Courtesy to The Independent press:
The government identified 1,95,678 new potential tax payers and the government expected to earn additional Tk 75 core from the new tax payers, Finance and Planning Minister M Saifur Rahman told the Jatiya Sangsad while responding to a question raised by G M Siraj yesterday.
He also said that the government was continuing its effort to bring more potential people under the tax-net with a view to increasing the volume of revenue.

Replying to a question from Muhammad Giasuddin, the Finance Minister said, the national target of revenue collection for 2003-04 fiscal is Tk 27,750 crore of which Tk 7,507.52 crore was realised during the last four months. In addition, Tk 1,321 crore and Tk 7,100 crore would be available as taxes beyond the National Board of Revenue and non-tax earnings respectively.

Finance Minister M Saifur Rahman told the Jatiya Sangsad, the government has taken a number of initiatives to revamp the country's ailing capital market.

The measures included slashing the rate of corporate tax for the listed companies, making bonus-share free from taxes, offering 10 per cent rebate for companies declaring 20 per cent dividend, bringing changes in the initial public offerings (IPO) to attract the small investors in the primary market and others.

He also disclosed, there were 77,805 loan defaulters taking over Tk 50,000 in the country and legal reforms were made to realise those loans from the defaulters.

The Minister disclosed these yesterday while answering different question of the MPs during the scheduled question-answer session at the 10th session of the 8th Jatiya Sangsad.

"The government has amended the Artanrin Adalat Ain, 1990, and passed a new law styled Artanrin Adalat Ain, 2003 .

The government has also formed a committee, headed by Dr Wahiduddin Mahmud, on loan defaulters after assuming office," said the Finance Minister in reply to questions from Dr Rustom ALi Farazi and M M Shahin.

Besides, in every scheduled banks, task forces, headed by the Managing Directors, were formed to speed up the process of realising the default loans, the Minister added.

Praising Md Giasuddin and A H M Selim for their separate questions, the Finance Minister said that the government took number of measures to reduce dependency on the foreign assistance. The measures include bringing change in the existing tax structure and expanding tax-net of the country.

A total of Tk 32,232.58 crore ($ 6,231.77 million) was received as foreign assistance between 1 July 1996 to 30 September 2003 and Tk 5,730.49 crore ($ 1,117.08 million) was paid as interest for that loan, the Minister disclosed.

In a supplementary to the starred question (three) from Nazir Hossain, the Finance Minister said that the flow of foreign assistance was not smooth during the rule of Awami League (AL) as financial management was in 'disordered'.

"The major foreign assistance in the country comes from the World Bank and Japan and the donors verify the financial management before granting any loan," Saifur Rahman said. He also said that Bangladesh economy was in good shape despite international adverse situation like events of post 9/11 and the war on Iraq.

Nov 16 : Capital market registered growth yesterday, although shares eased at the closing of the day at both the Dhaka and the Chittagong bourses amid falling demand for scripts.

Shares opened firmer and most deals were made at early session on gains.

As a result, the market capitalization at both the DSE and the CSE went up. But some issues lost steam after mid session, pulling more on losers' list.

The benchmark share price index for both the blue chips and ordinary issues went up yesterday.

The DSE-20 Selective Price Index for blue chip shares soar 18.11 points to 1105.41 from Saturday's 1087.3.

The DSE Weighted Average Share Price Index inched up 0.01 points to 823.46.

A total of 2,224,843 shares worth Tk 82.79 million (USD 1.43 million) were traded at the DSE floor yesterday compared with previous day's 2,277,123 shares worth Tk 87.22 million (USD 1.51 million).

In all, 182 issues were traded, of which 78 gained, 74 lost and 30 remained unchanged.

The CSE-30 Selective Price Index for blue chips was 1.43 point higher at 1362.6 from yesterday's 1361.17.

The CSE Trade Volume Weighted Index was slightly up1 at 1841.32.

A total of 743,720 shares worth Tk 14.11 million (USD 0.244 million) were traded at the CSE today against the previous day's 699,191 shares worth Tk 14.85 million (USD 0.26 million).

In all, 43 issues were traded, of which 15 rose, 15 lost and 13 remained unchanged.

The market capitalisation at the DSE was 0.44 percent or Tk 330 million (USD 5.7 million) higher at Tk 75.19 billion (USD 1.3 billion) from Saturday's Tk 74.86 billion (USD 1.29 billion).

The market capitalisation at the CSE went up 1.08 percent or Tk 720 million (USD 12.44 million) to Tk 67.54 billion (USD 1.166 billion) from previous day' Tk 66.82 billion (USD 1.15 billion).

Market News

Capital market showed minor growth yesterday as shares at both the Dhaka and the Chittagong bourses recorded marginal rise on thinner transactions due to fund constraints ahead of Puja holiday.

The market was less active and fewer issues participated on the day's transaction.

The benchmark share price index and market capitalisation at the DSE and the CSE as well went slightly higher yesterday. The DSE-20 Selective Price Index for blue chip shares moved up 1.87 points to 980.78 from Thursday's 978.91.

The DSE Weighted Average Share Price Index was slightly higher 823.24. A total of 576,327 shares worth Tk 16.91 million (USD 0.29 million) were traded at the DSE floor yesterday compared with previous day's 616,912 shares worth Tk 23.5 million (USD 0.406 million).

In all, 155 issues were traded, of which 60 gained, 49 incurred losses and 46 remained unchanged. The CSE-30 Selective Price Index for blue chips inched up 0.12 points to 1165.43 from previous day's 1165.31.

The CSE Trade Volume Weighted Index also went up slightly to 1841.23. A total of 79,705 shares worth Tk 1.5 million (USD 0.026 million) were traded at the CSE yesterday against Thursday's 156,723 shares worth Tk 3.19 million (USD 0.055 million). In all, 34 issues were traded, of which 7 gained, 10 lost and 17 remained unchanged.

The market capitalization at the DSE made marginal gain by 0.06 per cent or Tk 40 million (USD 0.69 million) to Tk 66.69 billion (USD 1.152 billion) from Thursday's Tk 66.65 billion (USD 1.151 billion).

The market capitalisation at the CSE was 0.0167 per cent or Tk 10 million (USD 0.17 million) higher at Tk 59.92 billion (USD 1.035 billion) from previous day's Tk 59.91 billion (USD 1.035 billion).