TIANJIN, China: The euro zone debt crisis still has a long way to go before it ends and Europe needs to keep faith in the single currency, International Monetary Fund deputy managing director Zhu Min said on Tuesday.

"Overall I would say the crisis is not over. We are still in the middle of it and there is some way to go," Zhu told a World Economic Forum meeting in the Chinese port city of Tianjin.

"But it is moving in the right direction - that's very important. We should have confidence, and we should have confidence in the euro," he added.

Europe's debt crisis has festered for more than three years, and investors widely expect the 17-member euro zone economy to slide into recession in 2012 as a result of the failure to solve the crisis and engineer a recovery.

News: The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/12-Sep-12

The country’s premier bourse Tuesday saw a record turnover in value hitting a five-month high as the investors - both institutional and small investors – went on buying more shares expecting further rise in prices.

The day’s turnover at the Dhaka Stock exchange (DSE) stood at Tk 9.4 billion, 23.7 percent higher than last session’s value. It was the highest since 18 April 2012 when the value reached at Tk 9.91 billion.

“The recent stable scenario coupled with healthy turnover, attracted investors to make fresh investment in lucrative stocks,” said IDLC Investment in its regular market commentary. Activity flourished in the bourse as bullish sentiment continued, it added.

“The turnover at the DSE increased due to institutional investor’s participation,” said Akter Hossain Sannamat, Managing Director of Union Capital.

Besides, foreign investment expedited the rally in share values, he said adding, “Long-term investments of institutional investors will help market restore small investors’ confidence.

DGEN, the benchmark general index of the DSE went up by 57 points or 1.30 per cent to close at 4,414.

The DSE broader All Shares Price Index (DSI) jumped by 47 points or 1.27 per cent to 3,731 while the DSE-20 Index comprising blue chips went up by 7 points or 0.20 per cent to 3,375.

Out of 270 issues traded, 188 advanced, 66 declined and 16 remained unchanged.

Apart from shares in telecommunications sector, that lost 0.52 percent, all the major sectors gained on Tuesday.

Amid buoyant trading, the shares under the power sector soared by 2.77 percent followed by non-banking financial institutions 2.74 percent, pharmaceuticals by 0.74 percent and banks 0.51 percent.

A total of 194.10 million shares changed hands on the day against 145.77 million in the previous trading session. The number of deals also increased to 195,920 against Monday’s 167,134.

The Titas Gas, that gained 5.2 percent, was the highest traded stock of the day with a total turnover of Tk 924.4 million.

The other turnover leaders were United Airways, Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company, Saiham Cotton Mills, Unique Hotel and Resorts, Keya Cosmetics, Jamuna Oil, RN Spinning, MI Cement Factory and Aamra Technologies.

GBB Power was the day’s top gainer, posting a 9.97 percent rise followed by RD Food, Metro Spinning, Aamra Technologies, Delta Spinners, Deshbandhu Polymer, Tallu Spinning, Malek Spinning, Makson Spinning and Sonargaon Textile.

The day’s worst losers were MBL First Mutual Fund, Standard Insurance, Pragati Life Insurance, National Tea Company, Peoples Insurance, Midas Financing, Padma Life Insurance, Reckitt Benckiser, Shympur Sugar Mills and Eastern Lubricants.

News: The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/12-Sep-12

The government will request the International Monetary Fund to waive a condition about the exposure limit of commercial banks in the stockmarket. The condition is tagged with a loan.

Earlier the IMF asked the government to keep such an exposure limit of a bank at 25 percent of its total capital -- as a condition to release the second instalment of its $1 billion loans for Bangladesh.

But the government wants the exposure limit to be at 40 percent of a bank's total capital. The existing exposure limit of a bank is 10 percent of its deposits.

An IMF mission will visit Bangladesh for two weeks from today to review the implementation of its conditions before releasing the second instalment or $141 million by November.

The lender has approved a $987 million loan for Bangladesh to help it overcome macroeconomic pressures and build a buffer reserve.

Bangladesh entered the three-year loan deal by committing to a wide-range of structural reforms.

Bangladesh received one of the seven instalments last year.

Before getting each of the six equal instalments, the government will have to fulfil a set of conditions of the Washington-based lender.

The government by this December has to meet 11 more conditions.

The Bangladesh Bank will have to issue an order consistent with the amended banking company act to set a bank's stockmarket exposure limit at 25 percent of its total capital.

The condition was scheduled to be fulfilled by September.

A finance ministry official said the government will request the IMF to relax the condition and increase the limit to 40 percent of a bank's total capital.

However, the central bank in a previous proposal sent to the finance ministry recommended the limit at 25 percent.

Officials said the finance ministry in March formed a seven-member committee to further scrutinse the central bank's proposal.

The committee recommended raising the ceiling to 40 percent.

The finance ministry official said, as per the recommendations of the committee, the ministry has already finalised the proposal for amendment to the banking company act. The committee also made a proposal for keeping the ceiling at 40 percent.

The official said the proposal will soon be placed in a cabinet meeting for approval.

The IMF mission has already sought to know from the government about the status of the new BB order on the banks' stockmarket exposure limit.

The IMF imposed another condition that the government cannot make hard-term borrowing beyond $1 billion. The government will not need to cross the limit by December. But the government's various requirements next year may need around $3 billion.

The finance ministry official said the government plans to issue $750 million worth of sovereign bonds in the international market.

Besides, the government's guarantee for the private sector power producers will require about $2 billion next year.

The finance ministry official said they will also request the IMF to increase the limit of hard-term borrowing for the next year.

The official said they hope to implement the other conditions, including the demutualisation of Dhaka and Chittagong bourses and the adoption of an automatic adjustment mechanism for retail petroleum prices, by this year.

News: The Daily Star/Bangladesh/12-Sep-12

A Rouf Chowdhury, chairman of Bank Asia, launches the Bank's new product -- Bank Asia Hajj Card -- for hajj pilgrims and hajj agencies as an alternative to travellers' cheques or cash in Saudi Arabia, at a ceremony in Dhaka recently. Md Mehmood Husain, managing director, was also present.

News: The Daily Star/Bangladesh/12-Sep-12

Abdur Rahim Harmachi
Chief Economics Correspondent

 In a rare instance, the government has repaid more loan than that it borrowed from the banking system in the first two months of the current financial year.

According to the data collected from the Bangladesh Bank's research wing, the government's borrowing from banks dropped to Tk 918.4051 billion on Sep 2 from Tk 923.1596 billion on Jun 30, the last day of the previous fiscal.

The data shows the government repaid Tk 4.7545 billion more than that it borrowed in the two months.

Economists said drop in fuel prices in the global market and implementation of fewer number of development projects eased the pressure on the government to borrow from the banks.

Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith attributed government's less dependence on the bank borrowing to better revenue collection situation.

Before leaving for China to join the World Economic Forum meeting, he said on Saturday: "The revenue collection situation is very good. That's why the government does not need to borrow from banks to foot the bill."

He hoped borrowing from the banks in the 2012-13 financial year would not exceed the Tk 230-billion target made in the national budget.

The data suggests the government took Tk 3.3845 billion in the first two months (July 1 to Aug 29) of the current FY.

At the end of the previous 2011-12 FY, the borrowing had reached Tk 291.15 billion though that year's budget had pegged the borrowing at Tk 189.57 billion.

Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) Research Director Zaid Bakht said the government's lesser dependence on the bank borrowing would have positive impact on the economy.

He said: "Credit flow to the private sector will increase as the government is taking less quantity of loan from the banking sector. It will have positive impact on the industrial sector and the Gross Domestic Product (GDP)."

Bakht put the drop in the borrowing on the fall in fuel prices in the international market, which has dropped to $100 a barrel this time from $110 a year before.

"Last year the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation had to spend a lot. But this year, their expenditure has decreased. That's why the government needs to borrow less."

Bakht further said the better rate of revenue collection and implementation of fewer number of development projects at the beginning of the FY had kept the borrowing pressure on the government low.

News: bdnews24.com