard or prohibited

goods. To be more precise, the objective commonly attributed to it is

that PSI maximises duty collections. By undertaking duty assessment

in the country of export, the system offers no opportunity to

unscrupulous importers to prevail upon the customs people to assign

lower rates on arrival of the goods.

It is in keeping with the above that when the NBR introduced

mandatory PSI in the year, 2000, on the transaction value of

imported goods, the decision was welcomed by many including the

media mainly because of the apparent virtues of the system, which,

among others, included transparency. However, over the years, it

has come to light that the system is shorn of much of its virtues.

There were reported complaints of abuse in the name of fixing

transaction value, allowing sub-standard even at times restricted or

prohibited goods to be shipped. To address the issue, the

government instituted a taskforce in the year, 2009, to suggest

measures, and if felt appropriate, suggest a mechanism of phasing

out. The decision of phasing out came in the wake of the taskforce's

report.

Understandably, the decision to phase out PSI was meant to part

with a redundant exercise in an age of technology with automated

customs classification, valuation and assessment readily available.

Stopping the widely reported practices of misdeclaration and

improper fixation of transaction value also calls for an end to the

practice. With the optional practice on, it is not clear how long the

government plans to get along with it. If it is meant to be part of the

phase-out process, it is imperative that the government works out a

roadmap. There is a state of uncertainty at the moment as there is

also the need to frame new rules to suit the optional PSI.

Source:
Published : Wednesday, 28 August 2013

www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com

BHBFC seeks Tk 5.0b to meet demand for loan

BHBFC seeks Tk 5.0b to meet demand for loan

Published : Wednesday, 04 September 2013

The Bangladesh House Building Finance Corporation (BHBFC) has sought Tk 5.0 billion from the government for a fund to meet the demand for loan in the real estate sector.

The lone state-owned financing body for housing sector applied to the bank and financial institution division to lend the money for raising the fund, reports BSS.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister A M A Muhith has directed the banking division to prepare a survey report to this end.

Talking to the news agency, BHBFC Managing Director Dr M Nurul Alam said they sought the money to meet the fund crisis of the corporation.

"We could not provide sufficient loan due to fund constraint, although there is huge demand for loan in housing sector," he added.

He said the government could give the money to the BHBFC from annual development programme as loan or allocation.

BHBFC sources said the corporate had kept its loan activities mainly in Dhaka and Chittagong metropolitan cities. But, it has now extended activities outside the two metropolitan cities especially few districts, upazilas and growth centres. BHBFC has increased its field level offices to 29 from 25.

Source: financialexpress-bd.com

New base year ups FY'13 GDP size by $18 billion

New base year ups FY'13 GDP size by $18 billion

Published : Wednesday, 04 September 2013

Jasim Uddin Haroon

The size of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) has gone up by more than $18 billion in the last fiscal (2012-13) to US$151 billion in nominal terms under the new baseline of the fiscal year (FY) 2005-06.

The figure represents a 13 per cent increase in size of the GDP of the last fiscal over that of the same year, measured according to the old baseline of 1995-96, officials at the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) told the FE Tuesday.

An inter-ministerial meeting will be held at the Bangladesh Parishankan Bhavan today (Wednesday) at 11 in the morning to approve the new size of the GDP estimated on the basis of the new base year.

Country's nominal GDP, or GDP at current prices, now stands at $133 billion under the old base year.

The BBS officials also said the size of the country's real GDP will be larger by at least 60 per cent under the new baseline.

The changes in size of the real GDP will be mainly due to the price changes between the two periods.

BBS officials said the new base year will give a more accurate picture of the economy's structure.

Earlier, a technical committee led by Professor Dr Wahiduddin Mahmud approved the Bureau's programme of making a new base year in July last.

The committee had approved the new base year of 2005-06 instead of 1995-96 with the revision of product and services basket.

Sources said it will also announce final GDP growth rate and size of 2011-12 fiscal year under the new base year.

The Ministry of Planning had earlier approved the new base period and GDP measurement.

Bangladesh's per capita income will go up in line with the increase in the size of the GDP.

It needs $1,006 per capita income to pull the country up to the middle-income group.

The technical committee sat on the issue with the Planning Minister AK Khandker on Thursday last at the Parishankan Bhavan in the city.

"We've finalised our calculation under the new base year, nominal GDP size has grown by 13 per cent over the old base year estimate while the real GDP size increased by 60 per cent," said a senior official at the BBS.

The new base, however, included nearly 150 new products and services.

The agriculture and forestry sector alone contributed 24 new crops to the GDP measurement.

In the financial intermediation sector, the new entrants are micro-credit, cooperative banking, Central Depository Bangladesh Limited, insurance agents and house building financing.

The BBS is now being guided by the system of national accounting (SNA)-1993 of the UN Statistical Commission, established in 1947, as the apex entity of the global statistical system and the highest decision making body for coordinating international statistical activities.

It has planned to adopt SNA 2008 of UN Statistical Commission to measure GDP.

A consultant of International Monetary Fund (IMF), Dr AC Kulshrestha, trained the BBS officials and put forward some recommendations for the statistics and informatics division in this regard.

Updating the base year through revising the GDP estimation has become essential for various reasons, including newer economic activities, progressive expansion and downsizing of different industries and economic sectors over the years.

In Bangladesh, the GDP base year, generally, is revised every 10 years. In India, it is revised every five years to improve quality and accuracy of data in an updated manner as far as possible.

Source: Financialexpress-bd.com

Pubali Bank MasterCard Debit Card launches

Pubali Bank MasterCard Debit Card launches

Helal Ahmed Chowdhury, Managing Director and CEO of Pubali Bank Limited, launches

MasterCard Debit Card at a function in Dhaka on 02.09.2013 on Monday. As part of its
 move to provide modern and technology-based banking, Pubali Bank Limited has launched
MasterCard Debit Card for its clients. Helal Ahmed Chowdhury, Managing Director and CEO
of Pubali Bank Limited launched the MasterCard Debit Card at a function as chief guest,
 said a press release. MA Halim Chowdhury, Additional Managing Director of Pubali Bank
 Limited and Ari Sarkar, Division President, South Asia, MasterCard Worldwide,
Vikas Varma, Area Head (South Asia) of MasterCard Worldwide and Syed Mohammad Kamal,
 Country Manager, MasterCard Worldwide, Bangladesh were present. In his speech, Helal
 Ahmed Chowdhury said that Pubali Bank is committed to provide the best and innovative
 banking services at the fastest possible time as per the requirement of the banking
sector.

Source:Daily Sun Bangladesh
date: 03.09.2013