A veteran economist at the International Monetary Fund has accused the global lender of suppressing information on difficulties in dealing with the global financial meltdown and euro zone crisis.

In a resignation letter to the IMF's board and senior staff, dated June 18, Peter Doyle said the IMF's failures in issuing timely warnings for both the 2007-2009 global financial crisis and the euro zone crisis were a "failing in the first order" and "are, if anything, becoming more deeply entrenched."

The Daily Star/Bangladesh/ 22th July 2012

The government's tax receipts from brokerage commission declined nearly by a half last fiscal year as a continuous downtrend reduced share transactions drastically on the Dhaka bourse.

The government received

Tk 169 crore in tax on brokerage commission in fiscal 2011-12, a 48 percent decline in tax collection over the previous fiscal year's Tk 326 crore.

The government also bagged Tk 102 crore in tax on share sales by sponsor shareholders and placement holders last fiscal year, registering a 16 percent fall over the previous year.

The decline in tax on brokerage commission, according to a fortnightly and a half yearly publication of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, was due to a massive fall in share transactions, both in terms of value and volume, on the premier bourse during the period.

Since January last year, when the market witnessed a debacle in share prices after an abnormal rise before, a downtrend has been continuing in the market.

Last year, the benchmark index of the prime bourse, DGEN, came down by 26 percent, while the value and volume dropped by 74 percent and 59 percent respectively.

On June 28 this year, the last trading day of fiscal 2011-12, the DGEN came down to 4,572 points from 6,157 points a year ago. The daily transaction value dropped to Tk 300 crore from Tk 1,139 crore, while the volume came down to six crore shares from 14.69 crore during the period.

Usually, the DSE management first collects the tax from stockbrokers on sell-buy commission and then submits the total amount to the National Board of Revenue at a rate of 0.05 percent.

The stockbrokers' contribution to the state coffer saw the decline due mainly to a massive fall in share transactions, both in value and volume, said Shuvra Kanti Choudhury, chief financial officer of the DSE.

“It is obvious that tax collection from the stockbrokers will fall if share transaction volume and value decline,” he said.

The Daily Star/Bangladesh/ 22th July 2012

Prime Bank Limited signed a license agreement with Japan Credit Bureau (JCB) International Co Ltd at a hotel in the capital on Tuesday. Under the agreement, Prime Bank will be able to issue and acquire JCB cards in Bangladesh. Md Ehsan Khasru, managing director and chief executive officer of Prime Bank, and Hiroshi Terade, executive vice president of JCB, signed the agreement.

Khasru said, “It is a great moment for Prime Bank to begin journey with JCB along with its new brand.”
Hiroshi said the product will reach market by November.   JCB is a major international payment system dominating the credit card market in Japan. JCB issues cards in 17 countries around the globe.

The Daily Independent/Bangladesh/ 19th July 2012

Kanak Kumar Purkayastha, Deputy Managing Director of BASIC Bank, speaks at a workshop on money laundering at REB conference room in Gopalganj Wednesday.

BASIC Bank Limited organised a day-long training workshop on "Prevention of Money Laundering and Combating Financing of Terrorism" for its branch managers at REB conference room in Gopalgonj.

AKM Ehsan, Joint Director, BFIU, conducted the training workshop, said a press release Wednesday.

AKM Nurunnabi, Deputy Director, BFIU and Asoke Bandhu Das, In-charge, Training Cell of BASIC Bank, Kanak Kumar Purkayastha, Deputy Managing Director and Chief Anti Money Laundering Compliance Officer of the Bank attended the programme.

The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/ 19th July 2012

In order to provide fund to Padma Bridge project, Bangladesh Bank will particularly try to build a strong foreign exchange reserve, said Governor Dr. Atiur Rahman.

“We always help government by financing imports of agriculture inputs and petroleum products. In the case of Padma bridge, it is nothing different,” the central bank governor said.

He said Bangladesh Bank would help the government meet import costs related with the project, if needed.

Dr Rahman was replying to the journalists’ queries after announcing monetary policy statement for first half of current fiscal.

Earlier, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina announced to construct Padma Bridge by local financing, after the World Bank rejected $1.2 billion loan deal fearing corruption.

She told the parliament that the government would use from foreign currency reserve, if necessary, to import construction materials for the bridge.

The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/ 19th July 2012