Banking & Commodity

The government has permitted 125 companies to import a total of 246,000 tonnes of rice in order to cool down the domestic market for the staple grain in Bangladesh. The fresh decision came just four days after it allowed 95 other food companies to import 409,000 tonnes of rice. The …

The ongoing strain on Bangladesh’s foreign exchange market and the growing demand for cash ahead of Eid-ul-Azha sent the inter-bank call money rate to at least a six-year high yesterday. The weighted average rate in the inter-bank call money market, where banks borrow from each other on an overnight basis, …

Al Arafah Islami Bank Limited has been awarded as one of the best sustainable banks in the top 10 list of the Sustainability Rating-2020 by Bangladesh Bank. Governor of Bangladesh Bank Fazle Kabir handed over the crest and certificate to Deputy Managing Director S M Jaffar at Bangladesh Bank head …

Thousands of low and middle-income urban and rural families in Bangladesh, often underserved by commercial banks, are expected to be able to take out affordable housing loans through IFC’s investment in the country’s first housing bond to be issued by BRAC Bank. In a first for the country, IFC will …

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) yesterday extended the opportunity for edible oil refiners to import and refine the essential commodity by paying only 5 per cent value added tax (VAT) at the import stage until September 30 this year. The NBR also extended the VAT exemption at the production …

The price of rice and flour on the market has been rising for the last few weeks, as well as other essentials like eggs, poultry, and vegetables with no let up in sight. According to the state-owned Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB), the price of finer variants of rice (miniket/nazir) …

The Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) urged the government to readjust edible oil prices in the country following a downward trend of their rates in the international market. Vice-President of CAB central committee S M Nazer Hossain came up with the call through a statement on Friday. He said as …

With just around two weeks left for Eid-ul-Azha, price of unrefined salt has shot up, at least in the wholesale hub of Narayanganj’s Nitaiganj, in what appears to be an attempt at cashing in on the upcoming seasonal rise in demand for preserving hides of sacrificial animals. Nitaiganj caters to …

Banks’ lending through their agent banking channel rose by 177.53 per cent or Tk 1,274.7 in the January-April period of 2022 as a number of banks started exploring the cost-effective way of banking after the Covid outbreak. The latest Bangladesh Bank data showed that the banks’ lending through the agent …

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal told parliament yesterday that people had defaulted on repayments against loans amounting to Tk 126,389 crore in the country as of March this year according to Credit Information Bureau. Banks and financial institutions are unable to realise another Tk 21,046 crore due to High Court …