Currency ceiling for out bound travellers increased

Bangladesh Bank has raised the ceiling of local currency for
Bangladeshi people going abroad, brining necessary changes to a
decade-old rule. According to a recent BB circular, any
Bangladeshi can now carry Tk 2,000 while travelling overseas.
Earlier, none was allowed to carry more than Tk 500 as per the rules
of the central bank, implemented in 1949. A Bangladesh Bank
official said the limit of allowable local currency had been
increased so that people could have sufficient money to get home on
their return from overseas.

Emitrates arranger iftar for passengers

Emirates, international airline of the United Arab Emirates, has
taken a number of steps to ensure that all fasting customers are well
taken care of during the fasting month of Ramadan. For flights
departing close to iftar Emirates will provide small snack boxes at
the boarding gates of Dubai International Airport, Terminal 3. The
snack boxes, containing baklawa, dates, a laban drink and water, will
serve as a quick snack so that passengers can break their fast
immediately, a news release said. Specially-prepared large iftar
meal boxes will be served to fasting passengers in-flight and they
will comprise an assortment of traditional Arabic delicacies
including a hot chicken shawarma, crudités, Arabic bread, pistachio,
maamoul, a banana, dates, water and a laban drink. The mill box will
be served in economy class with a similar selection of foods served
to fasting passengers in both business and first class, the release
said. Non-fasting passengers travelling on Umrah and Jeddah
flights will receive a cold meal instead of the regular hot meal for
all flights taking off after sunrise and before sunset, in respect
to the many Muslim passengers completing Umrah on these flights, the
release said.

Dhaka to get $500 millioo stimulus fund from ADB

Bangladesh will get a $500 million loan from the Asian Development
Bank to counter the second round of global economic meltdown, a
senior official said on Monday. 'The hard-term loan will be
utilised for weathering the impact of the global economic crisis,'
said Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan, secretary of the economic relation
division of ministry of finance. 'We have accepted the proposed
loan as the country has already been affected by the second round
impact of the global economic recession,' he told Reuters. An
official of the ADB said the $500 million credit has to be repaid
within five years with a three-year grace period and the LIBOR
(London inter bank offered rate) based interest rate will be
around 2.8 per cent. The ADB already confirmed giving $500 million
to the government from its 'Counter-Cyclical Support Facility Fund'
to face the adverse impact of the global economic recession on
Bangladesh's economy. He said the government might utilise part of
the fund to support the export sectors, which had been hard hit by
the global economic recession. Bangladesh's exports grew 10.3 per
cent to $15.56 billion in the 2008/09 fiscal year that ended in
June, the lowest growth in six years, data showed, reflecting slowing
demand as a result of the global economic slump. In the current
fiscal year's budget the government has a target of $350 million as
budget-support credit from different donors to minimise the fiscal
deficit.

SONY ERICSSON w995 wins EISA awards

W 995, one of the latest editions of the walkman family of Sony
Ericsson, has recently won the EISA Awards. The handset has won the
award for the Best Product on the category of ' European Music Phone
2009-2010', a news release said. Internationally known for the
European EISA Awards, EISA started its journey in 1982. EISA ('
European Imaging and Sound Association') is the unique association of
50 special interest magazines from 19 European countries where
editors-in-chief of these magazines selects the winners of each
category. The W995 is the ultimate in Mobile Entertainment. This
device targets the multimedia enthusiasts by making it easy to
access and playback audio and video media. The W995 is featuring a
2.6 inch display of 240x320 pixels resolution. The phone includes a
music player, Walkman v4.0, with shake control, mini jack input for
favorite earphones and Wi-Fi, the release said. This phone is now
available in Bangladesh at the price of Tk 45,500.

Stanchart offers discount for RAMADAN

Standard Chartered has once again brought the ' Great Discount Offer'
for all its debit and credit cardholders to celebrate the great
festivity of Eid-ul-Fitr. This time 25 renowned brands, with a large
number of outlets across the country, are participating in the
discount campaign, a news release said. The bank's customers will
enjoy an upfront discount of up to 12 per cent simply by using their
Standard Chartered debit or credit card at the partner outlets for
Eid Shopping throughout the month of Ramadan. In his comments,
Sandeep Bose, head of consumer banking of Standard Chartered
Bangladesh, said, 'Our customers are at the centre of all our
activities. As Eid is the biggest festival in the country, we have
launched the ' Great Discount Offer' for our debit and credit
cardholders to add more colour to their celebration.'

Dollar down againrt yen ASIA

The dollar fell against the yen in Asian trade on Tuesday as market
players waited to see whether the next batch of US economic data
will support recent optimism, dealers said. The dollar eased to
93.97 yen in Tokyo afternoon trade, down from 94.56 in New York late
Monday. The euro slipped to 1.4293 dollars after 1.4300 and to 134.33
yen from 135.25. The yen rose as a rally on global stock markets
faltered, dampening demand for risk-sensitive currencies. The
market now wants to see US economic data, especially the consumer
confidence index for August, to be released later Tuesday, said
Resona Bank currency analyst Shigeru Nakane. 'Now that the housing
market has bottomed out and that a correction in manufacturing is
coming to an end, we want to know how consumer spending and
employment are faring,' Nakane said. Against Asian currencies, the
dollar rose to 1. 4417 Singapore dollars from 1.4393 on Monday, to
1,247.00 South Korean won from 1,240.00, to 32.88 Taiwan dollars from
32.84 and to 48.57 Philippine pesos from 48.37. At the same time
it edged down to 9,980.00 Indonesian rupiah from 9,985.00, while
holding steady at 34.00 Thai baht.

IS panel advises reopening of 2 closed jute mills

A parliamentary panel on Tuesday suggested immediate reopening of two
of the five closed jute mills to save the ailing jute sector. The
parliamentary standing committee on the textile and jute ministry at
a meeting suggested that the Qaumi Jute Mills in Sirajganj and
Daulatpur Jute Mills in Khulna should be reopened for the good of the
jute industry and welfare of people working in the sector. Five of
the 27 state-owned jute mills run by the Bangladesh Jute Mills
Corporation have been closed for years and the Awami League
government earlier pledged to reopen all of them. The meeting,
presided over by the committee chairman, Akhteruzzaman Chowdhury, was
informed that the second unit of the closed Adamjee Jute Mills was
expected to be reopened by year-end. Adamjee was shut during the
previous Bangladesh Nationalist Party-led government in 2002 because
of its accumulated losses. Referring to the closure of the Adamjee
Jute Mills, the committee chairman blamed the BNP- led alliance for
destroying the jute sector. It was observed jute industries flourished
in a neighbouring country when such industries in Bangladesh were
shut one after another, he said. 'It was a conspiracy against the
once glorious sector,' Akhteruzzaman said, adding the government has
decided to run all the mills in a meaningful way. The meeting also
discussed progress in jute procurement by the government. It was
also informed the government had allocated Tk 200 crore for jute
purchase, but the authorities gad already procured raw jute worth
about Tk 210 crore. The ministry has sought more funds for raw
jute procurement as the country has a bumper jute yield this year.

Reader's digest files for bankruptey protection

Reader's Digest Association Inc, publisher of the iconic general
interest magazine that began gracing American homes in 1922 and now
reaches a worldwide audience of 130 million, filed for Chapter 11
bankruptcy protection Monday as it faces falling print circulation in
the Internet age and looming debt payments. Known for its
heart-warming stories about American life as other publications moved
toward edgier fare, the company's flagship Reader's Digest magazine
has seen its US circulation drop from a peak of more than 17 million
in the 1970s to just above 8 million last year. Magnifying the
publishing world's woes is an advertising slump that already has led
to the closing of several high-profile magazines, including Conde
Nast's Portfolio, Domino and Blender. But Reader's Digest CEO Mary
Berner has said that ad pages for the company's US magazines are
down less than 6 per cent through the September editions. The
publications' down- home feel instead of a high reliance on luxury
and high-income tastes has an added attraction to advertisers in a
recession that has hurt much of print media. She noted that the
company had several successful ventures, such as the magazine
Everyday with Rachael Ray and cooking site AllRecipes.com. Berner,
however, cited problems with two underperforming properties the
company agreed to sell last year: Books Are Fun Ltd, a company that
sells books at events and book fairs, and QSP, which assists with
fundraising for schools and youth groups. Still, weakness in ads,
lower circulation and a mountain of debt created a perfect storm that
led to the prearranged bankruptcy filing of the privately held
company. The filing had been expected after the company said last
week it had reached an agreement with a majority of lenders.
Reader's Digest said the prearranged bankruptcy filing, which only
affects US operations, would give lenders a 92.5 per cent ownership
stake in exchange for lowering its indebtedness to $550 million from
$2.2 billion. The filing has gotten the approval of more than 80 per
cent of the company's senior secured lenders, critical for a quicker
exit from bankruptcy protection. The publisher expects to emerge
from bankruptcy protection 45 to 90 days after the filing, which was
made at the US Bankruptcy Court in New York. The company piled on
debt following a $1.6 billion leveraged buyout in 2007 by investors
led by Ripplewood Holdings LLC, a New York private equity firm, to
take Reader's Digest private. In such a transaction, investors
typically borrow heavily to acquire a company, betting that
operations would generate enough cash to cover the debt payments.
But signs of trouble have since emerged. In June, Reader's Digest
magazine cut its circulation guarantee to advertisers to 5.5 million
from 8 million, and lowered its frequency to 10 issues a year from
12. Reader's Digest went public in 1990 and was controlled by a
charitable foundation set up by the company's founders, DeWitt and
Lila Wallace. The company bought out the foundation's shares in
2002. Ripplewood and other investors stepped in five years later.
In the Chapter 11 filing, the company's senior secured lenders have
committed $150 million in new debtor-in-possession financing that can
be converted into exit financing once Reader's Digest leaves
bankruptcy protection. The publisher said the financing should give
it ample liquidity for its restructuring. Its international
operations are expected to run on existing funds from continuing
operations and proceeds from the debtor-in-possession financing. The
company said most of its suppliers will be paid in full under the
bankruptcy plan. All of the company's board members who have served
since Ripplewood's acquisition have resigned, aside from Berner. Two
members who recently joined will continue to serve. Pleasantville,
NY-based Reader's Digest publishes 94 magazines and sells about 40
million books, music and video products each year. Reader's Digest
magazine has 50 editions worldwide, reaching readers in 78 countries.

Shipbuilders may get soft loans

Bangladesh Bank, central bank of the country, should introduce
refinancing at a lower rate by the government for industrial loan to
set up shipbuilding industry as well as its working capital, a
government committee has recommended in its report. The committee,
led by Director General of Export Promotion Bureau Md Khalilur
Rahman, was formed to submit report on problems and prospects of the
shipbuilding industry. The report was recently submitted to the
ministry concerned. The report suggested that the single borrower
exposure limit of commercial banks should be increased to 65 per cent
for non-funded facilities from the existing 35 per cent. According
to the present system, single borrower exposure limit of commercial
banks has been fixed at 50 per cent (funded 15 per cent and
non-funded 35 per cent) of the total capital. 'This is not
sufficient for shipbuilding sector in extending non-funded
facilities. It should be increased to 65 per cent for non funded
facilities for investment in the shipbuilding sector,' the report
said. The report made its recommendations in four parts — financial,
human resource development, infrastructure and marketing. In the
financial part, it recommended that the limit of government deposit
in private commercial banks has to be increased from present 25 per
cent to 50 per cent and that should be earmarked for investment in
shipbuilding sector. It also mentioned that commission for import
L/Cs has to be fixed at 0.25 per cent per three months. The
committee also suggested 10 per cent interest for industrial loan
while 7 per cent interest for working capital loan with nil margin
for bank guarantee and nil L/C margin for 100 per cent export
oriented shipbuilding industry. To avoid issuing counter bank
guarantee by a foreign bank as the bank guarantee issued by the
local banks is not accepted by the buyer's bank, the committee
suggested that Bangladesh bank could maintain a record of such
guarantees issued by local banks with cross reference to each other.
In the human resource development part, the committee suggested to
form a committee by the government with the members of marine
engineering department of universities, technical institutions,
concerned association and ship exporting companies to review the
course curriculum every two years and prepare a need basis syllabus.
The report also suggested making necessary arrangement for opening
naval architecture and marine engineering department in the
universities of Khulna, Chittagong and Barisal regions. In the
infrastructure part, the committee suggested to establish a special
zone having technical and geographical facilities including deep
channel, 200+ meter height of bridges on the rivers and uninterrupted
electricity and gas supply for 100 per cent export oriented
shipbuilding industries.

Claim start pumping INDIA oil

Cairn Energy, the Scottish exploration group, said on Tuesday it
would begin pumping its first oil from a huge field in western India
this week, a decade after taking a gamble on the area. 'We are
delighted that production from Mangala (oil field) in Rajasthan is
due to commence this week,' Cairn chief executive Bill Gammell said
in a statement. 'This is a major milestone for the Cairn Group.'
Edinburgh-based Cairn aims to pump 1,75,000 barrels per day (bpd) —
the equivalent of close to 25 per cent of India's current oil output
— from its fields in the desert state of Rajasthan by 2011. Some
industry experts believe that figure could climb to at least 2,05,000
bpd. The company plans to pump 30,000 bpd initially. The new
fields — from which Cairn expects to extract one billion barrels over
40 years — are important as India imports 70 per cent of its oil
needs, putting it among the top ten oil importers globally.
Gammell, a former Scottish rugby star, took a punt in the late 1990s
when he sold off Cairn's North Sea assets and bet — to the bemusement
of many industry watchers — on Rajasthan, which he believed was
under explored. Rajasthan, better known for its royal palaces and
former princes, had not seen any 'gushers' when Gammell in 1997
started buying the rights to Anglo-Dutch giant Shell's oil blocks in
the state. Shell had drilled 10 holes but had little to show for
it and wanted an exit. It sold its final 50 per cent stake to Cairn
for just 7.25 million dollars in 2002. 'This is a world-class
discovery and the potential production is certainly a good story for
India,' said Deepak Pareek, energy analyst at India's Angel Broking.
With its fast-growing economy, India is expected to become the
world's fourth-largest oil importer by 2025, according to US
government energy data. Cairn's Rajasthan fields will save around
$6.8 billion in foreign exchange payments a year, which represents
around seven per cent of India' s current oil import bill, said
Goldman Sachs. Initial output from the field will be exported by
truck, and full production requires completion of an export pipeline
to the coast in the neighbouring Indian state of Gujarat. This
second phase is scheduled to start up by the end of the year,
although the company suggested this target was increasingly
challenging. The Rajasthan oil, in which India's state-run Oil and
Natural Gas Corp holds a 30 per cent stake, lifted Cairn from
relative obscurity and turned it into a leading explorer listed on the
FTSE-100 index of Britain's biggest companies. Gammell, nicknamed
Scotland's J.R. Ewing after the oil baron in the hit US TV show
Dallas, refused to be discouraged in Rajasthan even when things did
not go right. In 2003, after Cairn had spent $100 million digging
15 wells that turned out to be dry, he insisted the company would
strike 'black gold' in Rajasthan's Thar desert. 'There's no doubt
in my own mind that this will go on to prove itself commercially
viable,' Gammell declared then as shareholder pressure mounted for
the company to give up on India as a costly white elephant.
Gammell's belief was vindicated when Cairn struck oil in 2004 with
its Mangala discovery in remote Barmer district. The announcement
came as Cairn also said it had swung into a loss during the first
half of 2009. Cairn has exploration operations in North Africa
and Greenland, whose icy waters it describes as its next 'huge
opportunity,' but most of its existing value is tied up with India.

Trade deficit falls

Bangladesh's trade deficit fell for the first time last year by more
than half a billion dollars. Economists said import costs remained low
over the last fiscal due to the depressed prices of oil, food and
fertiliser in the global market amid the economic downturn. The
low import costs led to a reduced gap, despite a fall in exports,
counter to the country' s previous history of widening trade deficits
year-on-year. Bangladesh Bank governor Atiur Rahman told
bdnews24.com on Monday the reduced trade deficit has been good for
the country's balance of payments. He also praised farmers, for
bumper crops last year, and 'farmers' sons, the remitters', for their
contributions to the economy. The trade deficit stood at $6.94
billion for FY 2008-09, down by $576.39 million from the previous
year. The $7.52 billion trade deficit in FY 2007-08— a year of
natural disasters for Bangladesh coupled with food and oil price
hikes in the global market—was nearly double the $3.45 billion
deficit of FY 2006-07. Bangladesh Bank data shows imports costs
rose by just 4.06 per cent last fiscal, compared to a 26.07 per cent
increase in FY 2007-08 over FY 2006-07. According to the central
bank, Bangladesh imported goods worth $22.50 billion last fiscal,
and $21.63 billion in FY 2007-08. Low import costs more than offset
accompanying low growth in the export sector. Exports grew by just
10.31 per cent in the last fiscal year, compared to 27.45 per cent in
FY 2007-08. The country's exports totalled $15.56 billion in the
last fiscal, compared to $14.11 billion the previous year.
Bangladesh Bank boss Atiur Rahman said the reduced trade deficit has
positively impacted the country's economy and balance of payments,
despite the slow growth in both imports and exports. 'Reserves
reached a more than satisfactory level and are increasing daily.
Foreign reserves surpassed $7 billion just one-and-a-half months ago
and now stands at $8.3 billion,' said Rahman. He said remittances
from overseas workers have contributed to the country's reserves: 'We
can say farmers and their sons are contributing the most overall to
our economy.' 'On one hand, farmers are saving our foreign
currency from being used to import food with their bumper crops, and
on the other hand their sons are sending back foreign currency earned
through their backbreaking labour overseas,' said Rahman. Zaid
Bakht, senior research director of Bangladesh Institute of
Development Studies, also said the trade deficit had fallen because
food imports came down almost to zero and the cost of fuel and
fertiliser had reduced in the global market. 'However, imports of
capital machinery also reduced, and this is evidence of one kind of
sluggishness in the economy in terms of investment,' said Bakht.
'Whatever the reserves are, no benefits will come if investments do
not grow in the country,' he said. Imports of rice came down to
almost zero last fiscal as a result of bumper Boro and Aman crops.
This was in contrast FY 2007-08, when the twin disasters of flooding
and Cyclone Sidr caused widespread damage to many crops, and a global
food crunch caused prices to spiral in the international market.
The price of rice reached $1,000 from $400 per tonne that year, which
combined with rapidly increasing prices of fertiliser and oil to
imports more costly compared to any time in the past. Imports of
rice and wheat declined by 38.31 per cent in the last fiscal year in
comparison to the 2007-08 FY. Although it increased by 142.72 per
cent in the 2007-2008 FY compared to the previous one.

JAPAN close to oil deal with IRAQ

Resource-poor Japan is close to signing a deal with Iraq on the right
to develop a huge oil field in the Middle Eastern country, corporate
officials said Tuesday. Talks between Baghdad and three Japanese
oil developers 'are in progress toward an agreement' to develop the
Nasiriyah oil field in southern Iraq, a spokesman for Nippon Oil
Corp, one of the three energy firms, said. If the deal is reached,
the Nasiriyah oil field will be the biggest in production volume that
Japanese companies have developed, he said. Trade Minister
Toshihiro Nikai told a news conference Tuesday: 'We'll tackle the
project as a team of the government and the private sector.' 'I
hope for a good result,' the minister said. Japan, the world's
second-largest economy, has few natural resources and is almost
entirely dependent on the Middle East for its oil. The Nasiriyah
field is expected to produce 600, 000 barrels a day, about 10 per cent
of Japan's whole crude consumption, Jiji Press reported. Japan,
officially pacifist since World War II, late last year ended a mission
flying goods and personnel into Iraq on behalf of the US-led
coalition and the United Nations. Former prime minister Junichiro
Koizumi earlier took the landmark step of sending troops to Iraq on a
reconstruction mission, the first time since 1945 Tokyo has sent
forces to a country where fighting was under way. Koizumi ended
the troop mission, which was unpopular among voters, before leaving
office in 2006.

Hongkong exports fall by 19.9pc in july

Hong Kong exports plunged 19.9 per cent year- on-year in July, as
overseas demand for Chinese goods remained subdued despite talk of a
global economic recovery, the government said Tuesday. The total
value of shipments dropped to 212.3 billion Hong Kong dollars
($27.22b), the Census and Statistics Department said in a statement.
The decline was significantly bigger than the 5.4 per cent
year-on-year drop in June, when the government recorded the first
single-digit fall in seven months. For the first seven months of
the year, the value of total exports fell 17.7 per cent from the
same period in 2008 as the global slump hit southern China's
manufacturing heartland, which ships many of its products through
Hong Kong. The sharpest drop in the month was recorded for
exports to Malaysia, Britain and Germany, which were all down about
30 per cent year-on- year. The value of imports decreased 17.8 per
cent to 233.9 billion dollars in July. A government spokesman said
the widened decline in July was a regional phenomenon, as the figure
in many other Asian economies continued to be larger than Hong Kong.
The spokesman added the fall suggested that the recovery path would
be 'rather uneven in the period ahead given that demand in overseas
markets has yet to show visible improvement in the near term.'

DSE introduces OTC market september 6

Dhaka Stock Exchange is going to introduce an over the counter
market, a separate trading floor to be used for companies once
de-listed from the normal trading floor, on September 6, said Saiful
Islam, senior vice-president of the bourse. 'After opening the OTC
market, companies will be listed with the market for trading of their
shares after being de-listed from the normal market,' he told New Age
on Tuesday. He said the bourse would de-list non- performing and
non-operational companies. Which listed companies will face the music
is yet to be decided, he said. 'The OTC market will be introduced
at the DSE in accordance with the SEC rules in this connection,'
Saiful said adding 'We are working to have an effective OTC market.'
The Securities and Exchange Commission, stock market regulatory
body, introduced OTC rules in 2001. In July of 2004 the Chittagong
Stock Exchange introduced the OTC market with which four companies,
de-listed from the CSE, are listed. But no trading was held in the
market since its inception, said CSE sources. On June 1, the SEC
asked the Dhaka and Chittagong stock exchanges to prepare a mode of
operation for an effective OTC market for junk shares' trading.
The SEC's instruction came after the DSE had initiated a move to
segregate junk shares aiming to place them into a separate trading
floor instead of normal market. On July 12, the DSE decided that in a
bid to facilitate junk share trading it would set up an OTC market.
Under the OTC system, a separate trading floor will be opened where
interested buyers and sellers of shares of non-performing and
under-performing companies will announce prices and numbers of shares
to be traded. Transaction will take place on the OTC market if the
announced prices of buyers and sellers match. DSE sources said
trading of such companies would take place on the OTC market, meaning
price movement of those shares would not be seen on the electronic
board. The sources said the bourse had no plan to place all the
'Z' category shares into the OTC market but non-operational and
non-performing ones. Out of more than 90 companies now listed
under the 'Z' category, traces of many are not found, while some have
gone out of operations. But trading of shares of those companies is
taking place nonetheless, as many retail investors are unaware of the
companies' present status, according to SEC and DSE sources. From
early July the SEC kept halted the trading of the shares of more than
30 low profile companies.

Intersts waiver on default loans BANGLADESH BANK recommends committee to as its companies

Bangladesh Bank has advised the finance ministry to form a committee
to assist the companies, which were financially affected during the
rule of the past BNP-led four party alliance government and the
military-backed caretaker administration, official sources said.
The finance ministry in last month sought the central bank's advice
on an application for waiving all interests on default loans and
moratorium on their down payments by the companies like the Globe
Janakantha Shilpa Paribar. The Janakantha Shilpa Paribar applied
to the finance ministry for waiving all interests on their default
loans and moratorium on the down payments as they had financially
suffered for the policies of the last two successive
administrations, finance ministry sources said. The BB sent a
letter to the finance ministry on Thursday suggesting that the
problem of Janaknantha should not be considered as an isolated case,
it should rather be dealt in a comprehensive manner. The central
bank also suggested the government to form a committee which would
provide recommendations on the matter after proper scrutiny to
resolve the problem of the affected companies. Usually, the
concerned commercial banks take the decision on waiver of interest on
default loans and moratorium on their down payments basing on the
bank-client relationship. The BB cannot give advice or directive to
the banks in this regard. The central bank has already sent to the
concerned commercial banks the applications of the loan defaulters
who were affected during the tenure of the past four-party alliance
government and the caretaker administration. As per the BB report
as of March 30 last, the amount of default loans of the Janakantha
Limited stood at Tk 17.12 crore.