A bumper output of rice has eased pressure on import.

Food grain imports have fallen by 56 percent in the current fiscal year, cutting the country's import bills by $1 billion, thanks to a rise in production of rice at home.

Rice and wheat imports slumped to 2.24 million tonnes between July and mid-June of the outgoing fiscal year, from 5.15 million tonnes in the July-June period a year ago, according to food ministry data.

During July to June 9 of the outgoing fiscal year, import payments for rice and wheat fell by $1.02 billion or 55 percent from $1.87 billion during the same period a year ago, according to Bangladesh Bank data.

The drastic fall in imports provides much relief to the policymakers at a time when export growth slows but the pressure on the balance of payments remains high due mainly to import of fuel to generate electricity through 'quick rental' power plants.

"The dip in food imports has helped curb a further depreciation of the taka," said economist Mahabub Hossain, attributing the reduced import to a rising rice output.

Rice yield rose by around 1 percent to 33.73 million tonnes in the current fiscal year from 33.54 million tonnes the previous year, enabling Bangladesh to become almost self-sufficient in its staple food, thanks to favourable weather, availability of fertiliser and its balanced use.

The reduced import of food grain has saved a good amount of subsidy, which the government can use in the power sector, said Hossain, who follows agriculture and rural economy.

"If the subsidy for food was needed, the government had to borrow more funds, which might make the economic situation of the country worse," said Hossain, also executive director of BRAC, a development organisation.

So, the condition of economy remains better because of the fall in food grain imports, he said.

He said import requirement for food for the next fiscal year would not be high unless there is any natural disaster.

Food and Disaster Management Minister Muhammad Abdur Razzaque said the government did not open fresh letter of credit (LCs) to import rice in the current fiscal year.

"We took delivery of rice against the contracts we signed the previous fiscal year," he said.

Razzaque said rice is in surplus now because of higher production in the past three harvests.

The government will review the overall production and stocks situation in November based on the production outlook of rain-fed aman rice, he said.

"We may need to export if we have surplus at that time," said Razzaque, explaining that export might be required to help prices of rice increase from the current low level to encourage farmers to stay with the cultivation of the crop.

A lack of space in public warehouses is another factor, said the minister, adding that import requirement for food grain would not be high the next fiscal year, beginning in July.

The government has cut its target for importing food grains by 15.4 percent to 1.1 million tonnes for the next fiscal year. Of the amount, wheat and rice import has been planned at 0.8 million tonnes and 0.3 million tonnes respectively, according to budget documents.

Till mid-June of the outgoing fiscal year, the government's imports fell by 52 percent to 1.01 million tonnes from 2.12 million tonnes the same period a year ago.

However, imports of wheat by the private sector may rise the next fiscal year, said Abul Bashar Chowdhury, chairman of BSM Group, a Chittagong-based commodity importer.

Including the government's planned wheat import, the total imports of the grain may rise to 2.3 million tonnes the next fiscal year from nearly 1.9 million in the outgoing year, said Chowdhury.

The Daily Star/Bangladesh/ 28th June 2012

The City Bank Limited has recently signed agreements with International Finance Corporation (IFC) for participation in global trade finance programme and short term rollover loan facilities, says a press release.

This will enable City Bank to extend USD based short term funding to eligible companies and strengthen its trade finance services.

K Mahmood Sattar, managing director and chief executive officer of City Bank, and Kyle F Kelhofer, country manager, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal of IFC, signed the agreements at the Banks head office at City Bank Centre, Gulshan, in the city.

Faruq M Ahmed, Additional managing director and chief risk officer, and Sheikh Mohammad Maroof, deputy managing director and head of wholesale banking division of City Bank, and M Rehan Rashid, senior country officer of IFC, were also present.

The Independent/Bangladesh/ 27th June 2012

United Commercial Bank Limited has opened its 121st branch at Bhatiary in Chittagong Tuesday.

Anisuzzaman Chowdhu- ry (Ronny), Director of United Commercial Bank inaugurated the branch as chief guest while Setara Begum, Director of UCBL, M Shahjahan Bhuiyan, Managing Director of UCBL were also present.

Additional Managing Director Mr. Mirza Mahmud Rafiqur Rahman and Deputy Managing Directors Mr. Mamun-Ur-Rashid & Mr. Mohammad Shawkat Jamil along with other officials of head office and different branches of Chittagong of United Commercial Bank Limited were present at the branch opening ceremony.

United Commercial Bank Limited, one of the best private banks of the country is committed to give the best service to clients with a wide range of branch networks all over the country since 1983.

The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/ 27th June 2012

Harsh Lambah, Senior Regional Director of MoneyGram for South Asia, and Neaz Ahmed, Managing Director of National Bank Ltd, seen at a function in Dhaka Tuesday.

MoneyGram International signed an agreement with National Bank Limited on expanding its netwrok in Bangladesh.

Under this agreement, National Bank will act as MoneyGram’s new growing agent here and has already added more than 155 National Bank locations to MoneyGram’s existing strong network throughout the country.

Harsh Lambah, Senior Regional Director of MoneyGram for South Asia, and Neaz Ahmed, Managing Director of National Bank Ltd jointly announced this in Dhaka Tuesday.

“We are proud of our new association with National Bank, as they are a local leader with extensive experience in the money transfer space,” said Lambah.

National Bank, the first private sector bank fully-owned by Bangladeshi citizens, has locations spread across the country, with a significant presence in the cities of Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet.

“National Bank is experienced in providing money transfer services and we are very pleased to offer MoneyGram’s service to our customers,” said Neaz Ahmed.

The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/ 27th June 2012

Standard Chartered Bank Limited signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Singapore Airlines at its head office in Dhaka.

Gitanka Datta, Head of Cards of Standard Chartered Bank and Kam Zhi Wei, Station Manager for Dhaka and Singapore Airlines signed the agreement recently, said a press release.

Md Mahiul Islam, GM of Standard Chartered Bank, Rifat Kader, Head of Sales of Singapore and senior officials of both the organisations were present at the signing ceremony.

Under this MoU, Standard Chartered VISA Signature cardholders will enjoy 50 percent off on second ticket and 25 percent off on third ticket acquisition from Singapore Airlines.

They will get benefit for carrying 10 kgs of excess luggage and priority checking at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport while travelling through Singapore Airlines.

The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/ 27th June 2012