Bangladesh to continue to get Canada GPT

Bangladesh’s extensive diplomatic efforts and constant lobbying have helped ensure the export of $1 billion readymade garments export to Canada, and paved the smooth way for future export, said an official release on Thursday.

Canadian Parliament has recently decided to amend the relevant criteria in review of the General Preferential Tariff and the Rules of Origin.

This important decision has culminated into a safeguard for the existing $1 billion export from Bangladesh to Canada and future growth in the apparel sector.

Bangladesh high commissioner to Canada Kamrul Ahsan said the Canadian decision came as a great relief after intense diplomatic efforts with the Canadian government, read the release.

He thanked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Commerce as well as BGMEA for their all-out support to Bangladesh High Commission in Ottawa for maintaining close coordination.

The envoy said this decision would not only ensure the continued growth of Bangladesh-Canada trade relations but also save the

jobs of thousands of women workers in Bangladesh’s apparel industry.

Earlier in December 2012, the review of the GPT guidelines proposed that if at least 60 per cent of the value of a product had not been from raw materials from one or more of the GPT beneficiaries, the exporter country would lose the GPT facilities in Canada.

The challenge for Bangladesh was that more than 90 per cent of the imported raw materials were from countries which would cease to be GPT beneficiaries after June 2014.

As per the proposed review of the Rules of Origin, Bangladesh was supposed to lose GPT facilities, including duty- and quota-free access for its RMG export to Canadian market due to Bangladesh’s high dependence on future graduating countries from the GPT regime, like India, China and Thailand.

Even though Bangladesh and countries like that under the Least Developed Country Tariff would continue to get GPT facilities beyond 2014, the consequences of the proposed review of the Rules of Origin was about to create a collateral damage to Bangladesh’s RMG sector and its export to Canada.

The Canadian Budget 2013 has, therefore, announced the following, ‘The Government (of Canada) will also ensure that graduating countries from the GPT regime does not reduce the benefits of the Least Developed County Tariff (LDCT) regime.’

The General Preferential Tariff and Least Developed Country Tariff Rules of Origin Regulations will be amended in order to continue allowing the duty-free importation of textiles and apparel from least developed countries that are produced using textile inputs from current GPT beneficiaries. (Source)

Atiur Rahman gets 3-year extension as Bangladesh Bank governor

The government has extended the tenure of Atiur Rahman as the Bangladesh Bank governor for another three years.

Atiur, whose current tenure expires on May 1, will now serve as the central governor till August 2, 2016.

An official order to this effect was issued by the public administration ministry on Wednesday night.

He was appointed as the 10th governor of the central bank on April 28, 2009 for four years after the present Awami League-led government took office.

Atiur took over the charges on May 1 of the same year. (Source)

DSE demands Tk 5,000cr budgetary allocation

The Dhaka Stock Exchange on Thursday demanded Tk 5,000 crore budgetary allocation for the stock market in next budget and suspension of banks’ stock loss provisioning until 2014.

‘The finance ministry needs to allocate Tk 5,000 crore in the next budget to support the market  in its crisis situation,’ DSE president Rakibur Rahman told in a press briefing.

He said the market is going through a tough phase and a government mechanism to support the market is needed to boost the investors.

He also said the Bangladesh Bank should exempt banks from provisioning of stock market losses until June 2014. 

In the last six weeks, the benchmark index of Dhaka Stock Exchange, DSEX, lost 621 points amid significant fall of turnover.

The previous benchmark index of the bourse, DGEN, reached its record high on 5 December 2010 to 8,918.51 points which closed at 3,657.03 points on Wednesday.

‘We are trying at our level but as a stock exchange we do not have the authority to change government policies,’ Rakibur said.

He said if some government high-ups are making comments that DSE is delaying the demutualisation process then it will not reflect the truth.

‘We prepared the demutualisation act and submitted it to the finance ministry which is waiting to pass it in the parliament. So, the delay is surely not from our end,’ he said.

The finance minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith on Monday told reporters that the brokers and dealers were manipulating the market for delaying demutualisation which was causing the recent fall of the market.

Rakib said the recent fall of the market was because of the ongoing political unrest in the country for last few months.

‘Was it the DSE who created the political problem or we have the responsibility or capacity to resolve the problem,’ he asked.

He said in the developed economy like USA they had stock market crash in 2009 but they recovered the crisis through a combined effort by the government and the central bank.

‘President Obama or the federal reserve’s chairman never blamed anyone but tried to solve the crisis with combined efforts,’ said Rakib.

He also said the government and the central bank should clear the confusion about banks stock market exposure to capital market under the new Bank Companies Act.

‘The International Monetary Fund has proposed 25 per cent of the regulatory capital which includes paid-up capital, some portion of liabilities and retained earnings. But the finance ministry is preparing the act with a provision of 25 per cent of the equity,’ he said.

He said that the IMF proposal is less harmful for the market than the finance ministry move.

Rakib said around Tk 24,000 crore was raised from the stock market since 2009 which helped the industrialisation of the country and also helped banks to fulfil their BASEL-II requirement of increasing paid-up capital. 

DSE senior vice-president Ahmed Rashid Lali said the government needed to focus on policy adjustment rather than making sweeping comments.

‘It is unfortunate that whenever market makes an uptrend some comments from responsible chairs make the situation gloomy,’ he said.

He said the market is a very sensitive place and such comments from government high-ups hurt the mindset of the investors. (Source)

Dhaka stocks return to red on fresh political tension

Dhaka stocks ended down on Thursday after a two-day rise which was preceded by a seven-day fall due to renewed tensions on the country’s political front.

The key index of Dhaka Stock Exchange, DSEX, finished at 3,507.85 points, shedding 0.51 per cent or 18.27 points.

The DSEX had gained 68.03 points in the previous two trading sessions after losing 436.51 points in seven trading sessions.

Market operator said investors were worried about the market trend amid fresh political tensions.

They also said that the stock market might not be stable until the political confrontations end.

Political stability in the country is much needed for a stable capital market, they said.

An investor said the country’s stock market would not be stable if the political turmoil persisted.

The DGEN, old benchmark general index of the bourse, declined by 0.44 per cent, or 16.46 points, to finish at 3,657.03 points on the day.

The DGEN had gained 63.08 points in the previous two trading sessions after losing 366.48 points in seven trading sessions.

DS30, the blue-chip index of the bourse, declined by 0.66 per cent, or 8.80 points, to finish at 1,310.96 points on the day.

The DS30 had advanced by 26.52 points in the previous two trading sessions after losing 134.96 points in seven trading sessions.

‘After displaying sporadic movement throughout the session, the DSEX posted a moderate 18.28 points loss as week ended. Natural buy pressure slowed as market sentiment backtracked over political developments,’ IDLC Investments said in its daily market commentary.

‘In addition, some profit-taking took place as two consecutive green sessions have generated some short-term gains for investors. However, overall participation stayed dry as investors still refrain from fresh investments over grim investment outlook,’ it said.

Total 4,51,33123 shares worth Tk 145.40 crore changed hands on the day.

Of the 265 issues traded on the day, 126 advanced, 116 declined, and 23 remained unchanged.

Newly-listed securities on Thursday continued to dominate the trading as Premier Cement advanced by 3.02 per cent while Orion Pharma declined by 2.98 per cent and Argon Denims declined by 3.27 per cent on the day.

Fuel and power sector gained the most on Thursday with a 0.26-per cent rise and pharmaceuticals sector increased by 0.24 per cent.

Premier Cement topped the turnover leaders of the day with its shares worth Tk 8.04 crore changing hands on the day.

The other turnover leaders were United Airways, Orion Pharma, Lafarge Surma Cement, Argon Denims, Generation Next Fashions, RN Spinning Mills, Unique Hotel, Beximco and Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company. (Source)

SAARC insurance regulators’ confce begins tomorrow

The two-day SAARC insurance regulators’ conference will begin in the capital tomorrow with a view to sharing the experiences among the regulators in the region.

To this end, a press conference was organised by the Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority at the IDRA office in the city.

Speaking at the press conference, IDRA chairman M Shefaque Ahmed said this was the first time such a conference would be held and the IDRA had initiated to organise the programme.

‘The main purpose of the conference is to develop the insurance sector in the SAARC region. We will share our experiences and opinions in the conference. The IDRA will implement the lessons learnt to promote the country’s insurance sector,’ he added.

The chiefs of insurance regulators in Sri Lanka, Nepal, Maldives and Bhutan will attend the conference, said the IDRA chair.

The experts will discuss 15 articles in eight sessions of the conference and then a proposal sheet will be prepared on the basis of the articles to promote the region’s insurance sector, he added.

‘We appeal to the insurance regulators of the SAARC region to take initiatives to organise the conference every year,’ said Shefaque.

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the conference at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in the city as the chief guest while finance minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith will be present at the inaugural ceremony as a special guest.  (Source)