Eastern Bank Limited (EBL) has declared 35 percent stock dividend for the shareholders for the year ended on 31 December 2011.

The approval was given at the 20th annual general meeting (AGM) of the Bank held at Gulshan-2 in the city yesterday and the record date for the dividend had been set on 1 March this year, said a press release.

Md Noor Ali, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bank, presided over the meeting.

During the meeting, Noor Ali presented the Directors’ Report and financial statements for the year 2011 before the shareholders.

The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/ 29th March 2012

Mercantile Bank Limited declared 23 percent stock dividend for its shareholders for the year 2011.The approval was given at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Bank in the city on Wednesday.

Abdul Jalil, MP, Chairman of the Bank presided over, said a press release.

The shareholders approved the company’s profit and loss account and balance sheet.

In the year 2011, the Bank earned operating profit of Tk 3.5017 billion. Banks deposit and loans and advances were Tk 102.26 billion and Tk 80 billion respectively.

Import and export of the Bank activities was Tk. 35.0087 billion and Tk. 81.3118 billion. Foreign inward remittance was Tk 7.15 billion and provision for taxes was Tk 1.25 billion.

Abdul Jalil in his speech mentioned that the success of the Bank in the year 2011 is the result of co-operation and support of its shareholders clients, central Bank and other regulatory bodies and thanked the board of directors and the management for theirs co-operation to achieve the success.

Among others, Morshed Alam, Vice Chairman, Mohd. Selim- Vice Chairman, MS Ahsan, Chairman Executive Committee, Al-Haj Akram Hussain (Humayun), Chairman Audit Committee, Directors Md. Anwarul Haque, Dr. Toufique Rahman Chowdhury, Engr. Mohd. Monsuruzzaman, Bilkis Begum, Md. Tabibul Huq, ASM Feroz Alam, M Amanullah, AKM Shaheed Reza, Md. Nasiruddin Choudhury, Md. Shahabuddin Alam, SM Abdul Mannan, MP, Al-Haj Mosharref Hossain, MA Khan Belal, Dr. Matiur Rahman, MP, sponsors Al-Haj Md. Abdul Hannan and SM Shafiqul Islam (Mamun), Bank’s Managing Director and CEO AKM Shahidul Haque, Deputy Managing Directors Md. Abdul Jalil Chowdhury, Monindra Kumar Nath, MA Yousuf Khan, Md. Quamrul Islam Chowdhury and Choudhury Moshtaq Ahmed and senior executive of the Bank were also present on the occasion.

A large number of share holders attended the Annual General Meeting.

The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/ 29th March 2012

The government has decided to increase the size of next fiscal year’s budget by 7.2 percent with no cut in the subsidy and Annual Development Programme (ADP) allocations.

The decisions came from a budget management resource committee meetings held at the ministry of finance in the capital yesterday, which also projected to keep inflationary pressure within eight percent.

In the meet, the Gross Domestic Production (GDP) growth target has also been fixed at above seven percent, which some of the participants in the discussions termed ambitious in the backdrops of the global economic situation and the domestic earning and investment projections, a senior government official who attended two consecutive meetings on fiscal coordination and on budget management.

Finance minister AMA Muhith presided over the meetings.

The source also said the government wants to increase the revenue earnings to a maximum level next fiscal to maintain the budget deficit within 5.1 percent. In the current 2011-12 fiscal, deficit has crossed five per cent of the budget size, he added

“In the meeting, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) has been asked to prepare a report on the new scopes of revenue earnings in the next fiscal year”.

The NBR was also asked to submit reports on revenue earnings before the next budget resource committee meeting, he added.

Prime Minister’s economic affair adviser Mashiur Rahman , NBR Chairman Nasiruddin Ahemd , Economic Relation Division secretary Iqbal Mahumund , Bangladesh Bank governor Atiur Rahman, Statistics Division secretary Riti Ibrahim and planning secretary Bhuiyan Shafiqul Islam, among others, attended the two consecutive meetings.

Meeting sources said size of the next 2012-13 fiscal year’s budget will be slightly below Tk 2 trillion.

According to mid-term budgetary framework estimation, the size of the next budget will be Tk 1.89 trillion with a deficit of Tk 508.9 billion. The size of current fiscal year’s revised budget is Tk 1.61 trillion.

Meeting sources said finance minister has asked the revenue board to increase its earnings to ease the government’s fiscal pressure. Bangladesh Bank was asked to strictly monitor the banking sector to implement government government’s policy for the banking sector.

Member of the budget management committee said yesterday’s meetings also emphasised on more investment in the agriculture and energy sectors in next fiscal as like the present fiscal year. Besides, the meetings also decided to give adequate subsidy to agriculture sector for keeping agriculture sector growth above four per cent.

Meeting sources said the total subsidy in the next fiscal may be fixed at Tk 400 billion, from the initially allocated Tk 200 billion for the current fiscal.

But the amount of subsidy in the current fiscal has increased to Tk 470 billion in the middle of the fiscal, sources said.

Earlier, the power division sought Tk 100 billion as subsidies to the government for smooth supply of electricity across the country in next fiscal. The government allocated a subsidy of Tk 50 billion to the sector for the current fiscal.

The next fiscal year’s development budget will be over Tk 500 billion, creating subsidy pressure. But the government scale up its revenue collection between Tk 1.14 trillion and Tk 1.20 trillion to offset the pressure, meeting sources said.

The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/ 29th March 2012

Fahim Ahmed Faruk Chowdhury, director of Pubali Bank Ltd, inaugurates a branch of the Bank at Katirhat, Chittagong recently. Helal Ahmed Chowdhury, Managing Director, Safiul Alam Khan Chowdhury, Deputy Managing Director of the Bank, are also seen.

Pubali Bank Limited inaugurated its 407th branch at Katirhat, Chittagong recently with online facilities.

Fahim Ahmed Faruk Chowdhury, director of the Bank inaugurated the branch as chief guest. Independent Director Khurshid-ul-Alam was present as special guests. Helal Ahmed Chowdhury, Managing Director of the Bank presided over, said a press release.

Deputy Managing Director Safiul Alam Khan Chowdhury, Chief Technical Officer and General Manager of General Services and Development Division Mohammad Ali, General Manager of Principal Office Chittagong Md. Sirajul Islam Miah, Regional Manager of Chittagong North DGM Md. Omor Sultan, Regional head of Chittagong South and Hill Track Region DGM Shaym Sundor Banik, DGM of Agrabad corporate Branch Md. Azizul Haque, DGM of CDA corporate Branch Mir Akhtarul Alam and KM Zakaria attended the function.

Helal Ahmed Chow- dhury said the Bank has been providing better services for its clients with a promise to keep up its original tradition. He also said, PBL gives priority to provide opportunity and advantage to the customers through application of modern technologies.

The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/ 29th March 2012

Bangladesh Bank (BB) Governor Atiur Rahman yesterday urged local firms to borrow from abroad saying that the authority gave a nod at the beginning of the fiscal year to local firms to borrow $598 million from foreign sources.

“I really ask you to look for foreign loans and it is cheaper and easier to get now,” said Rahman at a luncheon meeting of businesspeople and top executives.

So far, local firms have taken out loans from foreign sources in diverse sectors like shipping, power, footwear, IT, telecom, agriculture, steel and readymade garments, said the BB governor, who is also the chairman of a Board of Investment committee related to the approval of applications on getting foreign loans.

"I do not take more than two days to clear applications,” added Rahman.

Foreign Investors' Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) organised the meet at Sonargaon Hotel, where the central bank chief also called upon foreign investors here to help improve the image of the country by showcasing its achievements in various sectors.

Rahman urged investors to go outside Dhaka to understand the investment potential in Bangladesh. The economy of the country has been growing at 6 percent annually in the past decade, although the country suffers from poor infrastructure, power shortages, corruption and political instability.

The BB governor said when corporate houses will borrow from foreign sources, it will help maintain a steady exchange rate and ease pressures on the foreign exchange reserves.

The BB chief's appeal comes at a time when the central bank is following a monetary tightening stance to curb the money supply and cut excess demand, in a bid to bring down inflation to a single digit by the end of the financial year ending June 30.

Average inflation stood close to 11 percent in February. On a monthly basis, inflation dipped to 10.4 percent in February from 11.59 percent in January.

Volatility in exchange rates has eased and a liquidity crunch in the banks has reduced with the interest rate on inter-bank lending falling.

The rapid growth of government borrowing from the banking sector has created a crowding-out effect in credit flow to the private sector, Rahman said.

Government borrowing -- currently worth Tk 16,500 crore -- will have a limited crowding-out effect on the private sector and the target of 16 percent credit growth to the private sector could be maintained despite a higher projection of government borrowing, he said.

Citing the performance of exports and farm, industrial, and service sectors in the first half of the current fiscal year, the central bank chief expects the economy to grow 6.5-7 percent by the end of the year.

Noting the prospects of Bangladesh, he said the country has entered into a phase of demographic dividend as the ratio of working population is rising against a backdrop of a falling fertility rate.

He said the country needs to cash in on its demographic dividend to attain 8 percent growth to cut poverty and become a mid income country by 2021.

"The demographic dividend does not last for ever. At some point, this bulge in the working age population will transform itself into a bulge in the elderly population.”

"We must use the next ten years to create higher productivity jobs, intermediate the savings that this working population has to invest in our country's infrastructure, institutions and build foundations to prepare for when this demographic dividend is over," he said.

"The next ten years is the best opportunity we have to drastically cut poverty," said Rahman, recommending skills development for the labour force along with education to tap the opportunity.

The governor also suggested local entrepreneurs, especially banks, to explore the possibilities to open branches in Myanmar that has taken measures to make reforms after its election.

FICCI President Syed Ershad Ahmed demanded making BB an independent body, free from the interference of the finance ministry.

Referring to the BB move to issue licences to open new banks, Ahmed wanted the authority to clarify whether there is a need for more commercial banks in the economy.

The Daily Star/Bangladesh/ 29th March 2012