Daily News Flash
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s DSEX 4089.52 0.24% Gold (Ounce ) $1,800.40 CSCX 7033.92 0.06% Oil (Barrel) $41.89 Daily News Flash 14th July 2020 Sell Sell Dollar 86.60 87.70 GBP 101.00 110.00 Sell Sell Euro 95.60 99.60 Rupee 1.05 1.25 Table of Contents Macro Economy ............................................................................................................ 1 ‘GOOD BUSINESSMEN’ TO GET WAIVER ON GAS BILL PAYMENT ............ Error! Bookmark not defined. PHARMA EXPORTS CONTINUE CRUISING ............................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. ARCHAIC FOREX RULE DETERS FOREIGN INVESTORS .............................. Error! Bookmark not defined. Bank and NBFI............................................................................................................... 2 BANKS’ INTEREST SPREAD DROPS BELOW 3PTS FOR 1ST TIME ............... Error! Bookmark not defined. CARD SPENDING HALVES IN APRIL ......................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. Capital Market Specific.................................................................................................. 3 DRUGMAKERS FUEL DHAKA STOCKS’ MOMENTUM ............................... Error! Bookmark not defined. SECURITIES REGULATOR TO SCRUTINISE VETTED DOCUMENTS OF SONALI PAPERError! Bookmark not defined. AAMRA NETWORKS TO ISSUE TK100 CRORE BOND ................................ Error! Bookmark not defined. REGENT TEXTILE CALLS MEETING TO EXTEND IPO UTILISATION TIME FURTHERError! Bookmark not defined. Daily News Flash Tuesday, July 14, 2020 Macro Economy FID WANTS SPEEDY RELEASE OF TK2,000 CRORE FUNDING TO CREATE JOBS The Financial Institutions Division (FID) will send a letter to the Finance Division, asking the latter to disburse Tk2,000 crore allocated in the budget for job creation, said officials. The letter will ask the Finance Division to quickly distribute loans among youths who lost their jobs due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, expatriates who returned home and the poor. The money will be distributed through Karmasangsthan Bank, Probashi Kallyan Bank, Palli Sanchay Bank, and Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation to keep the rural economy vibrant. Source: https://tbsnews.net/economy/banking/fid-wants-speedy-release-tk2000-crore-funding-create-jobs-105823 NBR SET TO INTRODUCE E-PAYMENT FOR VAT Alongside submitting VAT returns online, from now on businesses will be able to clear payments without visiting the VAT office as the National Board of Revenue (NBR) has finalised its e-payment method. The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited, Bangladesh (HSBC), Midland Bank Ltd and Prime Bank will provide the payment solution from home initially. In association with the World Bank, the revenue board is implementing the VAT online project which aims at better implementation of new VAT law. The project is scheduled to be completed by December this year. Source: https://tbsnews.net/economy/nbr-set-introduce-e-payment-vat-105805 ORDERS ARE FINALLY TRICKLING IN, BUT GARMENT FACTORIES ARE STILL REACHING OUT FOR THE AXE One has got to feel for the garment workers. Despite the availability of low-cost loans to pay wages, repeated requests from the labour ministry and a recent uptick in work orders from international buyers, they are getting the chop. "So far, more than 25,000 workers have been fired although we have been suggesting the factory owners not sack them," said Shibnath Roy, inspector general of the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishment (DIFE). This month alone, another 1,000 workers lost employment, according to Amirul Haque Amin, president of the National Garment Workers Federation. Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/business/news/orders-are-finally-trickling-garment-factories-are-still-reaching-out-the-axe-1930117 $2.0B BUDGETARY SUPPORT LIKELY THIS FISCAL YEAR The government is working on securing about $2.0 billion budgetary support from bilateral and multilateral development partners in the current fiscal year (FY), finance ministry officials said. In the just-concluded fiscal year, Bangladesh got $1.0 billion as budgetary support to help the economy tide over the crisis created by the covid pandemic. The country, in the meanwhile, received $732 million from the International Monetary Fund or IMF as emergency assistance to meet the balance of payments and budget needs. Source: https://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/first-page/20b-budgetary-support-likely-this-fiscal-year-1594660944 SUMMIT POWER WINS TWO ASSET TRIPLE A ASIA INFRASTRUCTURE AWARDS Project financing of Summit LNG and Summit Meghnaghat II Power Ltd, two subsidiaries of Summit Power International (SPI), received awards in the Best Deals of the Year in South Asia category at the Asset Triple A Asia Infrastructure Awards 2020. Incorporated in Singapore, Summit Power International is the first and largest independent power producer (IPP) in Bangladesh with a generating capacity of 1,941 MW. Recently Japan’s largest energy company JERA Co, Inc. On the other hand, Summit Meghnaghat II Power Ltd (583MW), currently in its construction phase, won the ‘Power Deal of the Year award’ for securing a $350 million dual-tranche term loan facility. Source: http://m.theindependentbd.com/post/250081 1 Back to Table of Contents Daily News Flash Tuesday, July 14, 2020 LISTING OF FIVE SOES TO BE DELAYED OVER SHARE MONEY DEPOSIT RULES The listing of five state-run energy companies is likely to be delayed due to ensuring compliance with rules formulated recently by the Financial Reporting Council asking the SoEs to issue shares against the government’s share money deposits within six months. On February 2, finance minister AHM Mustafa Kamal declared that the government instructed five energy companies to go public, and gave them two months to assess the current value of their assets prior to offloading shares of the companies. The government’s equity in NWPGCL was the highest, Tk 2,390.96 crore, followed by GTCL Tk 1,635.48 crore, EGCB Tk 910.30 crore, APSCL Tk 124.76 crore and BD Powergen Tk 48 crore as per the latest data available in the companies’ financial statements. Source: https://www.newagebd.net/article/111102/listing-of-five-soes-to-be-delayed-over-share-money-deposit-rules MIXED QUARTER FOR THE PHARMA SECTOR Pharmaceutical companies in Bangladesh witnessed a slump in profits during the third quarter (January-March) of fiscal 2019-20 following reduced sales of prescription medicine amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. At the same time, however, seven drug manufacturers saw a rise in their earnings per share while nine others booked lower profits, according to data from the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE). Meanwhile, another three pharmaceutical companies continue to incur losses and two others have yet to publish their financial records. Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/business/news/mixed-quarter-the-pharma-sector-1930105 Bank and NBFI TWO BANKS DISBURSE TK 80CR TO 3 NGOS FOR FARMERS According to Bangladesh Bank data, Pubali Bank disbursed Tk 50 crore to Shakti Foundation on Sunday for disbursing loans among the people of the targeted groups. Another two NGOs — Society for Social Service and Palli Mongal Kramosuchi — received Tk 30 crore in loans from The City Bank. The Bangladesh Bank launched a Tk 3,000-crore refinancing scheme for low-income people, including farmers and small-time traders, on April 20 keeping to a government announcement to assist marginalised people who were affected by the fallout of COVID-19 outbreak. A total 42 banks have signed participatory agreement with the central bank to disburse the loans and the banks have set targets to disburse Tk 2,552.25 crore under this package which set interest rate of the loans at 9 per cent. So far, BB approved banks’ proposals to disburse Tk 314 crore to the NGOs. Source: https://www.newagebd.net/article/111104/two-banks-disburse-tk-80cr-to-3-ngos-for-farmers HC UPHOLDS BB LETTER FINING ONE BANK TK 1.0M The High Court on Monday upheld a Bangladesh Bank letter that fined One Bank Tk 1.0 million on charges of violating Section 15(4) of the Bank Company Act 1991 and keeping its chairman Sayeed Hossain Chowdhury as a director of the bank. The court said in its order that the ad-interim prayer of the writ petitioner against the BB letter is rejected, said Barrister Munirujjaman who appeared in the court on behalf of the central bank. At the same time, the court asked the writ petitioner to place the petition before a regular High Court bench after the reopening of its activities, the lawyer added. Source: https://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/trade-market/hc-upholds-bb-letter-fining-one-bank-tk-10m-1594658172 2 Back to Table of Contents Daily News Flash Tuesday, July 14, 2020 GENERAL INSURANCE SECTOR SHARE PRICES SOAR AMID EARNING DECLINE Investors in the stock market witnessed a sudden 4.2 percent return on general insurance sector shares last week while the earnings of 60 percent of the companies decreased in the first quarter of the current financial year. The market capitalisation of general insurance is only Tk4,652 crore or 1.8 percent of total market capital at the DSE. The price earnings ratio stood at 11.7 while the DSE price earnings ratio was 15.85. A top official of a leading brokerage house, on condition of anonymity, said that most of the general insurance companies have low capital. "So, the investors can easily manipulate their share price. Otherwise there is no reason to increase their share price on the floor price mechanism," he said.