The Bangladesh Bank (BB) has introduced a refinancing scheme for the housing sector for the first time as a step towards meeting one of the basic needs of the people. Under the new scheme, people belonging to the middle class and lower middle class will be able to purchase apartments or construct dwelling houses of maximum 1250 square feet each with loans from financial institutions.

The Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) has criticised the central bank,s recently announced monetary policy, saying it will push up inflation and lending rate. The chamber urged the government to ensure that administered prices of fuels, utilities and fertilisers are not increased, as higher prices will aggravate the inflationary situation. “It is for such price increases, the inflation rate was higher in the rural areas than in the urban areas,” the MCCI said.

Bangladesh Bank (BB) governor Salehuddin Ahmed on July 18 suggested the local trade bodies to black list the unscrupulous overseas suppliers and buyers who frequently cheat their members. “Not the Bangladesh Bank, rather I urge you (trade organisations) to prepare a list of those buyers and suppliers who cheat you frequently in the international payments system,” BB governor added.

Bangladesh and Sri Lanka decided to intensify talks to establish direct air and shipping links to expand bilateral trade and economic cooperation, reports UNB. A trade delegation from Bangladesh and an aviation team from Sri Lanka will soon visit each other’s capital to increase bilateral trade, which is only US$ 39 million, as well as to establish direct shipping and air links to reduce the cost of business. The agreement was reached at official talks between Bangladesh Foreign Adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury and Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama at state guesthouse Padma in the city on July 17.

Speakers at a workshop on July 17 asked the government for ensuring a level playing field for both the local port operators and foreign investors for the operation of the country’s largest New Mooring container Terminal (NCT). They also underscored the need for fast track modernisation of Chittagong port through private sector participation for raising its efficiency. The speakers were addressing at the day-long workshop held at a city hotel on improving port efficiency: sharing international experience of private container terminal operation.

The Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (Bepza) has taken a number of restrictive measures so that the duty-free bonded warehouse products cannot be illegally channeled to local market from export processing zones (EPZs). The measures include reinforcing vigilance over the EPZs and hike in staff salaries.

The country can earn huge foreign exchange by exporting snake venom, experts told a meeting of the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) in the city on July 15. “There is huge potential for the country to export snake venom, and we should concentrate on it,” said Dhaka University Zoology Department Professor Sohrab Uddin Sarker. Held at the EPB conference room, the meeting was also addressed, among others, by the EPB director general, Gram Bangla Unnayan Committee executive director, and representatives from the country’s snake-charmer community.

The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MOPT) has drafted a proposal to convert the Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board (BTTB) into a public limited company with an authorised capital of Tk 30 billion. The BTTB will be renamed as the Bangladesh Telecom Company Limited (BTCL) according to the draft proposal. The new entity will be a fully state-owned public limited company with total financial autonomy.

The Bangladesh Export Processing Zone Authority will go for aggressive marketing this year to attract investment in three EPZs that remain under-utilised. The EPZs are Mongla, Ishwardi and Uttara in Nilphamari district. BEPZA will take an aggressive approach to attract both domestic and foreign investments in these EPZs,’ BEPZA chairman Brig Gen Ashraf Abdullah Yussuf told a press briefing at his office on BEPZA’s activities in the just concluded fiscal 2006-07. The BEPZA chairman identified the lack of gas and airport facilities as major obstacles to investment and the cause for the poor investment scenario at Mongla and Uttara EPZs.

Foreign adviser Dr Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury held out government offer of special privilege for investment back in the country by Bangladeshi expatriates. ‘For this purpose, a ‘Special Economic Zone’ is being established. Land acquisition is already under process to build this economic zone in Sylhet, he said while addressing the concluding function of International Food Festival at Dhaka Regency Hotel on July 13.

The interim administration has decided in principle to halve the jute sector workforce to make the loss-making state-run jute mills commercially viable. The decision, taken at a special meeting with chief adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed in the chair and would be implemented in phases, will see a loss of about 20,000 jobs in the sector. The jute adviser asserted that the decision would put the jute sector back on track and help it regain its lost glory. The meeting, held at the Chief Adviser’s Office, also discussed a proposal to form a taskforce with officials from the ministries of finance and commerce for ensuring constant monitoring of the mills to implement the government’s decision smoothly.

Imports were up 14 percent to about US$ 16 billion during the last fiscal year (2006-07).

Aiming to register $800 million investment proposals in the current fiscal year, Bepza expects $300 million actual investment in the country’s export processing zones (EPZs) by the end of 2007-08. Bepza (Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority) also set a $2.3billion export target for the current fiscal year. Bepza registered $566 million investment proposals during FY2006-07, a 270 percent rise over the previous fiscal year. The investment in the EPZs in 2006-07 was $152.37 million, which was 35 percent higher compared to that of FY 2005-06, according to Bepza statistics.

The caretaker government is considering shifting of six commercial wings of Bangladesh missions abroad including those in Tehran and Los Angeles to other places for global geopolitical and economic factors. The commerce ministry has also suggested establishing a new commercial council office at Jeddah in Saudi Arabia as trade between the two countries has increased.

CNG-run irrigation pump invented recently by the scientists of Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research can save around 70 per cent fuel cost than that of the diesel-run ones. The locally invented pump will require only Tk 12.75 as fuel cost while the diesel-run pump will need Tk 38 for irrigation per one and half hour, the scientists of the BCSIR said during a trial operation of the new pump in the city on July 12. The scientists hoped that they would be able to market the new pumps within next two months.

The government’s borrowing from the banking sector was 8.48 percent less than the target of Tk 6,531 crore in fiscal year 2006-07 due to low expenditure in ADP (annual development programme) and $100 million credit support from the World Bank for education sector. The government borrowed Tk 5,977 crore from different banks against the revised target last fiscal year.

If proper steps are taken, Bangladesh can earn a huge foreign exchange utilising the golden opportunity from the booming international IT outsourcing business, a seminar in Dhaka made this observation on July 4. “Bangladesh has a golden opportunity of US $ 170 billion international market, but for that the country have to take proactive role to avail of such an opportunity,” Tony Brown, international trade adviser of UK Trade and Investment Department, told the seminar.

Bangladeshis living abroad sent home $5,984 million in the just-ended fiscal year, which was 25 per cent more than the amount remitted a year before. The impressive growth of homebound remittance put the foreign exchange reserves to $5,098 million, well above the safe threshold equivalent of three months’ import bills. The provisional June remittance amounted to $517 million, $44 million less than the May figures.

Japanese industrial giant Honda Denki Co Ltd has expressed its keen interest to invest 1 billion US dollars in Bangladesh’s power, energy and sugar sectors. The investment offer came when president of Japanese firm Shin-ichi Honda met Industries Adviser Geeteara Safiya Chowdhury at her ministry on July 8.

The New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT), country’s largest and one of the leading terminals in South Asia will go public through offloading its 49 per cent shares worth around Tk 4.0 billion. The decision was finalised on July 9 at a meeting held at Chittagong Port. The NCT will go into operation in December this year.