Mohammad Shawkat Jamil has recently been promoted as the deputy managing director of United Commercial Bank, the Bank said in a statement yesterday.

Prior to the promotion, he was the Bank's senior executive vice president and head of the principal branch.

Jamil started his banking career with the Bank as a probationary officer in 1983. He completed his MSS from Dhaka University in 1982.

The Daily Star/Bangladesh/ 29th June 2012

The new Bangladesh Bank directive on loans will compel many businesses to default and slow down export growth, the Exporters Association of Bangladesh (EAB) said yesterday.

“Such a move will only add to the woes of the already troubled export sector. Plus, it will put a damper on investments in the country,” said Abdus Salam Murshedy, president of the association.

The central bank's new rule, which comes into effect from July 1, states ongoing loan operations are to be classified as bad loans within three months of non-payment of an installment, instead of the six-month timescale currently in place.

EAB urged the central bank not to keep any specific time frame for loan repayment. aAnother rule which takes effect from July 1 narrows down the bank rescheduling period from six months to three.

Only exporters facing a massive stocklot are allowed rescheduling after the expiry of the three-month deadline at a 7.5 percent down payment.

EAP asked for bank loan rescheduling facility to be extended to all beyond the three-month timescale, for the greater interest of country's export and industrial growth.

The body added that the Bangladesh Bank move will eat into the profitability of private commercial banks, thanks to the increasing number of defaulters.

Anwar-ul-Alam Chowdhury Parvez, a former president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), also expressed his concern over the new rules' impact on the export sector.

He cited examples of India and Malaysia, where the loan rescheduling period enjoyed is 12 months and 6 months respectively. “If the new circulars materialise, about 60 percent of the industry will be classified and banks will register more than 50 percent loss in profits,” Parvez added.

The Daily Star/Bangladesh/ 29th June 2012

Managing Director & CEO, Singer Bangladesh Limited and Vice President, Singer Asia A M Hamim Rahmatullah formally launching Prime Cash service at Singer Gulshan Mega outlet recently. Prime Bank MD Ehsan Khasru also seen.

Banking facilities such as disbursement of remitted money, money transfer within the country, cash deposit, withdrawal, account opening are now available at 320 Singer Plus and Singer Mega outlets across the country.

Mr. A M Hamim Rahmatullah, Managing Director & CEO of Singer Bangladesh Limited and Vice President - Singer Asia, formally launched Prime Cash service at Gulshan Singer Mega outlet in Dhaka recently. 

Among others, Singer Asia President Mr. Gavin J. Walker, Prime Bank Managing Director Mr. Ehsan Khasru, Dipon Consultancy Limited Managing Director & CEO Engineer Rashed Mahmud along with other high officials of concerned companies attended the ceremony. Earlier, Singer and Dipon Consultancy signed an agreement in this regard on March 8, 2012. Prime Cash is a product of Prime Bank Limited.

Prime Cash, a biometric smart card-based virtual wallet account, has been designed to address the banking needs of the un-banked rural and urban people of the country. Prime Cash users will now be able to avail the banking services at Singer Plus and Singer Mega shops with reliability, safety and guarantee of banking system.

The Financial Express/Bangladesh/ 28th June 2012

Spain’s recession is deepening in the second quarter as the economy takes a battering from the financial markets, the nation’s central bank said Wednesday.

Economic output was shrinking at a faster pace, after contracting by 0.3 per cent in the first three months of the year, the Bank of Spain said in its monthly bulletin.

“Most recent information about the second quarter indicates that activity has carried on decreasing at a more intense pace,” it said.

Consumer and business confidence had deteriorated, the central bank said, and there were signs that people were gripping their wallets tighter with new car registrations and retail sales sliding.

“On the labour market as a whole, we continued down the path of an intensifying destruction of jobs that began in the second half of 2011,” the bank said.

The number of registered workers declined 3.4 per cent in May, it said.

Spain’s unemployment rate hit 24.4 per cent in the first quarter of the year, the highest level in the industrialised world.

“In the last few weeks the Spanish economy has seen itself strongly affected by the new outbreak of tensions in euro area financial markets,” the Bank of Spain said.

The rate of return the Spanish government has had to pay investors to finance itself has shot up in recent weeks, partly on fears Spain will need a full-blown bailout after the eurozone offered up to 100 billion euros ($125 billion) to save banks exposed to the collapsed property market.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy highlighted those worries on Wednesday on the eve of a European Union summit, saying: “We cannot finance ourselves for a long time at prices like those we are now paying.”

Economy Minister Luis de Guindos has already warned of a contraction in the second quarter after the economy shrank by 0.3 per cent in the last quarter of 2011 and by the same amount in the first quarter of 2012.

The economy minister has estimated that Spanish gross domestic product will shrink by a total of 1.7 per cent this year, but he forecasts slight growth of 0.2 per cent in 2013.

Spain’s government says it is determined to press ahead with an austerity programme to rein in its mushrooming debt despite the economic troubles, saying the priority is to regain investor confidence.

The public deficit—the shortfall between income to spending—was equal to 8.9 per cent of annual GDP last year, far wide of 6.0 per cent level agreed with the European Union.

Spain’s government is now aiming to slash the deficit to 5.3 per cent this year and to 3.0 per cent—the EU deficit ceiling—in 2013.

Recession and unemployment complicate that task, however, because they reduce government tax revenues while increasing expenses on items like jobless benefits.    

The Daily Independent/Bangladesh/ 28th June 2012

Moazzem Hossain, assistant general manager of Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank (RAKUB) has won the gold medal for his outstanding performance in MBA programme of Rajshahi University.  

Moazzem Hossain stood first by scoring 4.00 from CGPA 4.00 point in the MBA examination. He was awarded the gold medal for his outstanding performance through a function held at the Senate Bhaban of Rajshahi University.Professor Dr. M Abdus Sobhan, vice chancellor of RU was present as the chief guest at the function.

Among others, M. Fayekuzzaman, managing director of ICB and Ehsan Khasru, MD of Prime Bank were also present as special guests.A total of 180 graduates from Executive MBA, Day and Evening MBA and BBA graduate programme were awarded certificates at the ceremony.

The Daily Independent/Bangladesh/ 28th June 2012