DT e-Paper 29 March 2017

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DT 10 Business WEDNESDAY, MARCH 29, 2017 CAPITAL MARKET SNAPSHOT: TUESDAY DSE Broad Index 5,737.4 0.7% ▼ Index 1,297.4 0.1% ▼ 30 Index 2,095.2 1.1% ▼ Turnover in Mn Tk 9,959.4 28.2% ▼ Turnover in Mn Vol 296.8 19.0% ▼ CSE All Share Index 17,800.8 0.7% ▼ 30 Index 15,562.3 1.0% ▼ Selected Index 10,787.9 0.7% ▼ Turnover in Mn Tk 665.1 -3.4% ▼ Turnover in Mn Vol 22.4 2.7% ▼ BB heist: Muhith confident about getting back money • Asif Showkat Kallol Finance Minister AMA Muhith reiterated that Bangladesh would be able to recover the money stolen from its central bank account in the United States. “We definitely have to get back the money from the Philippines as that money is ours,” Muhith told a meeting with the Bangladesh Bank officials yesterday in Dhaka. Law Minister Anisul Huq, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, Bangladesh Bank Governor Fazle Kabir and Attorney General Mahbubey Alam also attended the meeting. About the fire incident at the Bangladesh Bank building on Thursday, finance minister said the fire originated from an electric short circuit. A Bangladesh Bank representative informed the meeting that the Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte had earlier promised to return the money to Bangladesh through regular procedures. A meeting source quoted law minister who at the meeting urged the authorities concerned to take strict legal actions to bring the money from Philippines within the stipulated time. A representative of the Central Investigation Department said Finance Division should not disclose Bangladesh Bank report on the cyber heist. “It’s a sensitive issue and the disclosure may affect the recovery process,” he said. A high Finance Division official who also attended the meeting said a big part of the stolen money might be returned, which would be “surprising to all.” In February, 2016 the hackers stole $81m from Bangladesh Bank account with Fed Reserve in New York. A total of $15m returned to Bangladesh by the Philippines government and the rest of amount still remain in the country. Five transactions issued by the hackers, worth $101m, and withdrawn from the account, were succeeded, with $20m traced to Sri Lanka and $81m to the Philippines. The Federal Reserve Bank of NY blocked the remaining thirty transactions, amounting to $850m, at the request of Bangladesh Bank. • Organisers announce the Dhaka International Tourism Fair 2017 at a press conference yesterday. The 14th edition of the three-day fair will begin Thursday at Sonargaon Hotel, Dhaka COURTESY Tourism fair begins tomorrow • Tribune Business Desk A three-day international tourism fair titled US-Bangla Airlines Dhaka Travel Mart (DTM) 2017 will begin at Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel tomorrow. Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Rashed Khan Menon will formally inaugurate the fair. Kazi Wahidul Alam, editor, The Bangladesh Monitor and Chairman of the US-Bangla Airlines DTM 2017 Organising Committee, came up with this disclosure at a press conference held yesterday at Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel. Imran Asif, CEO of US-Bangla Airlines, Dr Md Nasir Uddin, CEO of Bangladesh Tourism Board, Dr Aparup Chowdhury, chairman, Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation, and Md Abu Taher, DGM, Sales, Biman Bangladesh Airlines, spoke on the occasion. The orgniser said a total of 50 organisations from different countries and host Bangladesh are taking part in US-Bangla Airlines Dhaka Travel Mart 2017. The participants include national tourism organisations, airlines, tour operators, hotels, resorts, online booking portals, healthcare service providers, etc. Visitors will be able to visit the fair from 10am to 8 pm from Thursday to Saturday, paying an entry fee of Tk30. Raffle draw will also be held on the concluding day on April 1 at 7:30pm at the fair venue in front of visitors. Prizes will include airline tickets to various destinations at home and abroad, exciting tour packages, star hotel accommodation, lunch/ dinner coupons and others. “With a view to unlocking the country’s tourism potential, we launched this event 16 years back, and since then we are holding this fair as a regular annual event,” said Wahidul Alam. “We believe that Dhaka Travel Mart has been playing a very supportive role in the development of country’s tourism sector.” For a sustainable tourism sector and for attracting more foreign tourists, a lot more things need to be done, he said, adding that first of all appropriate tourism products need to be identified and promoted them worldwide. • ECB optimistic about global deal on bank rules • AFP, Frankfurt Regulators at the European Central Bank said they are “optimistic” that talks on harmonising rules for banks around the world will soon end in a deal. The so-called “Basel III” round of banking talks has stalled in recent months as negotiators battle over questions like how big banks’ capital reserves should be and how they should judge risk. Observers feared that Donald Trump’s incoming adminstration - seen as favouring looser regulation of banks and distrustful of multilateral cooperation - would hold up the talks. But “I’m optimistic and positive” that a deal will soon be reached, top ECB regulator Sabine Lautenschlaeger said at a Frankfurt press conference. “I have not yet got any news from the US American colleagues, but I do see that all of us are very aware” of the need for standardised rules, she insisted. As proof, Lautenschlaeger pointed to a statement signed by G20 finance ministers at a meeting in Germany last week, committing the world’s most powerful countries - including the US-- to “finalise the Basel III framework”. “All of the compromises are on the table, and we just need to have a final meeting,” she said. Capital requirements have been at the heart of a European-US split over the draft banking rules. The US has favoured forcing banks to have more capital on hand, while European governments, regulators and finance groups fear stringent capital requirements will hobble their banks and economies. •
Business 11 Govt to adjust workers welfare association with ILO standard • Ibrahim Hossain Ovi Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed yesterday said the government will adjust Workers Welfare Association (WWA) with the ILO convention to ensure equal rights for workers employed in the country’s Export Processing Zones and beyond. The minister came up with the comment while addressing journalists after a meeting with the European Union (EU) parliamentary delegation lead by Arne Lietz, a member of the European Parliament at his office yesterday. “There is a question about trade union at EPZ, but Bangladesh has WWA, which is almost similar to trade unions in terms of enjoying workers rights,” the minister said. “But we must adjust with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) rules. It has been discussed with the delegation.” The delegation will meet the Ministry of Labour and Employment and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to discuss the issue. Bangladesh will give importance to the issues, which the EU is concerned with, since benefits come from them, said Tofail. There will not be any problem between EU and Bangladesh, and if any, they would be resolved through discussion, the minister said, adding that all issues would be discussed in the meeting on Sustainability Compact to be held in May. Talking on the EPZ workers rights issues, Arne Lietz, a member Dhaka Bank Limited and International Finance Corporation recently signed $55m Facilities Agreements. High officials of both sides seen at the signing ceremony of the European Parliament said EPZ Law needs to be rethought. He urged the authorities concerned to come up with the standard of UN convention and ILO standard in terms of workers rights inside and outside EPZs. Replying to a question on Ashulia labour unrest that took place in December last year, Arne said it has been discussed with the international partners like H&M, C&A and others working here. The workers are fighting for better wages system and it is very logical. “We are experiencing such demonstration everywhere in our countries and sometimes we see street blockade. It is a part of trade union to fight for the right,” according to the head of delegation. He hopes that a strong result might come from tripartite agreement and it is a good start to develop new rules and pathways to deal with the issues. The EU delegates also talked on the amendment to Labour Act to address the issue relating to freedom of association and collective bargain, to introduce same standards and equal labour rights in and outside EPZs factories and simplify the trade union registration process. “We feel there is a need for amendment to some provisions of Labour Act and we will sit with the national tripartite consultation committee on the amendment,” said Mujibul Haque, state minister for labour. • The winners of the ‘Nescafe Rocking Offer’ pose for photo at Nestle Bangladesh Head Office Dhaka yesterday. The coffee brand awarded the offer to four individuals DT WEDNESDAY, MARCH 29, 2017 Ecnec approves 12 projects involving over Tk10cr • Tribune Business Desk The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) yesterday approved 12 projects, including one for urban governance and infrastructure development, involving a total of Tk10,147.57 crore. The approval was given in the Ecnec meeting held at the NEC conference room at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar with ECNEC chairperson and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair, reports BSS. Of the total project cost, Tk6,280.64 crore will come from the National exchequer, Tk235.59 crore from the funds of the implementing agencies and the remaining Tk3,631.34 crore as project assistance, Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal told journalists at a post-meeting briefing. He said the urban governance and infrastructure development project (III) is a revised one and it will be implemented at a cost of Tk4,046.17 crore. Implementation of this project, communication, water supply, sewerage and sanitation systems in 36 municipalites will be developed which would help bring change to the socioeconomic condition of the poor, he said. Kamal said the prime minister directed the authorities concerned to set up incinerators in abandoned land outside the urban area. About the landfill project in Matuail, the premier ordered to keep canals and water reservoirs near the landfill, he added. The planning minister said EC- NEC held a total of 21 meetings in the current fiscal year when a total of 174 projects involving Tk4,12,149 crore were approved. • Asian markets rise after Trump sell-off, dollar struggles • AFP, Hong Kong Asian markets mostly bounced back yesterday from the previous day’s hefty sell-off, on hopes Donald Trump can push through his economy-boosting agenda despite last week’s healthcare debacle. However, with expectations about the rate of future US interest rate rises receding, the dollar is struggling to break back against its major peers. Markets across the world tumbled after the tycoon’s repeal of Obamacare fell at the first hurdle Friday as he failed to garner enough votes from his own Republican party, which controls both houses of Congress. The failure fuelled worries Trump would not be able to drive his much-vaunted tax-cutting, infrastructure spending, deregulation plans, with analysts pointing out it would leave the administration with less cash to pay for such measures. Hopes for his stimulus plan helped fuel a surge in global markets and in the dollar since the November election. While New York and European markets ended on a low, they were well off their early losses and provided Asian traders with something to play with as the dust settles after Trump’s bruising defeat. “What seems to be going on in US stocks is that President Trump is being given the benefit of the doubt that he will be able to deliver on tax and infrastructure,” said Greg McKenna, chief market strategist at AxiTrader. Tokyo ended 1.1% higher, having slumped 1.4% Monday. Hong Kong added 0.6% and Sydney rallied 1.3%, while Seoul put on 0.4%, Singapore 0.8% and Manila 1.2%. However, Shanghai fell 0.4%. ‘Buying opportunity’ “On balance the underpinnings are strong enough that we want to stay long” on stocks, Ted Weisberg, president at New York brokerage Seaport Securities, told Bloomberg TV. “We are viewing any kind of selloff as a buying opportunity.” However, while equities picked up, the dollar remained subdued, sitting at four-month lows against the yen. The euro has been buoyed by upbeat data out of the eurozone. Weighing on the greenback were comments from the head of the Chicago branch of the Federal Reserve Charles Evans that it might only need to raise borrowing costs twice this year considering an uncertain outlook for inflation and Trump’s big-spending and tax-cutting agenda. The yen has climbed more than seven percent against the dollar since the start of the year while the single currency is up about five percent. Even the pound, which was battered last year by Britain’s vote to leave the European Union, has risen five percent from its January lows. The US unit had already been under pressure after Fed boss Janet Yellen said this month that the pace of rate rises would be slower than initially expected. “The market will be... interested - or hoping (vainly) for new insights from Fed Chair Yellen’s address” later Tuesday, said David de Garis, director of fixed income, currencies and commodities at National Australia Bank, in a commentary. In morning European trade London rose 0.2%, Paris added 0.1% and Frankfurt added 0.6%. •
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Page 9: World Brexit explained: What’s ne
Page 13 and 14: Opinion 13 Brexit through the looki
Page 15 and 16: Opinion 15 Keeping up with the Modi
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DT e-Paper 29 March 2017

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