Janata Bank Ltd has distributed blankets among the cold-hit people in Jessore recently.

Md Nurul Amin and Omar Farooque, deputy managing directors of the Bank, distributed the blankets to the poor, said a press release.

Other high officials of the Bank’s Jessore area were also present on the occasion.

Janata Bank has taken an initiative to distribute around 7000 blankets among the distressed in Rangpur, Sirajgonj, Dinajpur, Gopalgonj, Rajbari, Comilla, Narsingdi, Mymensing, Laxmipur and Dhaka city.

The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/ 26th Jan 2012

The Asian Development Bank said yesterday it has approved a loan and political risk guarantee of up to $400 million for a project to build Uzbekistan's largest-ever petrochemical plant.

The ADB said the Surgil Natural Gas Chemicals Project would produce gas for commercial use and for conversion into chemical intermediates used in the plastics and textiles industries.

The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/ 26th Jan 2012

Alhaj Abdus Samad, chairman of the Executive Committee of Al-Arafah Islami Bank Ltd, presides over the executive committee meeting of the bank yesterday.

The 333rd meeting of the executive committee (EC) of Al-Arafah Islami Bank Ltd was held at its head office in the city yesterday. Al-haj Abdus Samad, chairman of the executive committee of the Bank, presided over the meeting, said a press release.

Vice-Chairman of the committee Alhajj Abdul Malek Mollah, Mem-bers-- Alhajj Md Harun-Ar Rashid Khan, Alhajj Nazmul Ahsan Khaled, Alhajj Hafej and Md Enayetullah, Alhajj A N M Yeahea, General Manager of Bangladesh Bank Ahmed Ehtes-hamul Haidar, Mana-ging Director of the Bank Ekramul Hoque, Deputy Managing Directors-- Md Rafiqul Islam, Khondoker Nayeemul Kabir and Company Secretary and Deputy Managing Director Md. Mofazzal Hossain were also present at the meeting.

The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/ 26th Jan 2012

Bangladesh Bank (BB) is taking strict legal stand including operating mobile court to punish the people who are involved in producing fake notes and circulating those in public to make their fortune.

“We are planning necessary changes to the existing rules and regulations to bring people behind bar who are responsible for forging currency notes,” a high BB official told BSS yesterday.

He said the changes would empower the central bank operate mobile court with support from the law enforcing agencies to punish people in a faster process for forging currency notes.

The official said the respective committee of the central bank would sit on Thursday with authorities concerned to discuss about the necessary changes and take effective steps to protect people from incurring loss to currency forgery.

The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/ 26th Jan 2012

The government's hefty borrowing from banks and a poor flow of foreign aid have emerged as a double setback to the economy.

“If the government continues to spend without getting foreign aid, the situation may worsen further,” a senior Bangladesh Bank (BB) official told The Daily Star yesterday.

The issue is likely to get major attention in today's monetary policy.

Though the government set its bank borrowing at Tk 19,000 crore in the budget, it crossed the limit in the first week of December. However, borrowing came down to Tk 16,000 crore in January from around Tk 22,000 crore in December.

It has impacted the dollar-taka exchange rate. “There is a dollar component in the government borrowing, which has contributed to a surge in demand and price of the greenback,” said the BB official. He cited examples of petroleum and fertiliser imports.

The taka has depreciated against the dollar by over 15 percent in 2011 and the downtrend continues. A US dollar sold at Tk 85 for import payments yesterday. The devaluation affects consumers of Bangladesh, an import-dependent nation.

The inflow of foreign aid that narrows the gap between demand and supply of foreign currency has slowed significantly this year.

Officials of the Economic Relations Division (ERD) said Bangladesh received $807 million in foreign aid during the first half of the current fiscal year, down from $984 million for the same period last year. Of this year's foreign aid, 507 million or 63 percent was paid as principal and interest.

According to ERD, the aid commitment of the major donors was $2.8 billion for the first half of this fiscal year.

The gap between a demand and supply of the greenback remains high this year, said another BB official of the foreign exchange and treasury management department.

If the government received the promised aid, such a mismatch between demand and supply would not be there.

“What we can do is tighten imports. The LC opening in December shows a negative 8 percent growth compared to the previous month,” said the official, supporting BB's policy stance.

The Daily Star/Bangladesh/ 26th Jan 2012