Ahsan Habib

The jitters surrounding the state of the economy are reverberating on the stock market, with the key index dropping for the fifth day in a row.

Luxury hotel businesses in Bangladesh are on the path of recovery to pre-pandemic levels, with local customers playing a vital role in renting rooms, holding a large number of events and seeking food made by their restaurants. 

Shares of small capital-based companies surged abnormally on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) in the past month whereas the benchmark index of the premier bourse of Bangladesh, as well as blue-chip securities, has been in a bearish mood. 

Stocks of Grameenphone have been falling ever since the government banned the country’s top telecom company from selling new SIM cards at a time when shares of its main competitor, Robi Axiata, have entered a bull run.

Most of the companies in Bangladesh may not qualify for the 2.5 percentage points cut in the corporate tax rate as proposed in the budget for the upcoming fiscal year owing to stringent conditions.

The government has proposed a 2.5 percentage point cut in corporate tax rates for the listed companies in the national budget unveiled for the next fiscal year in a bid to develop the stock market and attract investments.

Although Bangladesh is witnessing a golden hour in terms of demographic dividend, a lack of decent employment opportunities in the country is leading to rising unemployment among educated youths, according to experts.

People may have to spend more for taking meditation services from the next month as the finance minister today recommended withdrawing the VAT exemption benefit the services have been enjoying since 2016-17.

The finance minister has proposed abolishing the scope for whitening of black money through the stock market.

The trade licence issuance process needs to be simplified and moved online while simplification of the bank loan process is also needed to help boost women owned businesses, according to a report by Business Initiative Leading Development (BUILD).

Square Pharmaceuticals Kenya EPZ Ltd, a subsidiary of Square Pharmaceuticals, has recently received a go-ahead to start commercial manufacturing in its Kenyan factory.

The company will manufacture and sell generic pharmaceutical medicine in Kenya and East African Community (EAC).

Bangladesh set out for financial sector reforms in the 1980s.

The wheels of the two companies have begun turning again after remaining closed for many years while another firm is moving towards resuming operation – thanks to the restructuring of boards by the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC).

The stock market regulator in Bangladesh has stepped up its efforts to forestall the freefall of shares despite criticism from institutional investors and analysts as uncertainty is deepening owing to the raging Ukraine war, persistently higher inflation and fresh coronavirus flareups.

Although the corporate tax levied on listed firms is lower than that of their non-listed counterparts, many companies in Bangladesh lack interest in joining the stock market as they want to avoid the obligation of ensuring good corporate governance, regularly disclosing financial information and complying with other rules.

The pace of profit growth of pharmaceutical companies in Bangladesh slowed in the January-March period of the current financial year compared to a year ago because of higher operating costs despite bigger sales.

Profits of listed fuel and power generation companies altogether dropped in the January-March period of the current financial year of 2021-22 due to some power plants shutting down, an increase in the price of raw materials and a decrease in investment income.

At the beginning of 2022, Bangladesh’s economy seemed to be on course to grow at a faster clip buoyed by plummeting coronavirus infections, rebound in economic activities and the reopening of global economies.

Jubilant FoodWorks, the master franchisee of Domino’s Pizza in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal, has fully acquired Jubilant Golden Harvest Ltd, the franchisee of Domino’s Pizza in Bangladesh.