Seven women entrepreneurs and two journalists have been conferred with the BWCCI-EBL Progres- sive Award 2011-12 in recognition of their contributions to women entrepreneurship.

Bangladesh Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BWCCI), in partnership with Eastern Bank Ltd, handed over the awards to the recipients during a function at Institute of Diploma Engineers in the city on Tuesday.

Commerce Minister GM Quader distributed the awards as chief guest at the function.

Seven women entrepreneurs were picked up from each of the country’s seven divisions, while two reporters of daily Kaler kantho and ATN News were selected for the award.

The women entrepreneurs who received the awards are-- Musuma Khanom from Barisal, Kaniz Fatema Ahmed from Chittagong, Kam- run Nahar from Dhaka, Monowara Khatun from Khulna, Fatema Iasmin from Rangpur, Tahrima Begum from Rajshahi and Minara Chowdhury from Sylhet.

The journalists--Farzana Labobi of Kalerkantho and Golam Kader Robo of ATN News—were also honoured with the award.

While addressing the function, GM Quader said, “Women are doing well in all sectors, sometimes even better than men. If the country’s women advance in various respects, the country would definitely make faster progress.”

The Daily Sun/ Bangladesh/ 30th May 2012

Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr. Atiur Rahman presides over a meeting at the BB conference room Tuesday.

Bangladesh Bank has not extended deadline for raising paid-up capital of Non-Banking Financial Institutions (NBFIs) to Tk 1 billion, hence they must fulfill the condition by June 30.

BB Deputy Governor SK Sur Chowdhury said it to the journalists after a meeting with Bangladesh Leasing and Finance Companies Association (BLFCA) yesterday in the city.

President of BLFCA Asad Khan, however, told the journalists that increasing paid-up capital to Tk 1 billion is quite impossible by June 30 as some of NBFIs even have not got SEC approval yet to release IPO.

He also alleged that FIs are not getting loan from the banks at 15 percent interest rate. “Even most of the banks are now charging 18 percent interest on loans.”

Central bank Governor Dr. Atiur Rahman presided over the meeting held at the BB conference room.

BLFCA members and BB officials were also present at the meeting.

“We have not extended the deadline. Hence, the five NBFIs who are yet to increase their paid-up capital to Tk 1 billion must meet requirement by June 30 (today),” said SK Sur Chowdhury.

The NBFIs also need to start working on issuing IPO (Initial Public Offering) in the stock market, he added.

The Central bank deputy governor warned of tougher action against those who would fail to meet the requirements.

Sur Chowdhury said: “BB will be positive in its approach to support bringing back tax exemption facility for Zero Coupon Bond investment if NBR seeks any comment from us.” Commenting that the inflation rate of the country has come down to a satisfactory level, he said if the trend continues till September or October next, the Central bank will think of allowing the NBFIs to resume their home loan window.

The Daily Sun/ Bangladesh/ 30th May 2012

Bangladesh Bank (BB) yesterday refused to extend the deadline for non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) to raise their capital base to a minimum of Tk 100 crore.

In a notice last year, the central bank asked the NBFIs to raise their paid-up capital to at least Tk 100 crore by June 30 this year from Tk 50 crore to minimise risks.

Of the 31 NBFIs operating in the country, five companies -- IIDFC, Fareast Finance, Hajj Finance, Reliance Finance and National Finance -- have asked the central bank for a time extension.

“There is no scope for the time extension. They failed to raise the capital despite repeated requests,” said SK Sur Chowdhury, deputy governor of the central bank.

“One year is enough time to raise paid-up capital,” said BB Governor Atiur Rahman.

“I hope the financial institutions which are yet to raise the capital to Tk 100 crore will do so by the deadline,” said Rahman, citing examples of banks that have raised their paid-up capital to Tk 400 crore in time.

The central bank advised the NBFIs to float initial public offers, issue rights or bonus shares to mobilise funds required to take their paid-up capital to the new floor.

The NBFIs, however, find it difficult to raise capital and pointed to the heavy-handed approach of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in approving their proposals.

“Fareast Finance submitted its IPO proposal two months ago, but the SEC is yet to tell the company when the clearance will be given,” said Asad Khan, president of Bangladesh Leasing and Finance Companies Association.

There are rights shares proposals of other NBFIs pending with the SEC, said Khan, also managing director of Prime Finance.

Twenty-two NBFIs are listed on the stock exchanges.

The Daily Star/ Bangladesh/ 30th May 2012

Earnings by the tax administrator grew by 19.24 percent in the first 10 months of current fiscal year compared to the same period last year, thanks to a strong drive for tax mobilisation from domestic sources.

However, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) has to collect more than Tk 21,000 crore in the remaining two months to meet the revised target for the entire fiscal year.

An NBR official said they are upbeat about earning more than the required amount in the next two months from the tax dodgers apart from the normal collection from taxpayers.

Being encouraged by the strong performance this year, the government plans to set a 22 percent higher target next year than the current fiscal year's original target, he said.According to NBR statistics, revenue earnings in the July-April period were Tk 71,065 crore, up from the target of Tk 69,787 crore.

The NBR official said they had a collection target of Tk 91,870 crore for the entire year. However, in the revised target the figure is going to be set at Tk 92,370 crore.

The current year's successes may encourage the NBR to set the next year's target at Tk 112,259 crore, 22.19 percent more than this fiscal year's original target.

In the first 10 months this year, growth in income tax was 27.76 percent and VAT at the local level increased by 20.34 percent. However, revenue earnings rose by only 12.43 percent at the import level.

The official said both the government and the Bangladesh Bank took various steps to discourage import of unnecessary goods to ease pressure on the foreign currency reserve.

As a result, growth in revenue earnings at the import level is somewhat lower, he added.

The NBR has already formed two taskforces to speed up revenue collection. The taskforces have detected tax evasions by a good number of big companies. Revenues worth around Tk 2,000 crore may be realised from them, he said.

He also said an alternative dispute resolution has recently been introduced to fast-track settlement of tax-related cases out of court, which will spin off a handsome amount of revenue at the end of the year.

Another official said the NBR not only collected an increased amount of revenue from the private sector but also took steps to raise revenue earnings from the public sector.

The tax administrator realised a big amount of revenue from the state-owned mobile phone company and Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation.

The Daily Star/ Bangladesh/ 30-May-2012

Banking sector in Bangladesh is undergoing a challenging phase due to a liquidity shortage, following a massive capital outflow that resulted in a stock market crash early last year and restricted the banking sector’s ability to finance large projects, according to a report of gulfnews.com, a web portal.

Some 77 banks and financial institutions serve the country’s financial sectors comprising four state-owned commercial banks, 30 commercial banks, nine foreign commercial banks, five specialised commercial banks and 29 non-banking financial institutions.

Most banks that had significant exposure to the stock market have been suffering from a liquidity crisis since January 2011 following the market crash. However, despite this, the government has issued permits to open nine new banks, three of which are to be set up by non-resident Bangladeshis (NRBs) — a sign of the growing importance of Bangladeshi expatriate wage earners.

“The banking sector will undergo a tough time for some time as the sector is witnessing a liquidity shortage. With the issuance of the nine new banking licences, the country might become ‘overbanked’,” Mahmoud Hussain, President and Managing Director of Bank Asia, told the Gulf News.

“Besides, the government’s excessive domestic borrowing has added pressure on us.”
Despite these factors, Bangladesh is steadily moving towards a higher growth path, said the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

“It has achieved an average annual growth rate of 6.2 per cent over the last five years; in particular — a growth rate of 6.1 and 6.7 per cent during FY10 [fiscal year] and FY11 respectively, despite the global economic slowdown [Bangladesh follows a July to June fiscal],” Arvind Virmani, IMF executive director for Bangladesh, said.

Hussain said every year banks collectively open about 200 branches across the country as more and more people are being brought into the banking service network. “As a result, the bankers’ mobility has gone up. However, due to the challenging factors, risks have gone up.”

Rapid growth in the banking sector and equity markets has strained supervisory capacity and heightened systemic risks, said a recent report by the IMF. The Bangladesh government recognises the importance of strengthening the financial sector to reduce risks and support growth, the IMF said.

“However, macroeconomic pressures have emerged since the last fiscal year. Inflation has been in double digits and fiscal pressure has escalated, mainly due to increased subsidy costs as global oil prices have sharply risen,” Virmani said.

Hussain said despite these challenges banks will continue to grow, although a careful approach is needed.

The Independent/ Bangladesh/ 29-May-2012