PBL chairman Hafiz Ahmed Mazumder, MP, managing director Helal Ahmed Chowdhury, seen at the second PBL conference for the year of 2012 in Dhaka Thursday.

The second conference 2012 of the regional and corporate branch managers of Pubali Bank Limited was held at the Bank’s head office.

Lawmaker Hafiz Ahmed Mazumder, PBL board chairman, was present as the chief guest while managing director Helal Ahmed Chowdhury presided over the meeting, says a press release Thursday.

Vice-chairman Habibur Rahman, directors’ Moniruddin Ahmed, Syed Moazzem Hussain, Fahim Ahmed Faruk Chowdhury, alternate director Muha-mmed Kabiruzzaman Yaqub, independent director Khurshid-Ul-Alam delivered their speech as special guests.

Additional managing director MA Halim Chowdhury, deputy managing director Safiul Alam Khan Chowdhury, general managers and other senior executives were present at the conference.

The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/ 4th May 2012

A huge Euro logo is pictured past the headquarters of the ECB in Frankfurt.

The European Central Bank will resist pressure to do more to fight the euro zone crisis when it meets in Barcelona on Thursday, holding fire despite calls to restart its bond-buying program to help austerity-hit Spain.

Financial markets are clamoring for the ECB to step up its efforts to fight the two-year crisis by buying the sovereign bonds of Spain, which is in recession and is struggling to convince some of its people of the need for further austerity.

But ECB policymakers, who will face demonstrators protesting against Spain's harsh austerity measures in the Catalonian capital, are more likely to pay homage to the country's drive to cut costs than to signal any new policy action like restarting the bond-buy program, or Securities Markets Programme (SMP).

The bank has left the plan dormant for the last seven weeks despite a rise in Spanish yields to 6 percent. A break above that, to 7 percent, is considered an unsustainable price to pay for refinancing its debt.

"I think the reactivation of the SMP will occur only at a point at which the situation has deteriorated significantly and I think the pressure would have to be greater than that we've seen in recent weeks.’’

The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/ 4th May 2012

Md. Mahmudul Hoque has been elected chairman of the board of directors of Jamuna Bank Limited.

The Bank’s board of directors at its 199th meeting on Sunday unanimously elected Mahmudul Hoque as the chairman.

He is the chairman and managing director of Anlima Group and also chairman of Precision Energy Limited.

The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/ 4th May 2012

Inward remittances fell 2.43 percent to $1.08 billion in March compared to a month ago, but the overall growth in the first ten months of the current fiscal year reached near 11 percent.

During the period, more than $1 billion was remitted from abroad by Bangladeshi migrant workers every month, except September and November, according to data from the central bank.

In March, remittances stood at $1.1 billion.

However, remittances increased by 10.41 percent to $10.61 billion in the first ten months of the current fiscal year.

The banking regulator projected that remittance earnings will be worth around $13 billion in the current fiscal year, which will have a positive impact on the country's balance of payments, a Bangladesh Bank official said.

The official said a good flow of remittances has already made the foreign currency reserve and exchange rate stable in recent times.

The exchange rate in the inter-bank foreign exchange market hovered around Tk 82 against the dollar last month, which was more than Tk 85 a month ago.

The BB official said multilateral donor agencies, including some analysts, apprehended that the foreign currency reserve would come down to $9 billion but still the reserve is more than $10 billion.

According to the central bank statistics, the forex reserve was $10.19 billion yesterday.

The BB official also said, as remittance inflow was good, the pressure on the current account balance eased to some extent despite a fall in foreign aid.

In the beginning of the fiscal year, the surplus in the current account balance was much less. But now the situation is improving gradually.

According to the BB statistics, the current account surplus was $681 million in nine months from July to March though the amount is lesser than that during the same period last year.

During the same period last year, the current account surplus was $999 million.

An official of National Credit and Commerce Bank said the remittances not only fuelled the reserve, but also kept rural economy vibrant.

The official of the private bank said the relatives of the expatriates spend the remittances in the rural areas, contributing to the country's gross domestic product.

An official of Agrani Bank said, as oil prices are on the rise, the Gulf Cooperation Countries have increased construction and other economic activities, which in turn boosted demands for migrant workers.

He also said some Arab states are now witnessing political stability after conflicts in the region.

The rebuilding activities following the prolonged unrest are leading to a revival of demand for Bangladeshi migrant workers in the Middle East countries.

The Daily Star/Bangladesh/ 4th May 2012

Akhtaruzzaman Chowdhury MP, chairman of United Commercial Bank, presides over the Bank's 29th annual general meeting at Bashundhara Convention Centre in Dhaka recently. The Bank approved 15 percent stock and 12 percent cash dividends for 2011 and increased its authorised capital from Tk 800 crore to Tk 1,500 crore. M Shahjahan Bhuiyan, managing director, was also present. UCB

The Daily Star/Bangladesh/ 4th May 2012