Japan’s biggest lender, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) said it will aim for net zero emissions in its finance portfolio by 2050, responding to pressure to align its business with the targets set in the Paris Agreement on climate change.

Japan’s top lender Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc (MUFG) posted on Monday a better-than-expected 47 per cent rise in full-year net profit, after last year’s earnings were hit by an impairment charge on its units in Southeast Asia.

When the coronavirus pandemic hit the world early last year, the airline industry was among the first sectors that felt the crisis’s impacts as almost every country closed doors to protect itself from the raging pathogen.

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) yesterday asked its field offices to stay open in order to provide services and collect taxes during the extended period of strict restrictions imposed by the government to curb the spread of Covid-19.

The country cannot reach a double digit ranking on the World Bank’s ease of doing business index without the proper implementation of policy and regulatory reforms, according to the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (Bida).

The finance ministry has asked ministries and divisions to take more austerity measures and ensure transparency during public procurement as the government has placed utmost priority in health, social safety net and economic management to tackle the coronavirus pandemic.

Local jewellers can now import unrefined precious metals, gemstones and ores under the revised draft of the Gold Policy-2018 approved by the government yesterday.

Bangladesh should embrace technologies to counter the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic and accelerate digital transformation to make the country a developed nation, experts said yesterday.

Stock market yesterday witnessed the highest turnover in four months, crossing Tk 1,500 crore, thanks to increased participation of institutional investors prompted by a continuous rise of the index.

A once vibrant musical instruments business has slowly lost its lustre, according to traders, musicians and market analysts.

The Chittagong Chamber of Commerce & Industry (CCCI) has had a director elected.

Friends will hug and pints will be pulled as swathes of the British economy reopened on Monday, giving 65 million people a measure of freedom after the gloom of a four-month Covid-19 lockdown.

The National Board of Revenue will keep its tax offices open during the ongoing countrywide restrictions on movement.

Turnover at the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) crossed Tk 1,500 crore today for the first time in around four months thanks to the buying pressure from the investors.

Some 1.06 crore of mobile phone users left Dhaka until May 15 after the exodus began on May 4 despite strict restriction on movement to curb the spread of Covid-19 infections, according to data of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC).

Most banks are announcing higher dividends for 2020 than a year ago although they were plagued by the coronavirus pandemic for most of the year and had to do with a lower interest rate regime.

The industrial estate of the Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) in Nilphamari has become a hub for small businesses as it gives them easy access to key markets in the northern part of the country.

While the pandemic waves on, the budget should focus on crisis management, prioritising spending on health, targeting fiscal support to distressed families and enterprises, restoring the functionality of education, and building on the resilience demonstrated by agriculture while keeping an eye on revenues. A business-as-usual budget like last year will miss the boat again.

The central bank yesterday ordered banks to permit branches, liaison and representative offices of foreign companies promptly if they want to move their accounts to another lender.

Bangladesh Bank yesterday instructed lenders to continue their limited banking operations until May 23.