Reference

Political shadows dog economy: IMFIMF Issue:

GDP growth to slip below 6pc this fiscal year; Bangladesh stands to gain from recovery in advanced economies

Olivier Blanchard, IMF's chief economist, speaks at a press briefing. Photo: AFPDomestic demand in Bangladesh is expected to recover in 2014 as activity is normalising after a year of political unrest, but economic growth will go below 6 percent this fiscal year in lingering fallout, the International Monetary Fund said yesterday.Bangladesh fits the pattern for much of developing Asia as more idiosyncratic risks stemming from domestic political tensions and uncertainties remain in several countries.For Asia as a whole, growth is expected to accelerate only modestly, from 5.2 percent in 2013 to about 5.5 percent in both 2014 and 2015, the IMF said in the World Economic Outlook report released in Washington.The IMF said global recovery "has broadly strengthened" and will "improve further" in 2014, but it trimmed its growth forecast amid a sharp rise in Japan's sales tax and a slowdown in emerging markets.An accelerating US recovery will help the world economy grow 3.6 percent this year, the IMF said, up from 3 percent in 2013 but down slightly from its 3.7 percent projection in January.Global growth will pick up to a pace of 3.9 percent in 2015, the fund said ahead of the spring meetings of the IMF and World Bank in Washington this week.The IMF's growth forecast for the US was unchanged at 2.8 percent, highest among advanced economies, it said.A major impulse to global growth has come from the United States, the IMF said in its report, adding that US growth will pick up to 3 percent next year."Put simply, the recovery is strengthening and there is a substantial improvement from last year," Olivier Blanchard, the IMF's chief economist, said at a media briefing at the lender's headquarters.Faster recovery depends on domestic demand and exports, and Blanchard warned: "Acute risks Concurring with the IMF forecasts, Zaman said: "One cautionary point from this report is the slowdown in growth in some new markets for our exports, such as Brazil, Turkey and Russia though perhaps some of our lower end products might even benefit from this."In advanced economies, downside risks to activity stem mainly from prospects of low inflation and the possibility of protracted stagnation, especially in the euro area and Japan, the IMF said.Other downside risks include adjustment fatigue and insufficient policy action in a still financially fragmented euro area and risks related to the exit from unconventional monetary policy.On the upside, the stronger-than-expected growth momentum during the second half of 2013 could buoy confidence in Germany, the UK and the US, according to the IMF report.As exports recovered thanks to stronger demand from advanced economies, activity in Asia picked up in the second half of 2013.With export demand still robust, Bangladesh stands to gain from the recovery in the advanced economies.Govt assures IMF of continued reformsThe government will continue to focus on fiscal prudence and debt management and work to bring discipline in the state-run commercial banks as part of its efforts to keep the economy on track.Bangladesh recently reiterated the commitments to International Monetary Fund (IMF) as the global organisation reviewed the country's progress on promises before it releases the fourth instalment of its $985.66 million loan.An IMF mission led by Rodrigo Cubero, deputy division chief in the Asia and Pacific Department of the lender, visited Dhaka between March 19 and April 2 to conduct the fourth review under the three-year Extended Credit Facility (ECF) programme.In a statement posted on the IMF website on Monday, Cubero praised the government for ensuring sound macroeconomic policies in the face of difficult times."Throughout recent turbulent times, macroeconomic policies have been sound, the government's economic programme remains on track, and there has been good progress on structural reforms."As a result, the mission and the authorities have been able to reach a staff-level agreement on the quantitative targets and policies needed to complete the fourth review under the ECF arrangement," he said.The agreement is subject to review by the management and the executive board of the IMF. The review is expected to be complete by May 2014, when about $140.5 million would be made available to Bangladesh.Cubero said real GDP growth is expected to be below 6 percent for fiscal 2013-14 as unrest and uncertainty in the run-up to the January elections have taken a toll on the economy."Imports, remittance, tax collection, and credit growth have all slowed. Inflation has edged up, largely due to food supply disruptions."The IMF official said exports, however, have proven resilient, helped by Bangladesh's growing share of the global textiles market. "Provided that political stability continues and uncertainty abates, growth should rise above 6 percent in fiscal 2014-15."

'Herdlike' capital means countries must reform: IMFIncreasingly fickle capital flows mean that countries have to implement domestic reforms to protect their stability, the International Monetary Fund's powerful advisory board said Saturday.After many emerging economies were hobbled by sharp capital outflows over the past year, the IMF's steering committee, the International Monetary and Financial Committee, said that more volatility was to come, especially as the US tightens monetary policy.Singapore Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, chair of the IMFC, said countries have to undertake structural reforms over the medium term to protect themselves as the global economic recovery enters a new phase.The IMFC, comprised of two dozen of the world's leading finance ministers and central bankers, singled out increased volatility in capital movements as one of the key challenges for the global economy."What we have observed is more herdlike behaviour in the markets, more herdlike behaviour driving capital flows," Tharman said at the end of the IMF/World Bank spring meetings in Washington."That's not going to be a short-term phenomenon, that's going to be a continuing challenge," he said."It's partly reflecting a change in the structure of global finance -- more capital flows, and also a changed composition, with a greater share that's been taken up by bond funds, a greater share that's been taken up by mutual funds, ETFs."This translates to more frequent, more sudden reactions to changes in risk perception -- exactly what hit emerging economies last year when their growth slowed and interest rates picked up worldwide as the US Federal Reserve began its move away from its crisis-era easy money policy.That shift is one of a number of challenges to global growth the IMF highlighted during the spring meetings, with "structural reform" the byword for adjustments needed in the richest to the poorest economies to adapt to the post-crisis world."We are turning the corner. The global economy is faring better," said IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde in a press conference with Tharman. At the same time, she cautioned, "it is uneven, it is too slow, it is too fragile.""It applies to pretty much all countries -- structural reforms that will improve the competitiveness of those economies," Lagarde said.The IMF has spelled out reforms needed like balance sheet repairing for indebted corporations and governments, cleaning up and strengthening banking systems -- including in Europe -- and improving labour markets especially to create jobs for the tens of millions of unemployed youths around the world.Tharman said that, with investment still weak relative to the stage of recovery, countries need to strengthen their legal and operating frameworks to give private investors more confidence.The message came after the G20 economic powers, meeting at the same time in Washington, failed to demonstrate concrete action to shore up growth and meet their own goal of significantly boosting the current tepid, five-year forecast for world output.

IMF Issues

Padma Bridge :

Padma bridge allocationFinance Minister AMA Muhith (8 April) said the allocation for the Padma bridge project would neither increase nor decrease in the revised budget of the current fiscal year. He said the allocation would be Tk 2,100 crore in the revised budget."We will be able to spend the allocated fund this fiscal year. So, the allocation would not be increased or decreased," he told reporters after a meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council.The minister reacted to the media reports that said the revised annual development programme would be increased to Tk 63,000 crore. It is not correct. It will not increase from the NEC-fixed budget of Tk 60,000 crore," he said. During a meeting between the finance ministry and the planning ministry on Monday, Muhith had said the allocation for the bridge would go up by Tk 3,200 crore, and would be included in the minutes of the last Thursday's NEC meeting, according to a number of officials, who were present at the meeting.

Govt again fails to meet GSP conditionsReadymade Garment:

The country has once again failed to fulfil the required conditions for reinstatement of GSP status to the US markets within the deadline of April 15, mainly due to bureaucratic tangles.The commerce ministry is now set to submit a report which does not contain any account of substantial progress with respect to the 16-point action plan provided by the US for regaining the generalised system of preferences.This is the second time that the government has failed to make an impression on the Obama administration. The first progress report submitted in November last year disappointed the US so much that the second deadline of April 15 was set, a month ahead of Obama Administration's review of the suspension decision.One of the major conditions was to recruit additional 200 factory inspectors by this deadline, but, so far, the labour and employment ministry has taken only 25 first-class inspectors through the Public Service Commission (PSC).The delay in meeting the recruitment quota, Mikail Shipar, secretary to ministry of labour and employment, says is due to the need to amend the PSC rules to recruit manpower for non-cadre posts.When asked how the 25 inspectors were recruited without amending the PSC rules, he said: The ministry gets 50 percent quota. If I want to recruit 200 inspectors I need 80 percent quota. So we need to amend the PSC rules for recruitment of non-cadre posts. Mahbub Ahmed, senior secretary of the commerce ministry, could not be reached despite several attempts by phone.Another major condition was to amend the laws of the export processing zones (EPZs) to allow the workers of such special economic zones the right to demonstrate to realise their demands.So far, a committee has been formed comprising the senior secretaries for amending the laws of the EPZs, according to the progress report.The government also could not nab the killers of labour leader Aminul Islam, a major condition for GSP reinstatement.It is yet to formulate the rules needed to implement the amended labour law in factories, nine months after the amendment was passed.Among the conditions, the labour and employment ministry could inaugurate the database of garment factories on March 30 and withdraw cases against labour leaders Babul Akter and Kalpona Akter.The government has also relaxed the trade union rules and registered 127 new trade unions in 2013 in the garment sector. The government also re-registered two NGOs -- Bangladesh Centre for Worker Solidarity and Social Activities for the Environment.The US government suspended the GSP status on June 27 last year citing serious shortcomings in labour rights and workplace safety.Only 0.54 percent of the country's total exports to the US could take up the benefits of the GSP.The commerce ministry in its working paper said other countries like the EU might be influenced by the decision of the US, for which the country's export will face troubles.Non-traditional markets show great promise for garmentsGarment exports to non-traditional markets are rising at a faster rate than to the traditional markets owing to the stimulus package and duty benefits by emerging markets for Bangladesh. In fiscal 2012-13, garment exports to non-traditional markets such as Australia, Brazil, Chile, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, Turkey and so on rose 29 percent year-on-year to $2.98 billion, according to data from Export Promotion Bureau. In contrast, exports to traditional markets of the US, Canada and European...Govt submits GSP progress reportThe commerce ministry yesterday submitted the progress report on the 16-point action plan for reinstatement of GSP status to Obama administration.Bangladesh made a good progress in the action plan. The US has already expressed satisfaction over the progress, Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed said.Although not all the 16 points on the action plan were fulfilled, the government is hopeful that it would go some way towards winning back the Generalised System of Preferences status.One of the major conditions was to recruit additional 200 factory inspectors by April 15, but, so far, the labour and employment ministry has taken only 25 first-class inspectors through the Public Service Commission.Another major condition was to amend the laws of the export processing zones (EPZs) to allow the workers of the special economic zones the right to demonstrate to realise their demands.So far, a committee has been formed comprising the senior secretaries for amending the laws of the EPZs, according to the progress report.It is yet to formulate the rules needed to implement the amended labour law in factories, nine months after the amendment was passed.Among the conditions, the labour and employment ministry could inaugurate the database of garment factories on March 30 and withdraw cases against labour leaders Babul Akter and Kalpona Akter.The government has also relaxed the trade union rules and registered 127 new trade unions in 2013 in the garment sector. The government also re-registered two NGOs -- Bangladesh Centre for Worker Solidarity and Social Activities for the Environment.The US government suspended the GSP status on June 27 last year citing serious shortcomings in labour rights and workplace safety.Only 0.54 percent of the country's total exports to the US could take up the benefits under the GSP scheme.RMG factory shut for a lack of work orderA garment factory in Savar yesterday closed its operation permanently in the face of insufficient work order for the last few months, owners said.Mohammad Ashek Elahi Sumon, a director of Bonds Fashions at Kalma area in the industrial belt, said the factory had been facing an acute fund shortage.Sumon also said the workers were given half of the salary for the month of March on April 13, as it could not afford a full pay.The workers started demonstration at 6pm when the factory management said it would pay their termination benefits on May 10.They kept Sumon captive for realising compensation and other benefits. He was freed after the factory officials signed an agreement. In the agreement, we have agreed to pay the workers before May 10, Sumon said.Garment exports show resilienceShipments rise 16pc in the last one year despite industrial disasters like Rana Plaza collapse

The one word that describes the garment sector is resilience. Exports beat doomsayers, rising around 16 percent to $23.86 billion year-on-year during April 2013 to March 2014 despite industrial disasters like the Rana Plaza building collapse.Our apparel exports are on a growth trajectory as major global brands are working with local garment makers to improve workplace safety, said Mustafizur Rahman, executive director of Centre for Policy Dialogue.The initiatives of the global retailers and brands to ensure fire safety and structural integrity in the garment factories send a positive message to the international community, he said.Apparel exports grew at double digits despite various hurdles as the garment makers have welcomed the transformation initiatives undertaken by major retailers, said Atiqul Islam, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association.BGMEA has shut production at 13 risky factory buildings in and around Dhaka city on prescriptions from factory inspectors of European and North American clothing retailers, he said.

Garment makers are also working to relocate risky factories to purposely-made buildings, Islam said.After the Rana Plaza accident, international brands and retailers are offering lower prices for Bangladeshi garments, which ultimately increased the volume of orders, said David Hasanat, managing director of Viyellatex Group, a leading garment exporter.Global retailers are using the Rana Plaza issue as a bargaining tool to cut prices, he said, adding that the garment sector witnessed price cuts by around 6 percent over the last one year despite a rise in production costs.Hasanat said his company registered a 14-15 percent export growth in the last one year, compared with the previous year.The building collapse, however, certainly affected the overall export growth, the CPD executive director said. Though the country registered around 13 percent export growth in the first nine months of the current fiscal year, the rate could have been more than 20 percent had the building collapse not occurred, he said.Garment makers also echoed the same. We could have grabbed more orders had there been no industrial accidents and political unrest, Islam of BGMEA said.Global retailers cancelled orders worth around $110 million from 57 factories housed in shared buildings in the last six months, according to Islam. Currently, growth rates for apparel shipment are on the decline. In March, garment exports saw a 3.67 percent year-on-year growth, the lowest since November, according to Export Promotion Bureau.The sluggish growth is expected to continue until September as a negative image that was created globally after the building collapse is taking its toll, said Abdus Salam Murshedy, managing director of Envoy Group.Envoy Group saw its orders drop 10-15 percent in the last one year, he said. Exports will face another blow when Accord and Alliance, the two platforms of global retailers, will start factory inspections in full swing as many plants will have to be shut during the safety checks, he said. Rahman of CPD said Bangladesh has immense potential to increase its apparel exports due to the quality and costs of its products. "If we can brand Bangladesh as a compliant country, many orders, especially from China, will pour in.The government will have to fulfil the promises made after the Rana Plaza collapse, Rahman said.Bangladesh is now the second largest garment exporter after China. The country has around 4,000 active garment factories, employing nearly 3.6 million people directly, 80 percent of whom are women, according to BGMEA.Garment exports accounted for 79.62 percent or $21.5 billion of the country's total overseas sales of $27 billion in fiscal 2012-13, according to EPB.Readymade Garment

Rana Plaza victims to get compensation by April 24RANA PLAZA COMPENSATION:

Rana Plaza victims look set to finally receive their due compensation after ILO Country Director Srinivasa Reddy yesterday assured the hand-out would begin before the first anniversary of the disaster.A total of 3,080 victims will be compensated, with each victim receiving Tk 50,000 from the trust fund created by international retailers, he said after a meeting with Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, diplomats and researchers.Reddy, however, did not give a specific date on which the compensation would be handed out.The 580 victims who have already received compensation from the British retailer Primark, however, have been excluded.The compensation figure has been arrived at following the International Labour Organisation's convention 121, widely employed worldwide to pay off victims of industrial accidents.Asked if the hand-outs made from the Prime Minister's Fund would be part of the compensation, Reddy said the trust fund's three commissioners would decide if the two would be merged or not.

Rana Plaza trust fund collects $17m so farRetailers and brands have deposited a total of $17 million so far with the Rana Plaza Donor Trust Fund to compensate victims of the building collapse that took lives of at least 1,135 people last April.The retailers and brands have started depositing money with the compensation fund. We will start paying the victims before the 24th of April, the first anniversary of the building collapse, Srinivasa Reddy, country director of International Labour Organisation, told The Daily Star yesterday.Of the money deposited, the British brand Primark is paying $9 million to the 580 workers of New Wave Bottom Ltd, a factory that was located on the second floor of the Rana Plaza building. The payment is being made through the ILO.

The ILO is chairing as a neutral body to disburse the funds to the victims; under ILO's convention 121, a total of $40 million is needed to compensate the 3,600 workers who worked at Rana Plaza, Reddy said.A total of 29 retailers and brands that sourced garments from the five factories in the Rana Plaza building are bound to compensate, he said.

No transparency in PM's relief fund for Rana Plaza victimsThe government has failed to show transparency in collecting and distributing money for the victims of the Rana Plaza building collapse, a BNP leader said yesterday.There was no transparency and accountability in dealing with the Prime Minister's relief fund. It is still unclear who received how much money from the relief fund and who contributed to the fund, said Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury who is also an adviser to the BNP chairperson.Chowdhury's comment came at a dialogue --BBC Bangladesh Sanglap -- to mark the first anniversary of the building collapse.Prime Minster's Adviser HT Imam, however, said the relief fund is handled with "full transparency". I will give details of the fund if anybody wants. The government has so far distributed Tk 22.53 crore to the victims from the relief fund, he said at the dialogue at Biam auditorium in the capital.Nazma Akter, president of Sammilito Garment Sramik Federation, a platform of apparel workers, urged the government to provide compensation to the victims as soon as possible. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has provided money to the victims as donation from her fund. It is not compensation, she said.Nazma also stressed the need for coordination among different government and private agencies and support from major political parties for improving workplace safety in the garment sector.All the missing workers of the Rana Plaza will get compensation when their DNA tests will be complete, said Atiqul Islam, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association.Rana Plaza survivors left in desperate straits

Most of the survivors, around 66 percent, of the Rana Plaza tragedy are leading an inhuman life in the face of difficulties to meet their daily needs, according to a survey. A total of 2,222 victims were surveyed, including 1,436 survivors and 786 family members, by ActionAid Bang-ladesh. Of them, 2.4 percent cannot make ends meet at all, the survey found.The objective of the survey was to portray the current socio-economic and physical vulnerability of the workers along with vulnerability of family members of the deceased, said Aamanur Rahman, deputy director of ActionAid Bangladesh, a nongovernmental organisation.The survey also highlighted the dire need for compensation. Rahman shared the findings of the survey at a dialogue organised by ActionAid at Brac Centre Inn in the capital. The top three priorities of the survivors are food and their outstanding house rents and loans, he said. Although almost one year has passed since the building collapse, 73.7 percent of the survivors are yet to return to work, mainly due to physical ailment (63.74 percent), trauma (23.76 percent) and employers' unwillingness (7.54 percent).The majority of the respondents have individual and family incomes between Tk 5,000 and Tk 10,000 a month.We have found that 55 families have failed to manage a consistent source of income in the past 12 months, said Rahman, also a team leader for conducting the survey. The much-expected compensation from 28 retailers is still an unresolved issue, he added.No lesson was learnt from the industrial accidents in the past, said Shirin Akhter, a member of the parliamentary standing committee on the labour and employment ministry.As brands are an important part of the supply chain, they have some responsibilities towards the victims, she said.The government has a big fund for the victims. Some workers claimed they have not received any benefits from the fund. The government should look into the issue, she said.Accord and Alliance, the two platforms of foreign brands for conducting factory inspections in Bangladesh, are focusing on safety only, not compensation, Shirin said. We should take a Pass law for justice to Rana Plaza victims: rights activistWorker leaders yesterday urged the government to pass a tort law enabling Rana Plaza victims to secure compensation.A tort, in common law jurisdictions, is a civil wrong which unfairly causes someone else to suffer loss or harm resulting in legal liability for the person who commits the tortuous act.The demand came at a press conference of the Garment Sramik Oikya Parishad, a workers' association, in the capital.The association also sought compensation of Tk 48 lakh each for the dead and missing workers as per the loss of earnings formula, which fixes compensation based on the age of victims and the national life expectancy.Assuming the average age of the dead and missing workers to be 25 and the retirement age of 60, the compensation comes to Tk 48 lakh, said Moshrefa Mishu, president of Garment Sramik Oikya Parishad.She also demanded filing of a murder case against the owner of Rana Plaza, medical treatment, jobs for the disabled workers and one family member of the dead and missing workers.The government has so far distributed Tk 22.53 crore of Tk 127 crore to the victims from the prime minister's relief fund, she said. Has the prime minister decided to use the relief fund for political purpose instated of humanitarian reasons?The labour leader also came down heavily Rana Plaza Compensation

Investors of luxury hotels get duty cutsTax:

The revenue authorities have reduced import duties on capital machinery and other equipment needed to set up luxury hotels, in a bid to boost the local tourism industry. The National Board of Revenue will charge 5 percent duty on the import of certain capital goods and accessories to facilitate establishment of chain and standard hotels in Bangladesh, it said in a notice on Tuesday. The items include interior decor materials, kitchen and cooking equipment, building security equipment, fire fighting and protection.

Export tax cuts concern IMF

The International Monetary Fund has sought a concrete action plan from the government to counter the impact of export tax cuts, expected to bring in revenue losses of around Tk 2,000 crore over the next 15 months.Last month, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) slashed the export tax on readymade garments to 0.3 percent from 0.8 percent and on all other products to 0.6 percent from 0.8 percent, in a bid to make up for the losses incurred last year due to political turmoil.The IMF said the political crisis has already hit revenue collections this fiscal year, and the export tax cuts, which will run from April 1 this year to June 30, 2015, will only deepen the shortfall. Using data from the NBR, the multilateral lender has estimated that the tax cuts will yield forgone revenues of around Tk 2,000 crore.Subsequently, it has asked the government to forward a list of administrative measures that woudl be taken to make up for the revenue loss, along with a deadline for adoption and estimated yield in fiscal 2014-15.The finance ministry has preliminarily set the NBR's revenue collection target for next fiscal year at Tk 150,000 crore, which is 20 percent more than the current year's revised target.NBR, however, is yet to finalise on the measures to be taken, according to a high official of the tax collector.The export tax was deducted at source, so there was little scope for evasion. It was a sure shot source of revenue for us, so we are doubtful that the full amount can be recovered from other sectors. It is too big an amount.Meanwhile, the government has informed the IMF about the host of tax reform plans that it would propose in the upcoming budget.The most noteworthy among the reform plans is the intent to overhaul the corporate income tax by gradually reducing the rate and broadening the base, such that overall corporate income tax collections are raised.At present, the corporate tax ranges from 37.5 percent to 45 percent, which economists and businessmen said was excessive.The NBR official said they would decide on the exact rate cut after discussing with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina next month.NBR's tax receipts remain sluggish

Revenue collection remained sluggish in the first eight months of the fiscal year, with the National Board of Revenue recording the lowest year-on-year growth in tax receipts for the period in the last seven years.Between July and February, collections rose 8.66 percent year-on-year to Tk 68,344 crore, according to data from NBR.Lower receipts from customs as well as falling collection growth in VAT and income tax, the two major sources of revenue, caused the slowdown in revenue collection.Falling growth reflects the fall in domestic demand, said Ahsan H Mansur, executive director of Policy Research Institute.During the period, VAT collections grew 13.29 percent to Tk 26,192 crore, while the pace of income tax collection growth slowed to 14 percent. Receipts from customs fell 0.86 percent to Tk 20.863 crore.The collection of tax at source has fallen as development activities are yet to pick up. Collection of advance income tax from exports and imports was also less than expected, a senior official of NBR said, seeking to remain unnamed.The increased tax rebate privileges for investment also caused a fall in income tax collection, he said, adding that if the current pace of collection continues, it will not be possible to achieve the revised revenue target.Subsequently, the NBR last month revised down fiscal 2013-14's collection target by 8 percent to Tk 125,000 crore.Mansur said tax collection might improve in the coming months due to political stability, pick-up in imports and increased remittance inflows. But, it may not be enough to achieve the revised target.Economic activities will not shoot up overnight to facilitate tax collection growth, said Towfiqul Islam Khan, research fellow of Centre for Policy Dialogue.He said the government should fix the next fiscal year's revenue collection target considering the current fiscal year's collection.Tax target should be realistic to ensure fiscal balance, Khan said.MCCI pushes for higher tax-free income ceiling

Tax

The Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) yesterday urged the government to increase the tax-free income ceiling for individuals and cut corporate tax. The chamber recommended resetting the tax-free income ceiling at Tk 2.75 lakh from Tk 2.20 lakh for individuals; Tk 3.25 for women and Tk 3.5 lakh for senior citizens.

BANKING

New rule formed to give BB the power to hold elections for board members Grameen Bank moves closer to govt's grip

The government has issued a rule that transfers the power to appoint members of Grameen Bank board from the microlender itself to Bangladesh Bank, a move that sends the embattled organisation further into the state's grip.The central bank will form a three-member commission to elect nine members of the 12-member board, as per the Grameen Bank (Election of Directors) Rules 2014, which took effect immediately.The three-member body would comprise a BB executive director, who would serve as the chief election commissioner. The other two posts would be filled by one of the general managers of

Grameen Bank and a director of Microcredit Regulatory Authority.Finance Minister AMA Muhith earlier claimed there were no electoral rules for Grameen Bank, but the government actually formulated them on August 25, 1987, which were followed to date. As per the previous rule, the Grameen Bank board picked an official of the bank to conduct the elections.Although the rule was published on April 6 on the website of the BG Press, senior officials of finance ministry's banking division, the concerned department, were unaware of the new rule at the time of writing.Meanwhile, both experts and elected members of Grameen Bank fear the system might politicise the bank.Akbar Ali Khan, a former chairman of the bank, said the election system should have been finalised after discussions with borrowers, members, and other stakeholders.If the new rule is acceptable to them, there will be no politicisation of the bank. But if they don't accept the new rule, it will create distortion. If the bank is politicised, it will be destroyed, he said.Tahsina Khatun, a member of the Grameen Bank board, said the new rule would create problems for the bank.If the government wants to introduce general elections-type voting then the whole voting process would turn into anarchy. Politics and corruption will creep into the bank. As a result, the consequence of the bank will be that of other state-run banks.She said, by giving the central bank power to conduct elections the government is actually taking control of the bank. We are fine with the current system. We don't need the new one, she said.However, except for conducting the election the new rule is similar to the previous one. The chief election commissioner will appoint one official of the central bank to work as returning officer in each of the nine constituencies.The constituency is the third and final stage of the three-tier election where members of Grameen Bank are elected as board members. Officials of the scheduled banks near the regional centres will be appointed as assistant returning officers to pick winners for the constituency level.The returning officer will appoint one official from the scheduled banks under his or her own area as the presiding officer or assistant presiding officer.As in the past, the election of Grameen Bank will be held in three stages: constituency, regional and branch.

Challenges for new banksOver the past decade, Bangladesh economy enjoyed favourable economic environment and grew at approximately 6 percent with tolerable inflation. Major economic indicators like GDP, exports and imports have tripled in the last 10 years; industrialisation and trade have soared to unprecedented heights.Growth in the real economy has fuelled the growth of the country's banking sector which has seen an increase in deposits by over 400 percent and assets by around 500 percent in the last 10 years. Simultaneously, per capita GDP has more than doubled and yet more than half the population is still unbanked.The central bank's decision to allow licences to nine new banks has the merit. Regardless of political motivations, a logical argument can be made beyond the unbanked population argument that more competition will improve service quality and ultimately benefit the consumers.From the sponsors standpoint, a logical argument can be made about the potential economic benefit for the sponsors based upon past record, which is estimated to be 25 percent+ over 10 years from inception of a bank approximately 15 percent higher than the risk free rate in Bangladesh.Past performance do not guarantee future returnsThese all sound great theoretically but the ground reality is different, and challenges faced by the management and shareholders of new banks cannot be minimised. The banking industry is already highly competitive. Therefore, unless these new banks get their act together fast, shareholders could suffer a major setback and even some could face extinction.Let us refresh our memory about how banks make profit. Banks make money primarily in three ways. Firstly, from the spread between the deposit and lending rates; Secondly, from the fees they charge for various products and services, and thirdly from proprietary investments.This is obviously overly simplified; however, all these modes of earnings potential are possible to some extent provided that the demand is growing, banks are well capitalised and have the proper human resource; and the rest happens automatically. So what are the challenges?It is all about peopleAt present, the banking sector is suffering from an acute shortage of skilled and adept professionals.Except for a few foreign and local banks, unfortunately the quality of staff beyond the CEO, managing director and DMD levels drops drastically. Depth and breadth of knowledge unfortunately is poor. This is an ominous sign for the industry since professional human resource is essential for the growth and development of the industry. These weaknesses obviously facilitate frauds, mismanagement, and value destruction for shareholders and encourage and breed substandard corporate governance culture in the financial sector.The first challenge for new banks will be attracting the right leadership. It will not be easy to attract talents for a newly established entity. The most likely outcomes are - either you end up recruiting an unqualified team due to budget constraints or you end up paying a significant premium for talents.If you recruit weak managers, then they end up attracting even weaker subordinates and we all know how that works.Attracting depositsWhile most banks offer similar commodity type products, they are combating with each other in most cases on price/yield, realistically, the new entrants can gain an initial advantage and capture market share by offering higher deposit rates.Falling deposit rates at present driven by recent political uncertainty, risk averseness, lack of demand for loans and recent spike in demand for short-term government securities provide a lower rate environment, nevertheless provide no relative advantage to the new banks.Lending to the right clientsContrary to popular believe that aggressive marketing or in this case aggressive lending may help quickly capture market share and drive banks' profitability, in reality success of these new banks in the long-run depends on ensuring that they lend to the right clients. Most of us are aware of the result of aggressive growth in the lending portfolios.As a lender, you only get the stated interest and the principal within the maturity date at best and you have no upside like equity investors. This is why one must wonder why many banks even today lend to entities with no real capital or a sliver of capital created from revaluation and other financial engineering.If the new banks fall into this temptation, this could be the first nail in the coffin. Chasing yield and risking principal is the fastest way to go bankrupt.Tapping the untappedWith around half the population unbanked, the biggest opportunity for new banks exists for targeting unbanked rural populations with the right products and services. Opening cost-efficient branches and nimble service centres in suburban and rural areas can substantially boost asset size and simultaneously, bring the much-needed diversification that every lender requires to spread-out its risk.

Sonali in a tight spot over Hall-Mark bills

Sonali Bank is now under fresh pressure to honour the accepted bills of Hall-Mark Group amounting to Tk 1,316 crore, after the Anti-Corruption Commission decided not to investigate the transactions for anomalies.The state-owned bank has been putting off from paying other banks for the bills for almost two years now, as it waited on the results of ACC probe to be certain that no fraud was involved.But ACC's latest move means Sonali has no other option but to make payment to the 26 banks.ACC has decided not to investigate the non-funded portion ofthe Hall-Mark scam. The issue can now be deemed settled, the anticorruption watchdog said in a letter to Sonali last week.Of the Tk 3,547 crore embezzled by Hall-Mark Group between 2010 and 2012, Tk 1,709 crore was non-funded, which comprised mainly letters of credit.Hall-Mark took out Tk 1,316 crore from other banks by presenting the letters of credit issued by Sonali, and as per law, Sonali will have to reimburse them upon presentation of the accepted bills.After the scam came to light in the latter part of 2012, Sonali stopped paying against any of Hall-Mark's bills, a move which has dragged the state-owned bank into a cold war with the 26 banks.The remaining Tk 393 crore was from other Sonali branches, which it settled internally.I think the investigation into Hall-Mark's non-funded loans does not fall under ACC's jurisdiction as no amount of money was actually disbursed by Sonali, Mohammad Badiuzzaman, chairman of ACC, told The Daily Star.He said that Sonali will have to conduct the investigation with the help of Bangladesh Bank.Pradip Kumar Dutta, managing director of Sonali Bank, told The Daily Star that they will take a decision on the matter after discussing it in the board meeting.Meanwhile, the central bank in a letter asked Sonali to clarify its position about the payment to other banks against the accepted bills.We have sought one month's time from the central bank in this regard, Dutta said.However, Zaid Bakht, a member of the Sonali board, said the bank will make payment for the accepted bills after examining them on a case-by-case basis.The bank found that many of the accepted bills pertained to fraud, and Bakht said the other banks had the responsibility to do due diligence before giving acceptance, which they neglected.Sonali will now have to seek advice from the finance ministry and Bangladesh Bank before making payment for those bills, he added.Of the total of 2,342 bills presented, Sonali, however, has already decided to honour 586 of them, which amount to Tk 150 crore.BB to bring banks under central payment system by JulyFactors preventing Bangladesh Bank from launching its National Payment Switch (NPS) have been resolved, and efforts are in full swing to make the services available to customers by July.Once all the banks join the NPS, a customer using a credit or debit card from any bank will be able to make low-cost transactions through any ATM (automated teller machine) and POS (point of sales) across Bangladesh.We are expected to begin the NPS services on full-scale by July, said Dasgupta Asim Kumar, executive director of the central bank. Currently, BB is testing 26-27 services that will be available under the NPS.NPS, which will be a mother payment and settlement gateway, is likely to increase the transparency of internal and cross-border electronic payments, optimise all regulatory and supervisory procedures, and reduce related costs, according to BB.Commercial banks having an ATM, POS, e-payment gateways or mobile payment switches or connected to any other shared switch network will be able to send inter-bank payment instructions to the NPS for clearing and settlement.In January 2012, BB signed a deal with a Singapore-based company to implement the NPS project at $5 million (Tk 40 crore), funded by the World Bank. However, the central bank did not examine whether the vendor can provide the original software.By the time the installation of hardware was completed and 80 percent of the payments were made to the firm, BB came to know that Brussels-based OpenWay Group is the original supplier of the payment switch software across the world.At the launch of the NPS trial services in December 2012, BB Governor Atiur Rahman said all the banks would be connected to the switch in a month or two. But only seven out of 56 banks have joined the NPS so far.The issue rattled finance ministry officials who later asked the central bank to finish the project at any cost. Later, BB contacted IT Consultants Ltd, the local partner of OpenWay, to get the job done.NPS is moving forward and it will 'go live' fully by June, said Kazi Saifuddin Munir, chief executive of IT Consultants that also operates Q-Cash, the largest ATM network in Bangladesh.But the initial benefit will be with ATM transactions. Once the NPS is launched and all banks join the system, an ATM card holder has to pay just Tk 10 per transaction for using any bank's booth in the country instead of the current Tk 20-Tk 40, depending on the inter-bank relationship.Presently, there are around 6,000 ATMs across the country, of which, Dutch-Bangla Bank has 2,500 ATM booths and Q-Cash has 3,000.Banking

Stock & Corporate

MoF asks BSEC to shoulder rent for spl tribunal spaceResponsibility to go to law ministry finally

MoF asks BSEC to shoulder rent for spl tribunal space. Responsibility to go to law ministry finally. MoF asks BSEC to shoulder rent for spl tribunal spaceThe ministry of finance (MoF) has asked the securities regulator to bear the rent of floor space, required to set up a special tribunal for the capital market, from its own funds until the law ministry gets budget allocations, officials said. The MoF said this in a letter sent to the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) on April 21.The instruction of the MoF came following a BSEC letter, which had been sent to the ministry on April 13 last, seeking funds for setting up the special tribunal for quick disposal of the capital market-related cases.

"The BSEC will bear the rent of the space for special tribunal for the time being. The law ministry will bear its rent if it gets budget allocation in favour of the tribunal in the annual budget of the fiscal year (FY) 2014-15," the letter of the MoF reads.

Stocks flatline on profit takingAverage daily turnover tumbles by 14.47pc on DSEThe stock market closed flat last week that ended Thursday with turnover remaining sluggish as investors sold shares to net short-term profit on certain stocks.

The week featured four trading sessions instead of five as the market remained closed on 14 April due to Bangla New Year-1421. Among them, two sessions ended on the red while two others closed higher.

Week-on-week, DSEX, the prime index of Dhaka Stock Exchange went up marginally by 6.19 points or 0.13 per cent to close the week at 4,598.92 points.The other two indices also closed positive. The DS30, comprising blue chips, gained 27.52 points or 1.64 per cent to close at 1,703.16 points. The DSES went up by 14.71 points or 1.71 per cent to close at 1,034.93 points.The port city bourse, the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE), however, went down marginally with its Selective Categories Index, CSCX, lost 31.99 points or 0.35 per cent to close the week at 8,868.71 points.The total turnover amounted to Tk 17.46 billion on DSE which was 31.57 per cent lower than previous week's total value of Tk 25.52 billion as this week featured one less trading session compared to that of the previous week. Stocks flatline on profit takingThe stock market closed flat last week that ended Thursday with turnover remaining sluggish as investors sold shares to net short-term profit on certain stocks.The week featured four trading sessions instead of five as the market remained closed on 14 April due to Bangla New Year-1421. Among them, two sessions ended on the red while two others closed higher.Week-on-week, DSEX, the prime index of Dhaka Stock Exchange went up marginally by 6.19 points or 0.13 per cent to close the week at 4,598.92 points.The other two indices also closed positive. The DS30, comprising blue chips, gained 27.52 points or 1.64 per cent to close at 1,703.16 points. The DSES went up by 14.71 points or 1.71 per cent to close at 1,034.93 points.

Trading disruption hits stock prices on DSE

The market ended Sunday lower with turnover dropped significantly as the investors remained shaky following trading disruption on the prime bourse.Trading was halted on Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) at 10.35am soon after resumption due to technical glitches. However, DSE trading resumed at 1:15pm after two and 40 minutes shutdown and continued till 3:15pm.DSEX, the prime index of the DSE ended at 4,573.56 points, shedding 19.16 points or 0.41 per cent during the day's brief trading session.The other two indices, however, closed into green. The DS30, comprising blue chips gained 0.2.05 points or 0.12 per cent to close at 1,677.68 points. The DSE Index (DSES) went up by 0.75 points or 0.07 per cent to close at 1,020.96 points.The market turnover slowed down following trading disruption. The session witnessed only two hours of trade (instead of the usual four hours) and total turnover amounted to Tk 2.24 billion, registering 46.70 per cent decline over the previous session's value of Tk 4.20 billion."Trading was suspended for two hours in the country's prime bourse - DSE, due to technical malfunction. Selling pressure ignited as trading resumed since the investors' attitude was downbeat," commented International Leasing Securities, in its daily market analysis.

However, some particular scrips like Renata, Marico, Lafarge Surma Cement and GP moved up against the wind and seized positive return, said the International Leasing.

Trade & Market

Furniture makers seek financial lifeline as budget nears

The furniture industry owners have urged the government to slash duty on import of raw materials and offer cash support to stay competitive in the international market. They made the plea at a pre-budget meeting with the National Board of Revenue (NBR) Monday.Small, medium and large business associations attended the meeting and placed their pre-budget proposals for fiscal year (FY) 2014-15. NBR member (customs policy) Md Farid Uddin chaired the pre-budget meeting.Bangladesh Furniture Industries Owners Association president Selim H Rahman proposed reduction of tax to 12 per cent from the existing 74 per cent on lacquer and wood cuttings.They said lacquered furniture is 50 per cent more expensive than varnished types due to high taxes on it. The association leaders also sought tax benefit on sand paper, screw bolt, lock and handles.They expressed the hope that prices of furniture could be reduced in the local market and export in the international market with the tax benefit. Furniture industry owners expressed their grievances over a recent decision of NBR to allow luxury hotels enjoy tax benefit on import of furniture. Bangladesh Soybean and Soya Food Products Association demanded duty-free facility and exemption of VAT on import of raw materials of baby food.The association leaders said they have to import isolated soya protean, rice protean, cashew nut, sun flower oil as raw material of baby food. Currently, high import duty is imposed on those raw materials which should be reduced.Last year challenging for Bangladesh, says ICCB

Calling 2013 one of the most "challenging" years for the economy in recent times, the Bangladesh chapter of ICC said on Saturday the Padma bridge project failure, factory disaster, financial scams, US suspension of trade preferences and political unrest damaged the country's image. Despite the odds, the International Chamber of Commerce Bangladesh (ICCB), in its 19th annual council, said the country has been able to attain a GDP growth of 6.03 per cent in 2013 fiscal year."Political confrontation during the third-quarter of 2013 resulted in tragic loss of lives of innocent people in addition to huge economic losses. Otherwise, the country could have easily achieved more than 7.0 per cent GDP growth," the chamber said in a statement. Although this marks a drop in GDP growth rate for two consecutive years, growth of over 6.0 per cent is quite respectable where the projected growth of developing countries is around 5.0 per cent in 2013, the ICCB said referring to the annual market update of Citibank NA Bangladesh. The drop in GDP growth rate from 6.23 per cent in FY12 is mainly attributed to slowdowns in agriculture and service sector.The slowdown in agriculture sector from 3.11 per cent in FY12 to 2.17 per cent in FY13 is largely due to the base effect of two consecutive years of record growth and lower output due to the falling prices along with weather-related disruptions. However, Bangladesh has successfully coped with the global challenges.Economic growth has also been largely inclusive and broad based, with food production keeping pace with the population growth, significant increase of per capita income in real terms, poverty fell sharply to less than 31.5 per cent coupled with improved life expectancy, higher literacy rate and lower mortality. Population control programmes have also helped in slowing down population growth. The executive board mentioned that Bangladesh has the potential to create at least 15 million jobs in the next ten years.The productivity of Bangladeshi workers is on par with Chinese workers in well-managed firms, with their wages being one-fifth of their Chinese counterparts (half those in Vietnam), the board said mentioning a WB report. The country's unique competitive position comes at a time when China is in the process of outsourcing 80 million jobs from labour-intensive industries.BGMEA President Atiqul Islam thanked ICCB President Mahbubur Rahman and all the members of ICCB for their unqualified support to BGMEA after the Rana Plaza tragedy.

Over hundred sub-contracting apparel factories close downMore than one hundred sub-contracting apparel factories, mostly non-compliant ones, have been closed and many others are at the verge of closure mainly for want of sufficient work, industry insiders said. They said the sub-contracting factories have long been facing dearth of work as big garment makers, who take work orders directly, are either turning away from the third parties or are opting for the compliant ones in the face of strict monitoring of safety measures by the buyers.Lower volume of manufacturing work of their mother companies has also played a role behind the situation. Sources said, the sub-contracting factories randomly engage child labour in production and other safety measures like fire safety, exit facilities and their timely payments are rarely maintained. And after Tazreen and Rana Plaza incidents buyers have become cautious working with such factories."I had been doing sub-contracting work in my factory for a long, but after the deadly incidents, my local buyers have become cautious in giving me work citing poor working conditions and finally I had been forced to close down the factory last month for want of work," Three Star Apparel managing partner Abu Ibrahim admitted to the FE.Another subcontracting factory owner Khalilur Rahman said he and his three business colleagues who were running business on different floors of a rented building tried to upgrade their factories to compliant ones but failed to obtain certifications from the concerned authorities as they failed to fulfill qualifying criteria."Following continuous pressure from the mother companies after the deadly incidents, we have tried to upgrade our factories to a compliant one but failed as our landlord did not follow the building code while constructing his houses and finally we had to declare lay-off in our factory," he added.Mr Rahman, however, urged the authorities concerned, buyers and the big players to give enough time to the sub-contracting factories so that they could upgrade their units."If the parties do not try to understand the reality, then hundreds of such factories would face closure and the big players would also face difficulties in timely shipment."

Stock & Corporate

Salute to SelimaOslo Business for Peace Award

Oslo Business For Peace Award

Leading businesswoman Selima Ahmad has won the prestigious Oslo Business for Peace Award 2014 for her socially responsible and ethical business practices.Selima, vice-chairperson of Nitol Niloy Group and founder of Bangladesh Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BWCCI), is the second Bangladeshi and first Asian businesswoman to win the award. In 2012, Latifur Rahman, chairman and chief executive officer of Transcom Group, got the award, the highest form of recognition given to individuals for fostering peace and stability through creating shared value between business and society.We congratulate you with the exceptional appreciation you have thus been given by the Award Committee, and are truly proud to have you in the exclusive group of Business for Peace Honourees, the Business for Peace Foundation said in a letter to Selima Ahmad.Other honourees of the award this year include Ouided Bouchamaoui of Tunisia, Sir Richard Branson of the UK, Kesha Kumari Damini of Nepal, Adnan Kassar of Lebanon and Marilyn Carlson Nelson of the US. They have been selected out of 120 candidates from 50 countries.The selected honourees are business persons who through their own actions and commitments promote socially responsible and ethical business practices in an outstanding way and stand out as examples to the world.An independent award committee, consisting of Nobel Prize winners in peace and economics, selected the recipients of the award. They will be presented with the awards in a ceremony on May 15 in Oslo City Hall.With this recognition, Selima Ahmad is included in the group of exceptional business personalities like Ratan Tata, chairman of Tata Group in India, who got the award in 2010, and Jeffrey R Immelt, CEO of General Electric in the US, who won it in 2009.I am deeply honoured by this prestigious award which was selected by Nobel laureates. This award recognises the strength, sincerity, integrity, intelligence, commitment and competence of Bangladeshi women in business, Selima Ahmad said in her instant reaction, according to a statement issued by the BWCCI. She said she has been working with all her dedication not only to grow her own business with value and ethics but also to see women entrepreneurship and private sector grow.Congratulating Selima Ahmad, Nitol Niloy Group Chairman Abdul Matlub Ahmad said, Selima deserves this great award as she relentlessly worked to develop BWCCI as a voice for women in business.Her passion to excel through ethical processes has helped Nitol Niloy Group to grow into one of the finest organisations in Bangladesh, he said.Her business integrity, commitment and contribution to society are a beacon of pride and joy for all women of Bangladesh, said BWCCI President Sangita Ahmed, congratulating Selima Ahmad.Selima has been working for the private sector development for the last 28 years and is actively involved in developing more than 7,000 women entrepreneurs.Nitol Niloy Group is one of the reputed business houses and has 26 companies. Of them, six are joint ventures and three are public companies. It has presence in automobiles, cement, paper, real estate, electronics and financial services.The Business for Peace Foundation, formed in 2007 to promote relationship between business and peace, has been awarding businesspersons from across the globe every year since 2009.The partners of the Business for Peace Foundation are The International Chamber of Commerce, the United Nations Development Programme, and the United Nations Global Compact.

Toyota to recall 6.39m vehicles worldwideAutomobile :

Toyota on Wednesday said it was recalling 6.39 million vehicles worldwide for five different problems, marking another blow for the world's largest automaker whose reputation for quality and safety has been dented in recent years."Toyota Motor Corporation announced five recalls involving 26 Toyota models, the Pontiac Vibe and the Subaru Trezia... since a few models are involved in more than one recall, the total number of vehicles that will be remedied is 6.39 million," the company said in a statement.Among the problems are a driver's seat defect, steering column problems, and an engine starter glitch that poses a fire risk, the company said.The vehicles affected include the Corolla sedan, the RAV4 sport utility vehicle and Yaris subcompact.BMW recalls half million cars worldwideGerman automaker BMW is recalling almost half a million vehicles rldwide due to an engine part defect, a company spokesman said Friday.The recall affected models with six-cylinder engines built between September 2009 and November 2011, the spokesman told AFP.In Germany alone, the number was relatively small at 10,800, because most BMW cars sold were equipped with four-cylinder engines.

Automobile

Baishakhi sales cheer boutiques, retailers

Fashion houses and boutiques are abuzz with shoppers who are buying clothes for their near and dear ones to celebrate Pahela Baishakh, the first day of Bangla New Year and the second biggest festival in the country.With political clouds clearing slowly, clothing retailers have registered 30 percent more sales this time than last year.People are now on a buying spree as there is no political unrest, said Azharul Haque Azad, president of Fashion Entrepreneurs Association of Bangladesh that represents more than 50 leading fashion houses.Political situation influences people's purchasing sentiment, said Azad, who is also the managing director of Shada Kalo, a leading fashion house.Several corporate houses have also engaged in promoting sales during Baishakh, which boosted sales.Last year, clothing sales ahead of the festival were hit hard mainly due to the frequent hartals and political unrest.At present, the country has around 4,500 fashion houses that sell locally produced attires with a yearly turnover of Tk 6,000 crore, said Azad.Of the annual sales figure, Pahela Baishakh's clothing sales meet up 25 percent and the month of Ramadan fulfils 50 percent, he said. We have received a good response so far, said Biplop Saha, managing partner of Rang, another leading fashion house that has 13 outlets across the country.An increasing number of customers are buying panjabi, fatua, sari and salwar kamij for the festival, he said, adding that his company's sales grew around 50 percent so far compared to the last year.Soumik Das, another managing partner of Rang and treasurer at the association, said Pahela Baishakh is a festival for the Bangalis, regardless of religion. Cotton clothes are the most popular ones in this season, he said.Sales will increase further today, fashion house owners said.A significant portion of sales are generated in the last two days before Pahela Baishakh, said Sabuj Siddiki, managing partner of Deshal, another fashion house.Siddiki said they expected higher sales yesterday and also hope to achieve big sales figure today.Deshal in its nine outlets countrywide received a good response on fatua sales within a price range of Tk 150 and Tk 450, he said.Traders are also offering discounts and gifts to attract customers.Clothes' prices are a bit higher this time than last year, said Khalilur Rahman, an employee of Jamuna Bank, who bought a panjabi at Tk 1,200 from Aziz Supper Market in the capital on Friday.

References : The Daily Star: the daily star is populated English newspaper in Bangladesh. Website address is www.thedailystar.com The Financial Express : Website is www.thefinancialexpress.com