News Blaze of the Week August 16, 2020 Issue 09 Page | 1 Research and Development Unit Editorial Panel Quotation Corner Fahmida Chowdhury EVP & Principal, DBTI In charge R&DU “You only live once, but if you do it Farzana Afroz PO, R&DU right, once is enough.” — Mae West “Money and success don’t change people; they merely amplify what is already there.” — Will Smith Contact us: “Life is not a problem to be solved, but a [email protected] reality to be experienced.” – Soren Kierkegaard Page | 2 Govt Initiatives Banks and Financial Institutions Govt to form 'Delta Fund' to finance climate projects 05 18 banks added to bKash Add Money service 08 Agreement on first bio-tech plant signed 05 Southeast Bank Limited shifted its Pragati Sarani Branch at the Bank's own premises at Pearl 09 Pubali Bank donates bus to BSMMU 09 Karmasangsthan Bank launches loan product 09 Banks seek Tk 18 million as interest subsidy 10 Abdul Hai Sarker elected chairman of Dhaka Bank 10 National Milestone Shahjalal Islami Bank approves 10pc dividend 11 Per capita income rises to $2,064 06 IPDC offers exclusive auto loan 11 College fees being paid through 'Nagad' 12 Prime Bank, Ajkerdeal partner for MSME credit 12 Central Bank Regulation BB relaxes loan restructuring policy for NBFIs 07 BB asks banks to tap NRB deposits 07 Page | 3 Corporate Market Update Stock Market Update Walton's IPO subscription begins today 16 Stocks rebound after five months 13 Ten cos account for 27pc DSE transactions 13 Square Pharma tops DSE turnover chart 14 DSEX exceeds 4,600-mark as stocks resume rally 15 FDI Chinese firm to invest $300m to set up plasma fractionation plant 18 Japan offers record $3.15b credit line 19 Trade Market Update WB report focuses on infrastructure quality 17 Internet subscribers surpass 103m 17 International Business Uber calls for new deal for ‘gig economy’ workers 21 Canada to impose retaliatory tariffs on US goods 21 Dollar gains after two-year slump 22 Saudi Aramco profits dive 73pc as virus batters oil demand 23 Most Asian markets rise with eyes on trade talks, stimulus 23 Industry Update Ceramic industry breathes easier as sales start picking up 20 Page | 4 Govt to form 'Delta Fund' to finance climate projects The government is going to form a special fund titled 'Bangladesh Delta Fund', for implementing its long-term integrated master plan, 'Delta Plan 2100', to harness the huge potentials of Bangladesh through water resource management, ensuring food and water security and tackling disasters, reports UNB. According to an official document obtained by the news agency, it would require implementation of a good number of new projects apart from development and maintenance of the existing infrastructure for accomplishing the Delta Plan 2100. To implement the Delta Plan, 2.5 per cent of the Gross National Income (GNI) will be required till 2030. Currently, the expenditure in this sector is only 0.80-1.0 per cent, shows the document. Under the plan, 80 projects have been proposed for implementation within 2030. Of the projects, 65 are related to physical infrastructure while 15 to institutional capability, skill development and research, involving Tk 2,978 billion (around USD 37 billion). The National Economic Council approved the 'Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100' in September 2018, to be implemented over the next 100 years, aiming to raise the GDP growth to 9 per cent by 2030. According to the Planning Ministry document, about 70 per cent of the areas in 16 districts, where the poverty rate is very high, are most vulnerable to natural disasters. Source: https://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/trade-market/govt-to-form-delta-fund-to-finance- climate-projects-1596898524 Agreement on first bio-tech plant signed A tripartite agreement was signed between Oryx Bio-Tech Limited, Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority (BHTPA) and the Summit Technopolis Limited in the city on Tuesday to set up the first bio-tech plant in the country with an investment of US $300 million. The Oryx Limited will develop the factory on 25 acres of land at the Bangabandhu Hi-tech City in Gazipur, which is expected to create high value employment for nearly 2,000 people. According to the investment proposal, the bio-tech venture will facilitate manufacturing of drugs for the treatment of critical diseases like cancer and different types of infections. The company will establish the factory with the handling capacity of around 1,200 tonnes of plasma for manufacturing import substitute and life-saving biomedicine and derivatives. The company will also set up some 20 plasma collection stations. Source: https://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/stock-corporate/agreement-on-first-bio-tech-plant- signed-1597161384 Page | 5 Per capita income rises to $2,064 Bangladesh's per capita income (GNI) went up by US$ 155 to US$ 2,064 in the final quarter (April-June) of the last fiscal year, official data released on Tuesday showed, despite severe adverse impact of Covid-19 pandemic on the country's economic activities during the period. Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) data showed that the country's total GDP stood at $300.11 billion in the last fiscal year (FY 2019-20). However, the per head earnings of the population at current price was lower than the preliminary target of $ 2,173 estimated before the COVID-19 pandemic. In the FY2019, the per capita GNI (Gross National Income) was recorded at $ 1,909 and in FY2018, it was $ 1,751. Meanwhile, the per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the FY2020 had also been estimated at $ 1,970 from that of $ 1,828 in the FY2019. In FY2018, the per head GDP earnings was recorded at $ 1,675. An official at the BBS said the per head earnings could be much higher than the provisional estimation for the FY2020 if the country was not affected by the devastating coronavirus pandemic. In the FY2020, the GDP growth increased by 5.24 per cent, according to the BBS estimate. Meanwhile, the government has targeted the per capita GNI at $ 2,326 for the current FY2021, despite the economic impact of the pandemic. Bangladesh has been one of the top five fastest growing economies in the world with its stunning GDP growth rate of more than 7.0 per cent over the last few years. Breaking the five-year "6.0 per cent growth trap", the economy chalked out the 7.0 per cent growth band in FY2016. Then it took only two years to surpass the 7.0 per cent rate in FY2019 when the economy expanded at a rapid clip of 8.15 per cent. The current fiscal year's target has been eked out at 8.2 per cent GDP growth, but the coronavirus pandemic has made reaching that goal highly unlikely. Source: https://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/first-page/per-capita-income-rises-to-2064- 1597165630 Page | 6 BB relaxes loan restructuring policy for NBFIs The central bank has relaxed its loan restructuring policy for non-banking financial institutions (NBFIs) to help the businesses overcome the adverse impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Under the relaxations, the NBFIs are allowed to extend the tenure of term loans and leases by a maximum of 50 per cent of the remaining time to maturity, instead of existing 25 per cent, according to a notification issued by the Bangladesh Bank (BB) on Sunday. Earlier on June 21, the BB slashed cash reserve ratio (CRR) by 100 basis points to 1.5 per cent from 2.5 per cent for the NBFIs considering the Covid-19 pandemic. Such reduction of CRR also helped the NBFIs use more than Tk 3.0 billion as loanable funds to implement the government announced stimulus packages, according to officials. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has so far announced a total of 19 stimulus packages worth Tk 1.03 trillion to help various sectors of the economy offset the losses they have suffered due to novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The packages, which are equivalent to 3.7 per cent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP), will be implemented under the supervision of the central bank and the ministry of finance. Currently, 34 NBFIs are running their business across the country. In June 2020, the central bank issued a licence to Strategic Finance and Investments Limited for running their business as an NBFI. Source: https://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/first-page/bb-relaxes-loan-restructuring-policy-for- nbfis-1596992287 BB asks banks to tap NRB deposits The central bank has asked banks to introduce deposit products for non-resident Bangladeshis to encourage them to save their hard-earned money in Bangladesh. The products will be in the form of savings for more than a year on a monthly or quarterly deposit basis. Besides, the deposit accounts will be credited in the local currency -Bangladesh Taka (BDT)- after conversion from the foreign exchange, it added. The banks are allowed to extend loans to non-resident account holders for meeting his personal needs in taka against the security of this deposit account subject to adherence to the usual lending norms, according to the notice. NRBs can continue to maintain the deposits from local sources after their arrival. The scheme has an option to repatriate payments abroad from the balance held in the deposits on maturity/before maturity for meeting subsistence needs with permission from the central bank. Source: https://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/trade-market/bb-asks-banks-to-tap-nrb-deposits- 1596987906 Page | 7 18 banks added to bKash Add Money service The opportunity of instant money transfer service from banks' app and internet banking to bKash account marked rise with the addition of 7 new banks.