The news of Indian company Malabar Gold & Diamond's
doing business in Bangladesh has raised concerns among those involved in
Bangladesh's gold industry. Panic has spread, especially among goldsmiths and
factory owners. They think that if Indian company Malabar brings readymade Jewellery
to Bangladesh, it will lose millions of goldsmiths involved in this industry.
All the hundreds of years old jewelry factories will be closed. At the same
time, the possibility of exporting Bangladeshi Jewellery in the global market
will be ruined.
It is learned that Malabar Gold and Diamond announced to do
business in Bangladesh at the 3rd Bangladesh Economic Forum held in the second
week of this month. Although the company has its main business office in Dubai,
the Indian company said it will bring gold Jewellery worth 100 million to
Bangladesh in the next three to five years. Amir CMC, Director of Finance and
Administration, Malabar Gold and Diamonds, made the announcement at a forum
held at the Movenpick Grand Hotel in Dubai.
The country's goldsmiths and factory owners panicked after
Malabar's announcement. They said that mainly those involved in the country's
gold smuggling ring and conspiracy to destroy the gold industry are fueling
Malabar to come to Bangladesh. They have also announced to stop Malabar from
coming to Bangladesh at any cost to save the country's gold industry and make
it export-oriented.
Dinesh Chandra Pal, general secretary of Dhaka Goldsmiths
Workers' Union, said that an unscrupulous group was involved in smuggling
foreign readymade Jewellery into the country. They want foreign readymade
jewelers to come and do business in Bangladesh. This cycle seeks to destroy
Bangladesh's potential gold industry in the international market. Now they are
conspiring to bring Indian company Malabar to Bangladesh. He also said that at
present, due to the arrival of readymade Jewellery from abroad, the local
artisans do not get jobs. For this, goldsmiths are moving to other professions.
Dinesh Chandra Pal said, "We have sent letters to
different ministries of the government at different times to stop the import of
readymade Jewellery." We have repeatedly requested the government to give
the opportunity to the country's gold industry to become the main export
product after garments. But there is no response from the government in this
regard. But there is a huge demand for jewelry made by our artisans abroad. The
finishing and beauty of the handicrafts made by the artisans here is unmatched
anywhere else in the world.
Calling the attention of the Prime Minister, Shankar Basak,
senior co-president of the Dhaka Goldsmiths Workers' Union, said that foreign
companies should also stop importing foreign Jewellery. Otherwise the gold
artists of this country will die without eating. At the same time, the
country's export-oriented industrial sector will be completely destroyed.
Gangacharan Malakar, president of the Dhaka Goldsmiths
Workers Union and founder president of Bajus, said Dubai is the main market for
gold exports around the world. All the countries have their showroom there except
Bangladesh. The success of this industry will not come till we start exporting
gold Jewellery. The government's export income will not increase. The
government should not allow foreign companies to do business but should give us
the opportunity to export the Jewellery we have made. We will bring more export
income to the government than garments.
Mentioning that there is an opportunity to export
Bangladeshi Jewellery all over the world, he said, "We did take initiative
in this regard more than once." But did not get any response from the
government. Now the government should take the initiative taken by Bashundhara
Group and make it bigger.
Comment
Comment
Bangladesh Bank has marked 10 banks as weak banks. This list
has been made by considering the level of classified loans, capital adequacy,
loan-deposit ratio and the amount of provisioning or security.
This was stated by Governor Abdur Rauf Talukder in ‘Meet the
press’ organized at the Jahangir Alam conference room of the Central Bank on
Thursday (August 4). However, he did not mention the names of the banks.
The report of the central bank in Meet the Press said that
the master circular regarding debt rescheduling and restructuring has been
issued to ensure transparency and accountability regarding the implementation
of bank decisions in debt management. According to the conditions mentioned in
this circular, the banks will be able to decide on the above matters
themselves, which was done earlier in a very opaque and uneven manner.
In order to identify relatively weak banks, four variables
such as level of classified loans, capital adequacy, loan-deposit ratio and
amount of provisioning have been taken into consideration. Based on this, 10
weak banks have been identified.
Bangladesh Bank is starting discussion process on one-to-one
basis with the identified weak banks to solve their problems. In this case, the
banks will give a three-year business plan, the progress of which will be
monitored by a senior official of Bangladesh Bank.
The governor said, I do not want to name the weak banks.
However, the name has already appeared in the newspaper. Our aim is to make
banks financially stronger through development.
Comment
Inflation eased in July compared to June. What was 7.56
percent in June has decreased to 7.48 percent in July.
Planning Minister MA Mannan gave this information in a press
conference at the Planning Commission on Wednesday (03 August).
The Planning Minister said that inflation was 7.56 percent
in June. It has dropped to 7.48 percent in July. Inflation decreased by 0.8
percent in one month. Inflation is expected to decrease further this month.
Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics mainly calculates inflation
for 422 products. In this case, food price inflation was 8.93 percent in June,
it has decreased to 8.79 percent in July.
According to Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, although food
inflation decreased in July compared to June, non-food inflation increased.
Non-food inflation was 6.51 percent in June. It increased to 6.58 percent in
July.
In this regard, the Planning Minister said that inflation
has come down due to the reduction in prices of rice, oil and wheat. Shipments
of wheat are also coming from Russia.
Comment
The financial year 2021-22 has just ended. In this financial
year, the trade deficit is 33.25 billion dollars (more than 3 lakhs 14 thousand
crore Tk), which is the highest in the history of the country. At the same
time, the deficit in the current account balance of foreign transactions also
exceeded 18.5 billion dollars. Last financial year there was a trade deficit of
23.77 billion dollars.
This information was found in a report published by
Bangladesh Bank on Monday (August 1) on the balance of foreign transactions
(balance of payments) for the financial year 2021-22.
Bangladesh has a big deficit in current account balance.
Deficit (negative) for the outgoing fiscal year stood at $18.69 billion. In the
previous fiscal year 2020-21, the deficit was $4.57 billion during the same
period.
In addition, the deficit amount in the overall transaction (overall
balance) of the financial year 2021-22 has stood at 5.38 million dollars. However,
in the same time of the fiscal year 2020-21, this index had a surplus of 9.27 billion
dollars.
According to the report, remittances equal to 21.03 billion
dollars came to the country in the outgoing financial year. This is 15 percent
less than the same period of the previous fiscal year.
According to the report, the export income in the last
financial year was 49.24 billion dollars. Export income has increased by 33.45
percent compared to the previous financial year. At the same time, the import
expenditure was 82.49 billion dollars. Imports increased by 35.95 percent.
Trade deficit also widened as imports grew faster than exports.
The trade deficit of the services sector also increased
during the period. Bangladesh earned 9.98 billion dollars in services sector in
the outgoing financial year. On the other hand, the country has spent 13.85 billion
dollars in the service sector. Deficit of service sector stands at 3.87 billion
dollars. The deficit was $3.02 billion in the same period of the previous
fiscal year 2020-21.
Comment
The remittance flow of the country has returned again. This
flow increased due to remittances sent by expatriates during the month of Eid.
In the first 21 days of this July, 164 crore 28 million USD of remittances have
arrived in the country. As per the current exchange rate of the local currency
(Tk 95 per dollar), this amount is Tk 15 thousand 606 crore. An average of 743
crores per day.
This information has been revealed in the latest report of
Bangladesh Bank on remittances.
According to the data of the Central Bank, Bangladeshi
expatriates sent remittances of 2103 crores 17 lakhs (21.3 billion) US dollars
to the country through banking channels in the recently concluded fiscal year
2021-22, which is 15.11 percent less than the previous fiscal year. In the
fiscal year 2020-21, expatriates sent remittances of two thousand 477 crore 77
lakh (24.77 billion) dollars.
Remittances of 183 crore 72 million dollars came in June.
This figure is 48 million dollars less than the previous month. In May this
year, remittance of 188 crore 53 lakh came in the country.
Meanwhile, due to the dollar crisis in the country, the
value of money is decreasing. In the interbank currency market, the central
bank is now selling dollars to commercial banks at the rate of 94 taka 45
paisa. Means that Bangladesh Bank is selling dollars to the banks at this rate
to meet the government import bill.
Earlier, this rate was 86 taka 45 paisa in early May this
year. According to this, the value of taka has decreased by 8 in two months.
However, it has been found out in various banks and curb
markets, now banks are charging 96 to 98 taka for import bills, selling cash
dollars for 99 to 100 taka. And dollars are being sold at Tk 102 to Tk 104 in
the open market or curb market outside the bank.
Comment
The Chattogram Customs House has started to realise VAT from the business houses which imported bitumen and got it released without paying revenue as per amended SRO. It already served notice upon three importers for realising VAT against seven released consignments. The customs realised Tk 43 lakh from an importer as against the released bitumen...
The financial year 2021-22 has just ended. In this financial year, the trade deficit is 33.25 billion dollars (more than 3 lakhs 14 thousand crore Tk), which is the highest in the history of the country. At the same time, the deficit in the current account balance of foreign transactions also exceeded 18.5 billion dollars. Last financial year there was a trade deficit of 23.77 billion dollars.
The remittance flow of the country has returned again. This flow increased due to remittances sent by expatriates during the month of Eid. In the first 21 days of this July, 164 crore 28 million USD of remittances have arrived in the country. As per the current exchange rate of the local currency (Tk 95 per dollar), this amount is Tk 15 thousand 606 crore. An average of 743 crores per day.