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The central bank unveiled Wednesday country's monetary policy for July-December period targeting 12.9 per cent expansion in money supply. It described the expansion "accommodative" with the projected economic growth for the current financial year, but economists found the stance 'cautious'. Broad money, which includes demand deposits with commercial banks, and any monies held in easy-accessible accounts, has been programmed up to December to grow 12.9 per cent. And up to June next, the rate rises 1.0 percentage point to 13.9 per cent. Such monetary stance is in keeping with the targeted gross domestic product (GDP) growth at 7.4 per cent, set in the national budget for the current fiscal year (FY) 2017-18, the Bangladesh Bank said. Reserve money, whose components are currency in circulation, bankers' deposits with the central bank and other deposits with the Bangladesh Bank, has been programmed at 12 per cent up to June. The money circulation from now on will be estimated on annual-average basis instead of point-to-point basis. Public-sector-credit growth, which had plunged into a negative 16 per cent up to last May, now has been projected to expand at 3.8 per cent up to December and much higher at 12.1 per cent at the end of the financial year as the government may need funds for non-implementation of the VAT Act 2012. However, the Bangladesh Bank Governor, Fazle Kabir, while delivering his speech at the MPS- launching programme at the BB headquarters, said this monetary-policy stance is growth- supportive as well as conducive to employment. "We'll not support growth at the cost of inflation," said the governor, whose bank reigns over the country's monetary system.       Mr. Fazle Kabir, however, sees two challenges in executing the MPS: higher yields on national savings certificates and falling trend in remittance by the country's expatriate nationals. He suggests the yields on the savings certificates should be consistent with the market rates.  And for augmenting the remittance inflows through formal channels the central bank is working on effective ways. The governor feels no need for changes in the policy rates for the time being-the central bank will take instant measures if necessary. He notices an upturn in food inflation on the back of floods in northeastern haor areas. "We expect inflation will remain tolerable as India has less than 2.0 per cent inflation along with low prices of some key commodities on the global market." Mr. Kabir said the central bank will facilitate 'angel' investment in the country to help the small startups or innovative entrepreneurs. He said the venture-capital firms were seen not interested about the startups. "Even India is facilitating angel investment, so why not in the country." He said the central bank will play role here as coordinator. The capital-angel investors provide, maybe, a one-time investment to help the businesses propel or an ongoing injection of money to support and carry the company through its difficult early stages In the meantime, leading economists view this MPS as cautious following some risks which may hit the economy, like the poor remittance and export performance. They believe, however, that this is realistic and appropriate on many fronts. They were critical of the non-performing loans with the banking system, especially with the state-owned banks. Ahsan H Mansur, executive director at the Policy Research Institute of Bangladesh (PRI), told the FE that the central bank is cautious considering risk factors in the economy, like negative growth in the remittances and marginal growth in the export receipts and higher inflationary pressures. "The 12.9 per cent broad money growth is not big, but, in my view, the MPS is oaky considering the downside risks," Dr Mansur said. He also finds quite oaky the programmes for the private sector, as estimated up to December at 16.2 per cent and 16.3 per cent up to June next. "The target for the private-sector-credit growth is adequate…." the economist said. But he said the policy stance needs to be supported by the government to materialize as the central bank cannot do anything if the yields on the savings certificates remain abnormally higher than the market-based interest rates. Dr Zahid Hussain, lead economist at the Dhaka office of the World Bank, told the FE that the MPS is realistic and appropriate as the central bank has taken lessons from the previous stances. Policy rates remained same as there is no need for changes as the banking channels have adequate liquidity, he said. The World Bank economist takes exception to high non-performing loans in the banking system, which he thinks is ultimately impacting on the lending rates. Dr Mirza Azizul Islam, former adviser of a caretaker government, said the central bank wants to accommodate through its instruments about inflation and growth. Mr. Islam, however, said the central bank has some limitations in executing the MPS, including slow investment in the private sector. He observed that the economy is now passing through some risks like slow export and negative remittance and the MPS has no directions on how to address the drawbacks. jasimharoon@yahoo.com....

Published at: 2017-07-27 00:00:05

Facebook Inc's mobile advertising business grew by more than 50 per cent in the second quarter, the company said in its earnings report on Wednesday, as the social network continued to establish itself as the venue of choice for an ever-growing array of online advertisers. Shares in Facebook, owner of four of the most popular mobile services in the world, rose more than 4 per cent to about $173 in after-hours trading. Through Wednesday's close, the stock price had climbed nearly 44 per cent this year. Facebook, which now has more than 2 billion regular users, has been squeezing more ads into its Facebook News Feed while adding more ads to its photo-sharing app Instagram, which has more than 700 million users. With money cascading from those two services, Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said the company was turning attention to monetizing its two messaging services, Messenger and WhatsApp, which have more than 1 billion users each. "I want to see us move a little faster here but I'm confident that we're going to get this right over the long term," Zuckerberg said in a conference call with analysts. The company also is accelerating its push into video, an effort aimed at taking advertising dollars from the television industry and increasing the time people spend on Facebook. Within weeks, Facebook is expected to start a video service that will include scripted shows, a sharp change for a business built on user-generated content. Zuckerberg said video would be a significant driver of Facebook's business in the next two to three years. With those possibilities still on the horizon, Facebook said total revenue rose 44.8 per cent to $9.32 billion in the second quarter of the year. That beat the average forecast of $9.20 billion among analysts tracked by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Growth was even steeper in mobile advertising, which increased to nearly $8 billion. "In mobile we're continuing to see great strengths," Facebook Chief Financial Officer David Wehner said in a phone interview with Reuters. "We're seeing more and more ad dollars getting allocated to mobile, and we think that trend will continue." "KILLING IT ON MOBILE" Mobile ad revenue accounted for 87 per cent of the company's total advertising revenue of $9.16 billion in the latest quarter, up from 84 percent a year earlier. "They're killing it on mobile," Needham & Co analyst Laura Martin said, referring to Facebook's suite of apps. "They are the de facto mobile advertising monopolies and that's a really big deal." Martin said she sees no weaknesses in Facebook's business. Facebook and Alphabet Inc own half of the online advertising market worldwide, and Facebook's revenue growth this quarter outshone Alphabet, the owner of YouTube and Google. Alphabet on Monday reported a 21 per cent increase in quarterly revenue, although it started the quarter from a larger base than Facebook did. Facebook has not said how much of its revenue is attributable to its Instagram unit, although the photo-sharing app has become a greater focus of its business. "Clearly, the biggest driver of growth is, overall, Facebook News Feed," Wehner said. "Instagram is making a contribution and an increasing contribution." But investors want Facebook to find additional revenue streams because the company has warned it is hitting maximum ad load in the News Feed, potentially slowing its overall growth. So far that has not happened. "They kept warning about ad load, but the ad load continues to be strong," said Ivan Feinseth, research director at Tigress Financial Partners. "I still think ad revenue will grow, because more advertisers are adapting to this platform because there are so many people out there." The popularity of Instagram also has put pressure on Snapchat, the app owned by Snap Inc. Instagram has added features similar to Snapchat's and Snap's stock on Wednesday closed at an all-time low of $13.40. Facebook said about 2.01 billion people were using its service monthly as of June 30, up 17 per cent from a year earlier. For the second quarter, net income attributable to shareholders rose to $3.89 billion, or $1.32 per share, from $2.28 billion, or 78 cents per share, a year earlier. Analysts on average had expected earnings of $1.13 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.   ....

Published at: 2017-07-27 00:00:05

Stocks, bonds and commodities were all on a roll in Asia on Thursday, as bulls scented a softening in the Federal Reserve's confidence on inflation that promised to keep US interest rates low for longer than some had expected. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan climbed 0.9 per cent to heights not seen since December 2007. It has gained over 5 per cent so far this month. South Korea and Japan's Nikkei both added 0.2 per cent, while Australia put on 0.3 per cent. Stocks in the Philippines were at a one-year peak and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index added 0.3 per cent to push above 27,000. But worries about tighter regulations nudged China's blue-chip CSI300 index down 0.7 per cent, though data showed a pick-up in profit growth for industrial firms. The latest rush for risk came after the Fed left US rates unmoved as expected on Thursday, and tweaked its wording on inflation. The market seized on the fact that the central bank noted that both overall and core inflation had declined, and it removed the qualifier "recently," perhaps suggesting concerns the slowdown might not be temporary. The Fed also said it expected to start winding down its massive holdings of bonds "relatively soon," cementing expectations of a September start. While that would be an effective tightening in financial conditions it might also lessen the need for actual hikes in rates, which matter more for currency valuations. "The dollar's biggest problem is it can't expect help from the Fed for a long time," said Alan Ruskin, global head of forex at Deutsche. "In the short-term we are still in a risk-favourable loop, whereby subdued goods and services inflation supports a well behaved bond market and asset inflation. It's just another day in paradise." A Reuters poll showed most primary dealers, the banks authorised to trade directly with the Fed, still see the Fed's next rate rise in December. But Fed funds rate futures are pricing in less than 50 per cent chance of a hike by then, compared to more than 50 per cent before the Fed's meeting. DOLLAR BREAKS LOWER Yields on US 10-year benchmark US Treasuries fell 5 basis points and were last at 2.278 per cent. The dollar followed, falling to a 13-month trough against a basket of currencies of 93.322. The euro, which had been bumping up against a 23-month top for most of the week, finally broke through to reach $1.1750, its highest since January, 2015. The next major chart target was the 200-week average at $1.1807 - a measure the euro has not traded above since August 2014. The dollar was fast approaching the 200-week barrier on its Canadian counterpart, and had breached that technically important level on the Australian dollar. The dollar even fell back against the yen to 110.875, though the damage was somewhat limited by expectations the Bank of Japan would keep its super-easy policies in place longer than most other global central banks. The prospect of US policy staying stimulative saw Wall Street's fear gauge touch a record low as stocks notched record closing highs. The Dow ended Wednesday up 0.45 per cent, while the S&P 500 added 0.03 per cent and the Nasdaq 0.16 per cent.  The declining US dollar boosted commodities priced in the currency. Spot gold hit a six-week high and was last trading at $1,263.80, while copper reached territory not trod since May 2015. Oil prices neared eight-week highs as a surprisingly sharp drop in US inventories encouraged speculation a global crude glut would recede. A bout of profit-taking in Asia on Thursday saw Brent crude futures ease 6 cents to $50.91 a barrel, while US crude dipped 7 cents to $48.68.   ....

Published at: 2017-07-27 00:00:05

Oil prices were sitting just below 8-week highs on Thursday, buoyed by hopes that a steeper-than-expected decline in US crude oil inventories will reduce global oversupply. Brent crude futures LCOc1 were down 6 cents, or 0.1 per cent, at $50.91 a barrel at 0340 GMT, after rising about 1.5 per cent in the previous session. US West Texas Intermediate futures CLc1 were down 6 cents, or 0.1 per cent, at $48.69 a barrel. US crude stocks fell sharply last week as refineries increased output and imports declined, while gasoline stocks decreased and distillate inventories fell, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday. The 7.2 million barrel decline in crude inventories in the week ending July 21 was well above the 2.6 million barrel forecast. US shale producers including Hess Corp, Anadarko Petroleum and Whiting Petroleum this week announced plans to cut spending this year as a result of low oil prices. Fellow members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Kuwait and UAE have also promised export cuts. But analysts say oil prices may have little room to head higher as recent gains could encourage more output, particularly from US shale producers with low costs.....

Published at: 2017-07-27 00:00:04

Detectives in a drive arrested nine people including four Nigerians of a fraud gang from different parts of the city on Wednesday night. Tipped off, a team of DB police conducted a drive in different parts of the city and arrested them in connection with their suspected involvement in fraud gang and human trafficking gang, said Masudur Rahman, deputy commissioner (Media) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP). Details about the arrestees will be disclosed at a press briefing later.....

Published at: 2017-07-27 00:00:04