FE Report:
Tan Ghazzali Sheikh Abdul Khalid, chairman of Axiata (Bangladesh) will visit Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) today (Tuesday) to discuss about its share flotation on the stock market. His visit came amid huge demand for telecom shares as it has clearly been evident in case of the country's telecom giant Grameenphone, which made debut on the bourses -- Dhaka Stock Exchange and Chittagong Stock Exchange-- on November 16 last year. It is the sole telecom company listed with the bourses. Khalid, who will arrive today (Tuesday) morning on a three-day visit in Bangladesh, will sit with DSE boards, led by its president Rakibur Rahman. Aktel, the country's third largest mobile operator, is a joint venture company between Axiata and NTT DoCoMo of Japan. It commenced its operations in 1997 in Bangladesh. As of December 2009, it net 9.29 million subscribers, far well behind from Grameenphone that added 23.26 million subscribers during the period. Read More

FE Report:
The preparation for the proposed Grant funded project "Strengthening Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General" is going on under the broad umbrella of "Strengthening Public Expenditure Management Program (SPEMP)" funded by Multi Donors Trust Fund. The World Bank is administering the trust fund after the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) and development partners have reviewed the performance of OCAG and found that there is a substantial continuing need for assistance to improve operations to international standards. An independent and a well functioning Supreme Audit Institution is essential for public financial management system to ensure accountability and good governance. The Constitution of Bangladesh established the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (OCAG) as the Supreme Audit Institution. Read More

FE Report:
The RN Spinning Mills Limited, acrylic and synthetic yarn manufacturer, will make debut today (Tuesday) on the stock market. The company offered 3.0 million shares for public with the face value Tk 100 each to raise Tk 300 million from the stock market. It will be the 12th listed textile company on the stock exchanges-Dhaka Stock Exchange and Chittagong Stock Exchange. The raised fund from initial public offering will be used for loan repayment and expansion of its operation. The pre-IPO paid-up capital of the company is Tk 673.01 million. As of December 31, 2008, the company's earning per share (EPS) is Tk 19.37 and net asset value (NAV) Tk 114.0. Read More

FE Report:
The power division is going ahead with a plan to offload shares of its three companies on the stock market. The division will hold a meeting today (Tuesday) to decide how much money it will raise by offloading shares of DPDC, PGCB and Rural Power Company, power division secretary Md Abul Kalam Azad told the FE. The other details will also be discussed at the meeting, he said. The division is working in line with the government decision to offload shares of state-owned companies as there is a dearth of good scrips in the market. Read More

FE Report:
The Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dhaka (MCCI) Thursday said during the October-December FY10 quarter, the main challenge for monetary policy was to maintain stability in the domestic financial markets. Reviewing the economic situation of October-December 2009, the leading chamber of the country said in the background of excess domestic liquidity which could have fuelled the inflationary pressure and led to a sharp depreciation in the exchange rate, the Bangladesh Bank tightened its monetary policy stance somewhat by increasing the treasury bill rates. Read More

FE Report:Mashiur Rahaman
Two private companies --- Ocean Container Limited (OCL) and Khulna Power Company Limited (KPCL) --- got the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) nod to go public through direct listing Thursday. It also approved rights offers for Mercantile Bank at the ratio of 2:3. The OCL will offload 11.90 million ordinary shares with face value of Tk. 10. The KPCL will offload 52.14 million (5,21,48,250) ordinary shares, which will also have a face value of Tk. 10. Read More

FE Report:
National Board of Revenue (NBR) chairman Nasiruddin Ahmed Thursday urged all citizens to pay taxes properly in order to make the country self-reliant and a developed one. He said this at a motivation meeting on expansion of tax base and economic development of the country at Munshiganj Shilpakala Academy Auditorium. NBR member (tax administration and management) Syed Aminul Karim said, "Surveys for tax base expansion would make the taxpayers aware of their duties as well as ensure contribution of every citizen to the country's financial development." Read More

FE Report:
Tardy decision-making and byzantine bureaucracy have constrained financing of large and small infrastructure projects in the country, officials said Tuesday, threatening to dysfunction a US$165 million loan facility funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The ADB-financed Public-Private Infrastructure Development Facility (PPIDF) was touted as a crucial initiative to catalyse private investments of more than $600 million, but sources said the government's delay in approving eligible projects has idled the lending vehicle. Read More

FE Report:Mashiur Rahaman
The country's manpower export sector started the calendar year with marginal decline, as all traditional destinations, except one, remained almost non-responsive to fresh recruitment. The largest remittance generating sector of the country witnessed a 33.15 per cent fall in January 2010 against the same month of the previous year, an Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment Ministry source told the FE. "Despite recovering economy after the global financial recession, most of the prime migrants' destinations remained closed for our desperate job seekers," the ministry official said. Read More

FE Report:
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is partnering with Bangladesh's Supreme Seed Co. Ltd to increase production and supply of stress- tolerant rice and vegetables seeds that can withstand harsh weather conditions. Such initiatives are critical to ensuring national food security and reducing the vulnerability of farmers in stress-prone regions. The SouthAsia Enterprise Development Facility, managed by IFC in partnership with the United Kingdom's Department for International Development and the Norwegian Agency for Development, will provide advisory support to Supreme Seed in the project. The facility aims to build the private sector's capacity to produce, promote, and distribute better seeds in a timely and cost-efficient manner. Read More

FE Report:
Dhaka stocks set new records both in turnover and rise of the market Tuesday, despite the securities regulator's market cooling measures as money from new investors continued to be pumped into the market. The flow of fresh fund shrugged off the measures of the Securities and Exchange Commission, taking the market to new highs, analysts said adding that the measures just drove the investors towards the fundamentally-strong shares. Read More

FE Report: Sheikh Shahariar Zaman
Bidding for shares of Ocean Containers Limited (OCL) is expected to begin by mid-February as the finance ministry has given its nod to the company to offload shares through direct listing. The ministry also approved direct listing of Khulna Power Company Limited (KPCL). "We received the finance ministry's letter Monday giving approval to direct listing of the companies and we hope to complete the formalities at the Securities and Exchange Commission within a week," SEC Chairman Ziaul Haque Khandakar told the FE. The companies were allowed to go for direct listing as they applied before November 5, the day a finance ministry meeting decided not to allow any private company to offload shares through direct listing, he explained. Read More

FE Report:
In recognition of efficient project implementation, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Sunday awarded to its five best performing project teams for 2009 in Bangladesh. The best project recognition programme, initiated in 2001, is part of an ongoing effort by ADB to continuously improve the development effectiveness of the projects that the donor agency finances in Bangladesh. In reflection of these efforts, ADB in 2009 achieved contract awards of over $1.2 billion, and disbursed around $1.1 billion in development assistance to Bangladesh, which was an all time high for ADB in the country. Read More

FE Report:
Dhaka stocks declined on profit taking in the heavily fluctuating market Sunday with the turnover crossing Tk 16.0 billion (1,600 crore)-mark for the first time. The market fell sharply in the morning on selling pressure mounted on profit taking as the benchmark index plummeted by 72 points to reach the lowest level of 5,328 points. It, however, recovered well on late buying pressure in banking stocks. The benchmark DSE General Index (DGEN) closed at 5,367.10 with a meagre fall of 23.37 points or 0.43 per cent. Broader All Shares Price Index (DSI) declined 19.85 points or 0.44 per cent to end at 4,422.80, while DSE 20 comprising blue chip index gained 22.39 points or 0.74 per cent to 3,030.18. Read More

FE Report:
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Sunday asked the authorities concerned to remove all bottlenecks that block investment in the country from home and abroad, reports UNB. "Creating complexities is not a credit. You have to cast off this type of attitude," the Prime Minister said as she took stock of the country's economic situation in a high-level meeting with the economic points-men at the Prime Minister's Office. She presided over the review meeting on 'Fiscal management and economic situation'. Finance Minister AMA Muhith, Planning Minister AK Khandaker, advisers to the Prime Minister HT Imam and Mashiur Rahman, Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman, Cabinet Secretary Abdul Aziz, Principal Secretary MA Karim, Planning Secretary Habibullah Majumder, NBR Chairman Nasiruddin Ahmed and ERD Secretary Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan were present. Read More

FE Report:
Delta Brac Housing Finance Corporation Ltd., known as DBH was rated 'AAA' (Triple A), top to the rating scale for long term and ST-1 for short term for the fourth consecutive year. Mr. Hamidul Huq, managing director of Credit Rating Agency of Bangladesh (CRAB) handed over the Credit Rating Report to Mr QM Shariful Ala, managing director of DBH at a function held at the latter's corporate office in Dhaka. Senior officials of DBH and CRAB were present at the function. Read More

FE Report:
RAK Ceramics, a Bangladesh-UAE joint venture, has started process under book-building method to hit the country's stock market. It is the first company, which will make debut on Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE), using such modern pricing mechanism for initial public offering (IPO) introduced in March of last year. As part of the process, the tiles and sanitary-ware maker held an IPO road show to woo the eligible institutional investors in a city hotel Saturday. RAK received primary approval for floating shares from the securities regulator in December. Read More

FE Report: Sheikh Shahariar Zaman
In order to ensure delivery of smooth and most reliable remittance services to NRBs living and working in Canada, Export Import Bank of Bangladesh Limited has started operation of its wholly owned subsidiary "EXIM Exchange Company (Canada) Ltd" recently in Canada. EXIM Bank Chairman Md Nazrul Islam Mazumder inaugurated the exchange house as the Chief Guest, while Bangladesh High Commissioner to Canada Yakub Ali graced the occasion as special guest. Director of EXIM Bank Ms Nasrin Islam was also present in the opening ceremony. Read More

FE Report: Sheikh Shahariar Zaman
Mr. Annisul Huq, newly-elected President of SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SAARC CCI) said the miraculous economic development of China could be beneficial to South Asian economies provided compatible measures to enhance bilateral trade and investment are taken at Government level as the private sector of South Asia was ready to share economic benefits. Mr Huq, also the President of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) made the comments at the inaugural ceremony of a seminar of South Asia-Sichuan Business Seminar held recently at Chengdu, China held recently. Read More

FE Report
This is in response to Biman CEO's article published in your pages on January 28th. To quote his lines: "Brand Gurus call them Brand Pillars on which lofty promises are to be built and sustained"! However, performance in line with promises is beyond Biman's capabilities. Is change in livery and paint, along with lofty promises, all that will transform our sick airlines back to health? Frustrated customers' comments about Biman are unflattering, given Biman's miserable performance, frequent flight cancellations. With this inheritance, how does the CEO dare to have some "rational realism"; forget about "lofty promises"? As of today, "Reliability" and "World Class" in not anywhere in Biman's vocabulary! In reality, Biman is "Rotten instead of Reliable" and "Woeful instead of World Class"! One only travels in Biman when they are no other options open. Read More