Bangladesh Bank (BB) yesterday said the major economic indicators of the country have started improving while the government’s borrowing from the banking sector also marked a fall in recent times.

Top officials of the central bank came up with the observations during a meeting with the chief executives of the scheduled banks at the BB conference room.

Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman presided over the meeting.
Emerging from the meeting, BB Deputy Governor SK Sur Chowdhury said the government's borrowing from the banking channel exceeded Tk 210 billion a few days ago, which now stands at Tk 160 billion.

Food inflation has also come down while an increased remittance inflow has been pushing the economic indicators upward, Shur Chowdhury said.

He also said the meeting discussed the ways to effectively implement the new monetary policy.
The meeting gave some directives to the banks to work on implementing the monetary policy as well as aiming to lowering down the inflation rate to a single digit, the BB deputy governor added.

The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/ 10th Feb 2012

The board of directors of National Bank Limited (NBL) has recommended 65 per cent stock dividend for the year 2011.

The Company also reported earning per share (EPS) of Tk 7.07, net asset value (NAV) per share of Tk 25.02 and net operating cash flow per share (NOCFPS) of Tk 8.88 for the year.

The Bank will hold Annual General Meeting (AGM) on 19th of next month at Banghabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC) in the city. The record date for the entitled dividend has been set on 20th of the current month.

Rupali Insurance
Meanwhile, the board of directors of Rupali insurance has recommended 20 per cent stock dividend for the year 2011.

The Company has also reported EPS of Tk. 3.68, NAV per share of Tk. 37.95 and NOCFPS of Tk. 4.62 for the year.

The company will hold AGM on 5th of April at Sonargaon Hotel in the city. The record date for the dividend has been set 23rd of the current month.

The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/ 10th Feb 2012

Broad Band Telecom Services Limited (BBTS), a joint venture of the Ispahani Group, will set up optical fibre network to connect Trust Bank Limited head office with its all branches across the country.

BBTS chairman Mirza Ali Behrouze Ispahani and Trust Bank Managing Director Shah A Sarwar singed an agreement to this effect on behalf of their respective organisations on Tuesday at a city hotel.

Under the agreement, BBTS will build a nationwide Wide Area Network (WAN) infrastructure through optical fiber/radio link to connect Trust Bank head office with its all branches and ATM booths.

The connectivity will help the Bank’s customers save time and cost, which is one step forward to get closure to its valued clients countrywide, said a press release. 

The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/ 10th Feb 2012

Bangladesh Bank has directed ocean-going ship importers to collect no objection certificates from the ship building and ship recycling board (SBSRB) of Industries Ministry instead of from the department ocean transport for opening LC (letter of credit) for ship imports.

The Foreign Exchange Policy Department (FEPD) of Bangladesh Bank on Thursday issued a circular in this regard.

The decision was made in view to discouraging import of ocean-going ships to Bangladesh which is considered to pose threat to the environment as well as human health.

The no-objection certificates will have to be taken as per the ship breaking and ship recycling guidelines-2011, issued by the Industries Ministry on December 12, 2011, the circular said.

The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/ 10th Feb 2012

Bangladesh Bank sits with the managing directors (MDs) of all the banks operating in the country on Thursday to discuss the overall situation of the banking sector.

The meeting will start at 11am at the BB conference room with governor Dr Atiur Rahman in the chair, BB general manager AFM Asaduzzaman said on Wednesday. 

The meeting is likely to focus on the steps taken by the central bank, Asaduzzaman said adding that it will also review whether the banks are following the instructions of the central bank. 

The Daily Independent/Bangladesh/ 9th Feb 2012