e_Paper 24-04-2017

NBR: Upcoming budget to be
investment-friendly
• Anwar Hussain, Chittagong
NBR Chairman Md Nojibur Rahman
has said the upcoming budget
would be pro-people and investment-friendly.
“The budget is going to be more
business-friendly. This time it will
be production-oriented as well,”
the NBR chief said while addressing
a pre-budget meeting with the
Chittagong Chamber of Commerce
and Industry (CCCI) yesterday.
The CCCI organised the view-exchange
meeting at Bangabandhu
Conference Hall of World Trade
Centre in the city.
“We have received a number
of directives from Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina for the upcoming
budget. We would like to assure
you that the forthcoming budget
will protect local industries,” Nojibur
said, adding that they would
continue to give incentives to the
export-oriented industries.
The revenue boss noted that the
upcoming budget would specially
focus on generating employment
PRAN
confectionery
launches
Cricket Gum
• Tribune Business Desk
Cricket Gum, a new product of
PRAN Confectionery Limited, was
launched at a function at PRAN-
RFL Center yesterday.
Bangladesh cricketers Mehedi
Hasan Miraz and Imrul Kayes unveiled
the new product as brand
ambassadors.
Before the launch, the two
young cricketers – Miraz and Kayes
– signed agreements as brand ambassadors
of the Cricket Gum.
Under the agreement, the two
cricketers will perform in different
promotional activities of the product
for next two years.
Saiful Islam, Chief Operating Officer
of PRAN Confectionery Limited,
said: “We launched the product
considering consumers interest
and taste. Cricket gum, made by
mixed fruit flavour, is now available
in the market, in future it will
be exported.”
About their association with the
brand, Miraz and Kayes said they
are glad to get the opportunity to
work with this brand and will try to
take this brand forward.
Shakhawat Ahamed, head of
Marketing, and Sazzad Hossain,
brand manager of PRAN Confectionery,
were present on the occasion.
•
in the country.
Referring to the new VAT law
which is going to be effective
from July 1, he said it would be
much more business and investment-friendly.
“Now we are making a list of tax
waiver. The new VAT law will be implemented
protecting the interest of
general people. With the implantation
of new law, there will be scope
of giving incentives to different sectors,”
said the NBR Chairman.
“There are some flaws in the
VAT Act 1991. The new Vat law will
be online-based,” said Nojibur.
Replacing the existing VAT Act
1991, the VAT and Supplementary
Duty Act 2012 has been framed at
the prescription of the International
Monetary Fund (IMF).
The new VAT law envisages a
flat 15% value added tax rate, replacing
different VAT rates now in
force for goods and services.
While placing recommendations
for the national budget for Fiscal
Year 2016-17, Mahbubul Alam, on
behalf of the CCCI, proposed to fix
Business 11
MONDAY, APRIL 24, 2017
IMF members set aside trade split as French
vote rattles nerves
• Reuters, Washington
International Monetary Fund
members on Saturday dropped a
pledge to fight protectionism amid
a split over trade policy and turned
their attention to another looming
threat to global economic integration:
the first round of France’s
presidential election.
Concerns that far-right leader
Marine Le Pen and far-left rival
Jean-Luc Mélenchon, both critics
of the European Union, could top
the field in Sunday’s vote added to
nervousness over US trade policy
at the IMF and World Bank spring
meetings.
“There was a clear recognition
in the room that we have probably
moved from high financial and
economic risks to more geopolitical
risks,” IMF Managing Director Christine
Lagarde told a news conference.
Lagarde, a former French finance
minister who has warned that a Le
Pen presidency could lead to political
and economic upheaval, added
that a policy shift from “growth momentum
to more sharing and inclusive
growth” was now needed.
A communique from the IMF’s
steering committee on Saturday
dropped an anti-protectionism
pledge, adopting language from the
Group of 20 nations that the Trump
administration sought last month in
Germany as it develops a strategy to
the Vat rate at between 7%-10%.
Airing his grievances over the
VAT rate at 15%, the trade body
leader said: “The VAT rate is too
high and it has an adverse impact
directly on the national price level.
The VAT rate is comparatively low
in other countries.”
Mahbub also called for construction
of Bay Terminal without
further delay to enhance the capacity
of Chittagong Port.
Pointing to the perennial water-logging
problem of the port city,
the CCCI president said the traders
of Chaktai-Khatunganj wholesale
market incurs astronomical losses
every year due to water congestion.
“Chaktai canal is considered the
lifeline of the city as it is the main
drainage of all rainwater of the city
along with the usual sewage outlets,”
said the CCCI president.
The canal, however, has now
become choked with solid waste
and filth, he added, calling for an
allocation of special fund in the upcoming
budget to protect the century-old
business hub. •
slash US trade deficits.
Earlier in the week, the IMF had
warned that protectionist policies
that restrict trade could choke off
improving global growth.
Instead, the International Monetary
and Financial Committee
(IMFC) statement pledged that
members would “work together” to
reduce global trade and current account
imbalances “through appropriate
policies.”
Mexican central bank chief Agustin
Carstens, the IMFC chairman,
said most countries have some trade
restrictions and that protectionism
Grameenphone posts 65%
growth in data revenue
• Ishtiaq Husain
Grameenphone Ltd has earned
64.9% growth in data revenue
while its voice revenue grew by
7.1% for the first quarter of 2017.
The operator reported a revenue of
Tk3,060 crore, an 11.1% growth from
the same period last year, Grameenphone
said at a press release.
The operator disclosed the Q1
financial report on Sunday.
In his statement, GP CEO Petter
Furberg said the company passed a
good quarter with healthy performance
to start the year.
“Our data as well voice revenue
continues to grow with healthy
momentum and this is an encouraging
sign for us that our commitment
towards providing superior
network quality and simple offers
are creating greater value for our
valued subscribers.”
The market leader of telecom
business ended the quarter with 59.9
million active subscribers, registering
a 3.3% growth from last quarter.
The company also acquired 0.7
million internet users during the
period, taking the quarter-end
was an “ambiguous” term.
“Instead of dwelling on what that
concept means, we managed to put
it in a more positive, more constructive
framework,” Carstens told a
news conference.
Some officials chose to focus on
the brightening global economy
instead of the risks posed by the
French election, new U.S. trade barriers
and Britain’s decision to leave
the European Union, said James
Boughton, a former IMF official.
“There’s an awful lot of forced optimism
about what these people are
saying,” said Boughton, who is now
DT
base to 25.2 million. With this,
42.2% of total subscribers are using
Grameenphone internet services.
According to Dilip Pal, CFO of
Grameenphone, the phone company
reported healthy earnings driven
by top-line growth and operational
efficiency initiatives.
“The result of this quarter is a
testimony that securing potential
growth along with operating efficiency
is key to driving future profitability
for the company.”
Net profit after taxes for the
quarter was Tk660 crore with
21.4% margin compared to Tk560
crore with 20.4% margin of the corresponding
period of 2016.
GP invested Tk450 crore during
the quarter for 3G as well 2G coverage
expansion and capacity enhancement
of voice.
It added 238 2G and 776 3G sites,
taking the cumulative site numbers
to 12,222 for 2G and 11,332 for 3G.
With this, the company is covering
more than 99% population
for 2G and more than 91% for 3G.
During the quarter, the company
contributed to exchequer Tk1,180
crore. •
Finance ministers and bank governors pose for a ‘family’ photo for the International Monetary and Financial Committee
(IMFC), as part of the IMF and World Bank’s 2017 Annual Spring Meetings, in Washing
REUTERS
with the Centre for International
Governance Innovation, a Canadian
think-tank. “Until the train goes off
the tracks, everything looks fine.”
US Treasury Secretary Steven
Mnuchin called for the IMF to step
up its surveillance of members’ foreign
exchange rates.
President Donald Trump “believes
in reciprocal trade deals and
reciprocal free trade,” Mnuchin told
Lagarde in an on-stage interview.
“What that means is that if our
markets are open there should be a
reciprocal nature to other markets
which should be open as well.” •