Gold started the new year on a solid note after ending a volatile 2022 largely unchanged, with prices rallying to a more than six-month peak on Tuesday as investors positioned for the Federal Reserve’s latest policy minutes.

Major indices of the stock market in Bangladesh saw an uptick yesterday even though most shares bled while turnover remains below Tk 200 crore as stocks are not allowed to drop by more than 1 per cent but can rise by up to 10 per cent in a day, according to experts.

Bangladesh is unlikely to fall into any recession but its economic growth may slow down in 2023 because of high inflation, dollar crisis and problems in the banking sector, said economists yesterday. 

Stocks in Bangladesh rose although most of the stocks bled today.

The fifth edition of the Bangladesh Capital Market Expo-2023 will start in Dhaka tomorrow at the Institution of Diploma Engineers, Bangladesh.

Local electronics giant Walton is all set to take part in the world’s most influential tech event ‘Consumer Electronics Show (CES)-2023’ at Las Vegas in the USA from January 5 to 8.

Stock trading started the day with a fall in the morning today as the investors are still suffering from confidence crisis.

The country’s female garment workers have a wage gap of around 51 per cent to 60 per cent depending on the area and living wage benchmark in five major industrial areas in Bangladesh, including Dhaka city, a survey finds.

The Bangladesh Garments Workers Unity Council (BGWUC) yesterday demanded that the monthly minimum wage of garment workers be hiked by 175 per cent to Tk 22,000 from the existing Tk 8,000.

Turnover at Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) yesterday plunged to its lowest in two and a half years.

A drop in prices coupled with a rise in feed costs have put shrimp and prawn farmers of Bagerhat in a tight spot.

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has received 28.51 lakh tax returns from individual taxpayers until January 1, the final day for filing income and wealth statements for fiscal year 2022-23 without any penalty, officials said yesterday.

Motorcycle sales in Bangladesh did not show any growth but rather shrunk in 2022 as the ongoing economic crises, such as rising inflationary pressure, contributed to an overall decrease in local demand, according to industry insiders.

Although the inflation rate in Bangladesh has maintained a downward trend for the past four months, it is still high enough to affect those living in the middle-income category and below, experts say. 

Off-late job cuts, particularly in the major global tech companies, are being piled up. In some cases, the decision of laying off employees was taken so hastily that it not only drew the attention of the media. Policy-makers and people were also concerned.

In another financial felony in Bangladesh, UFS Asset Management has embezzled Tk 158 crore in investors’ funds, according to a probe of the stock market regulator.

Kazi Abdur Rahman joined Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank (Rakub) in the post of deputy managing director (DMD) recently.

Standard Chartered Bank (Bangladesh) has recently been recognised by the National Board of Revenue as the highest taxpayer in the banking category for the assessment year 2021-22. 

Private sector credit growth rose to 13.97 per cent in November to near the central bank’s target for the ongoing financial year owing to cheaper loans, a development that may stoke inflationary pressures.

Four more shariah-based banks have been found to have taken emergency funds, which are usually taken during extraordinary circumstances, in an attempt at dressing up their balance sheet for last year.