A director of the newly formed board of the Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) resigned yesterday citing inability to perform duties with dignity.

SMC Enterprise Ltd (SMC EL) and SMC Pharmaceuticals jointly organised an annual sales conference for fiscal year 2022-23 at Hotel Sea Palace Ltd in Cox’s Bazar recently. 

Shimanto Bank recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Medix, a concern of United Healthcare Services Ltd.

Al-Arafah Islami Bank Ltd (AIBL) yesterday signed a participating financial institution (PFI) agreement with Bangladesh Bank to avail pre-financing under a project styled ‘Program to Support Safety Retrofits and Environmental Upgrades in the Bangladeshi RMG sector Project (SREUP)’.

Mutual Trust Bank (MTB) launched a two-day “MTB Home Loan Carnival 2023” at Dhaka Export Processing Zone (DEPZ) yesterday with the theme of “Unlock Your Dream Home”. 

The Islamic banking sector in Bangladesh continues to face liquidity challenges because of weak governance and regulatory quality, Fitch Ratings said.

Bangladesh is ready to frame a special policy to attract more direct investment from Commonwealth economies, said Salman F Rahman, private industry and investment adviser to the prime minister, yesterday. 

The Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) has started issuing e-driving licences.

Bangladesh Mobile Consumers Association yesterday demanded the reinstatement of short-term and low-cost internet packages mostly used by low-income and marginal consumers.

Non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) should build trust among people since the confidence of many savers has received a blow after they lost money owing to irregularities, Industries Minister Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun said today.

Bangladesh’s financial account witnessed deficit in the first month of the new fiscal year, signaling that the pressure on the foreign exchange regime will continue.

Data centre manufacturing and power generation firm DataVolt of Saudi Arabia has unveiled plans to invest $100 million (around Tk 1,098 crore) to establish a cutting-edge data centre in Bangladesh. 

The commerce ministry has asked the National Board of Revenue to further rationalise duty rates imposed on sugar and edible oil imports, said Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi yesterday.

The Federal Reserve of the US and the European Central Bank kept hiking policy rates in their fight against record inflation throughout last year and this year whereas the central bank of Bangladesh chose not to use the full force of the monetary policy.

A four-year industrial park project undertaken by the Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) in Sirajganj will enter its 14th year of construction due to delays in land acquisition and difficulties in obtaining approval from relevant ministries.

The government has eased rules regarding registration of new seeds of vegetables and other crops, barring only crops such as rice, wheat, jute and sugarcane.

Bangladesh needs to provide quality public goods and services, raise productivity and adapt to technological advancement-induced challenges to maintain its growth towards its aim to become an upper-middle-income country, said an economist working for the British government yesterday.

Shipbuilders have been granted another two and a half months or so to reschedule their defaulted loans through a 2.5 per cent down payment, according to a Bangladesh Bank (BB) notice yesterday. 

Troubled state-run lender Janata Bank continues to be overly lenient towards AnonTex Group, one of its five large borrowers, despite negligible loan recovery in 13 years from the garment manufacturer.

CORR The Jute Works, a trust of Caritas Bangladesh, has been working to develop the lives of unprivileged women in the country for the last 50 years, speakers said yesterday.