Md Ehsan Khasru, managing director of Prime Bank exchanges document with Md Emranul Huq Chowdhury, executive director and CEO of Uddipan after signing a deal at the Bank’s head office in the city recently.

Prime Bank Limited has formed a strategic alliance with Uddipan, a micro finance institution (MFI), to channel remittance to the outlets of Uddipan in rural areas.

Md Ehsan Khasru, managing director of Prime Bank and Md Emranul Huq Chowdhury, executive director and CEO of Uddipan signed the deal on behalf of their respective organisations at the Bank’s head office in the city recently, said a press release.

The deal will facilitate the beneficiaries of remote locations of Bangladesh for receiving remittances from 210 outlets of Uddipan, sent through the fully owned subsidiaries of Prime Bank in Singapore and UK, Western Union Money Transfer and other 30 exchange companies of different countries having remittance arrangement with Prime Bank, the news release said.

Executive Director of Credit and Development Forum (CDF) Md Abdul Awal was present during the deal signing function.

The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/ 19th Jan 2012

Bangladesh's GDP (gross domestic product) growth will slow down in the current fiscal year and stand at 6 percent against the government's target at 7 percent, the World Bank forecast.

The growth was 6.7 percent last fiscal year.

A WB report -- Global Economic Prospectus: Uncertainties and Vulnerabilities -- released yesterday said the world economy has entered a dangerous period and developing countries including Bangladesh will suffer from its negative impact.

Economists have also agreed with the WB observation and said the growth rate may be lower due to such domestic factors as slow investment, high inflation and volatile exchange rate.

The report said, “Growth in several major developing countries is significantly slower than it was earlier in the recovery, mainly reflecting policy tightening initiated in 2010 and early 2011 in order to combat rising inflationary pressures.”

The Euro area represents about one fourth of South Asian merchandise export market including Bangladesh, the report said, adding that the European demand for merchandise will go down due to a debt crisis there.

According to Bangladesh Bank statistics, economy is already showing some signs of slowdown.

The number of instances of LC (letter of credit) opening to import capital machinery and raw materials has come down in the first five months of the current fiscal year.

The GDP growth rate will be affected this fiscal year due to high inflation and an increase in exchange rate, said Zaid Bakht, research director of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies.

Bakht said the investment rate is also sluggish. Although an improvement was noticed in the power sector, the gas crisis is hindering investment, he added.

He said an increase in banks' lending rate in recent times may also hold back investment.

The WB mentioned some local factors such as policy uncertainty, stalled reforms and deteriorating political and security conditions behind the slowdown in investment in South Asian countries including Bangladesh.

WB's senior economist in Bangladesh Zahid Hussain said the country is vulnerable to a severe crisis in high income countries because of its reliance on commodity exports and remittances.

He said the WB report estimates that a severe crisis could cause remittances to developing countries to decline by 6 percent or more with particularly acute impacts on the 24 countries where remittances represent 10 percent or more of their GDP. Bangladesh is one such country.

Hussain also said one would have expected some reprieve from a decline in international oil prices as happened in 2009 due to weak demand. But oil prices so far have proven resilient around the $110 per barrel level because of turmoils and uncertainties in Russia, Nigeria, Libya and, of late, the problems with Iran.

The WB economist also said, “We should of course guard against excessive pessimism”.

He said industrial activities in Europe, Central Asia, the US and Japan have picked up since August last year. But the global trade volume, particularly European imports, has declined during the three-month period ending in October last year.

“That does not bode well for Bangladesh. It is always good to hope for the best, but prepare for the worst,” said the WB economist.

The Daily Star/Bangladesh/ 19th Jan 2012

The World Bank warned developing countries on Wednesday to prepare for the "real" risk that an escalation in the euro area debt crisis could tip the world into a slump on a par with the global downturn in 2008/09.

In a report sharply cutting its world economic growth expectations, the World Bank said Europe was probably already in recession. If the euro area debt crisis deepened, global economic forecasts would be significantly lower.

"The sovereign debt crisis in the euro zone appears to be contained," Justin Lin, the chief economist for the World Bank, told reporters in Beijing on Wednesday.

"However, the risk of a global freezing-up of the markets and as well as a global crisis similar to what happened in September 2008 are real."

The World Bank predicted world economic growth of 2.5 percent in 2012 and 3.1 percent in 2013, well below the 3.6 percent growth for each year projected in June.

"We think it is now important to think through not only slower growth but sharp deteriorations, as a prudent measure," said Hans Timmer, director of development prospects at the bank.

The World Bank said if the euro area debt crisis escalates, global growth would be about 4 percentage points lower.

It forecast high-income economies would expand just 1.4 percent in 2012 as the euro area shrinks 0.3 percent, sharp downward revisions from growth forecasts last June of 2.7 percent and 1.8 percent, respectively.

It cut its forecast for growth in developing economies to 5.4 percent for 2012 from its previous forecast of 6.2 percent, saying expansion in Brazil and India and to a lesser extent Russia, South Africa and Turkey, had slowed already.

It saw a slight pick up in growth in developing economies in 2013 to 6 percent. But the report said threats to growth are still rising, suggesting the outlook remained highly uncertain.

The Daily Star/Bangladesh/ 19th Jan 2012

ONE Bank Limited signed an agreement with Bangladesh Bank (BB) under 'Investment Promotion and Financing Facility (IPFF)' at Bangladesh Bank’s head office recently.

Under the deal, ONE Bank Limited will enjoy financing facility from the World Bank, administered by BB, for extending credit facilities to infrastructural projects, said a press release.

Farman R Chowdhury, managing director of ONE Bank and SK Sur Chowdhury, executive director of Bangladesh Bank signed the deal on behalf of their respective sides.

ONE Bank’s deputy managing director Johora Bebe, senior executive vice president (SEVP) Rozina Aliya Ahmed, executive vice president (EVP) Shabbir Ahmed, vice president for syndication and structured finance unit Md Abu Saleh, and joint director Husne Ara Shikha and deputy director of IPFF cell of BB Goutam Kumar Ghosh, among others, were also present.

The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/ 18th Jan 2012

Badiul Alam, additional managing director of National Bank Limited distributes certificates among the participants of a training course in the city recently.

A three-day training course on ‘Regulations in Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade’ for foreign exchange officers of National Bank Limited concluded in the city recently.

A total of 30 foreign exchange desk officers from different branches of the Bank attended the training course, said a press release.

Badiul Alam, additional managing director of NBL distributed certificates among the participants of the course in the concluding ceremony.

Md. Majibur Rahman, principal and Zahir Uddin Mohd. Babar, senior faculty member of National Bank Training Institute were present, among others at the function.

The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/ 18th Jan 2012