Md Abdus Salam, Managing Director of Bangladesh Krishi Bank attended the Comilla chief and Laksham region view exchange meeting for managers and field staff held at the BARD auditorium recently.

Bangladesh Krishi Bank recently organised a view exchange meeting between managers and field staff of Comilla region and Laksham region at BARD auditorium.

Md Abdus Salam, Managing Director of Bangladesh Krishi Bank attended the meeting as chief guest, said a press release. Md Feroz Khan, General Manager of Comilla Division presided over the meeting.

Md Hafiz Uddin, Divisional Audit Officer, ATM Anisur Rahman, Deputy General Manager of BCBD from head office, CRM of Comilla Region and Regional Manager of Laksham were present as special guests.

News: The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/10th-Oct-12

Southeast Bank has recently promoted three of its executives to deputy managing directors, the Bank said in a statement yesterday.

They are: SM Mainuddin Chowdhury, erstwhile senior executive vice president; Muhammad Shahjahan, erstwhile company secretary; and Giash Uddin Ahmed, erstwhile senior executive vice president of the bank.

Chowdhury joined the bank in 2008. He started his banking career as a senior officer at Bangladesh Development Bank (Shilpa Bank) in 1985 and also worked in Prime Bank.

He has an MBA in management of technology from Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, Thailand and completed his BSc in naval architecture and marine engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology.

Shahjahan is an MA in political science and an LLB from Dhaka University. He also did his banking diploma from the Institute of Bankers, Bangladesh. He joined Rupali Bank as an officer in 1979, and worked in National Bank, EXIM Bank and Jamuna Bank.

News: The Daily Star/Bangladesh/10th-Oct-12

Southeast Bank has recently promoted three of its executives to deputy managing directors, the Bank said in a statement yesterday.

They are: SM Mainuddin Chowdhury, erstwhile senior executive vice president; Muhammad Shahjahan, erstwhile company secretary; and Giash Uddin Ahmed, erstwhile senior executive vice president of the bank.

Chowdhury joined the bank in 2008. He started his banking career as a senior officer at Bangladesh Development Bank (Shilpa Bank) in 1985 and also worked in Prime Bank.

He has an MBA in management of technology from Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, Thailand and completed his BSc in naval architecture and marine engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology.

Shahjahan is an MA in political science and an LLB from Dhaka University. He also did his banking diploma from the Institute of Bankers, Bangladesh. He joined Rupali Bank as an officer in 1979, and worked in National Bank, EXIM Bank and Jamuna Bank.

News: The Daily Star/Bangladesh/10th-Oct-12

Bangladesh's economic growth will slow down to 6.1 percent in 2012 and 2013 due to the gloomy global economy, forecast the International Monetary Fund yesterday.

The country's GDP grew by 6.3 percent in the last fiscal year despite the global crisis and the government's target is 7.2 percent for the current fiscal year.

The growth of the export-dependent economy will slow down as low growth in advanced economies is affecting emerging and developing economies through exports.

Over 70 percent of the country's exports go to the USA and the European Union, most hard-hit by the economic crisis.

Last week, Asian Development Bank also said Bangladesh's economic growth may come down to 6 percent in the current fiscal year due to sluggish exports and a decline in domestic demand.

The IMF, however, said Bangladesh's inflation would ease down to 6.9 percent this year and to 6.4 percent next year from 10.6 percent in 2011.

The prediction came from the Washington-based lender in its latest World Economic Outlook unveiled in Tokyo yesterday ahead of the IMF-World Bank 2012 Annual Meetings.

“Low growth and uncertainty in advanced economies are affecting emerging markets and developing economies through both trade and financial channels, adding to home-grown weaknesses,” said IMF Chief Economist Olivier Blanchard at a press briefing.

Blanchard presented a gloomier picture for the global economy than predicted a few months ago, saying prospects have deteriorated further and risks increased.

Overall, the IMF's forecast for global growth was marked down to 3.3 percent this year and 3.6 percent for 2013.

The economist urged countries to continue with accommodating monetary policy which he said was a very powerful force for growth on its own.

"Continue with fiscal consolidation and here, our advice still holds: Don't do it too slow, don't do it too fast."

Over 10,000 central bankers, ministers of finance and development, private sector executives, academicians, and journalists have gathered at the Japanese capital to discuss global economic issues.

News: The Daily Star/Bangladesh/10th-Oct-12

Olivier Blanchard

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) yesterday presented a gloomier picture of the global economy than a few months ago, saying prospects have deteriorated further and risks increased.

In its World Economic Outlook, the IMF slashed its growth forecast for large parts of the world economy and warned of a full-blown global slump if policymakers in Europe or the US mishandle serious threats.

“Risks for recession in the advanced economies are alarmingly high. The intensity of the euro area crisis has not abated as assumed in previous projections,” it said.

The warning came from the Washington-based lender when it unveiled its outlook in Tokyo ahead of the IMF-World Bank 2012 Annual Meetings.

Overall, the lender's forecast for global growth was marked down to 3.3 percent this year and a still sluggish 3.6 percent in 2013.

The IMF said advanced economies are projected to grow by 1.3 percent this year, compared with 1.6 percent last year and 3.0 percent in 2010, with public spending cutbacks and the still-weak financial system weighing on prospects.

Growth in emerging market and developing economies was marked down compared with forecasts in July and April to 5.3 percent, against 6.2 percent last year. Leading emerging markets such as China, India, Russia, and Brazil will all see slower growth.

Growth in the volume of world trade is projected to slump to 3.2 percent this year from 5.8 percent last year and 12.6 percent in 2010.

In developing Asia, real GDP growth will average 6.7 percent in 2012 and is forecast to accelerate at 7.25 percent in the second half of 2012. The main driver will be China, where activity is expected to receive a boost from accelerated approval of public infrastructure projects.

China, the world's second largest economy, will also see its economy to grow 7.8 percent this year and 8.2 percent next year. India will grow by 4.9 percent and 6 percent in 2012 and 2013 respectively.

The IMF said the outlook for India is unusually uncertain: for 2012, with weak growth in the first half and a continued investment slowdown, real GDP growth is projected to be close to 5 percent, but improvements in external conditions and confidence -- helped by a variety of reforms announced very recently -- are projected to raise the real GDP growth.

IMF Chief Economist Olivier Blanchard said the world economic recovery continues, but it has weakened further.

"In advanced economies, growth is now too low to make a substantial dent in unemployment, and in major emerging markets, growth, which had been strong earlier, has also decreased."

Blanchard said there are two forces -- fiscal consolidation and weak financial systems -- which continue to pull growth down.

"In most countries, fiscal consolidation is proceeding according to plan, and while consolidation is needed, there is no question that it is weighing on demand and, therefore, on output. And, the evidence increasingly suggests that in the current environment, the fiscal multipliers, the effect of fiscal consolidation on demand and output, are large."

"The financial system is still not functioning efficiently. In many countries, probably more so in Europe than either in the US or in Japan, banks are still weak, and their position is made worse by low growth. As a result, many borrowers still face tight borrowing conditions, decreasing their demand as well."

The forecast said that monetary policy in advanced economies was expected to remain supportive. Major central banks have recently launched new programs to buy bonds and keep interest rates low.

But the global financial system remains fragile and efforts in advanced economies to rein in budgetary spending, while necessary, have slowed a recovery.

The recovery is forecast to limp along in the major advanced economies, with growth remaining at a fairly healthy level in many emerging market and developing economies.

In the United States, growth will average 2.2 percent this year. Real GDP is projected to expand by about 1.5 percent during the second half of 2012, rising to 2.75 percent later in 2013.

In the euro area, real GDP is projected to decline by 0.4 percent in 2012 overall, about 0.75 percent (on an annualised basis) during the second half of 2012.

With lower budget cuts and domestic and euro area, wide policies supporting a further improvement in financial conditions later in 2013, real GDP is projected to stay flat in the first half of 2013 and expand by about 1 percent in the second half.

In Japan, growth is projected at 2.2 percent in 2012. The pace of growth will diminish noticeably as post-earthquake reconstruction winds down. Real GDP is forecast to stagnate in the second half of 2012 and grow by about 1 percent in the first half of 2013.

Thereafter, growth is expected to accelerate further.

At a separate press conference, Carlo Cottarelli, head of the IMF's Fiscal Affairs department, said in many advanced economies efforts to reduce debts and deficits will need to persist for many years for debt ratios to return to their pre-crisis levels.

“Efforts at controlling debt stocks are taking longer to yield results,” said Cottarelli after he produced the latest edition of the Fiscal Monitor report of the IMF.

“Debt reduction is taking longer than after previous recessions, mostly due to the magnitude of the recession and the sluggishness of the recovery afterward.”

In the report, the IMF observes that deficits are set to narrow in nearly all advanced economies in 2012 and 2013 even in the face of weak economic growth.

In about half of the advanced economies, cyclically adjusted fiscal deficits will be smaller next year than they were in 2007, before the start of the crisis.

News: The Daily Star/Bangladesh/10th-Oct-12