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Stating that the postponement of uniform VAT will cut Taka 200 billion (20,000 crore) in revenue, Prime Minister and Leader of the House Sheikh Hasina urged the countrymen on Thursday to pay tax for overcoming the budget deficit and further development the country. "The revenue amounting to Tk 20,000 crore (200 billion) will be decreased due to postponement of uniform 15 per cent value added tax (VAT). We will see where and how it can be adjusted ... but I would like to tell the people that if all pay tax then it will be utilised for the development," she said. The prime minister was delivering her valedictory speech in the 16th session of the 10th Parliament with Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury presiding. Sheikh Hasina said if the people pay little tax, then they will get many facilities. "It will be utilised for development of roads and bridges as well as production of crops and electricity ... the people will be benefited from all sides," she said.    —BSS....

Published at: 2017-07-14 00:00:04

Local mobile financial services (MFS) providers may provide loan and insurance services to the countrymen within the next five years to ensure more financial inclusion for the unbanked people, a senior Bkash official said on Thursday. Bkash, the country's largest MFS provider, has sent a draft guideline in this regard to the central bank for approval. "We have been providing easy cash transaction facilities, mainly for the unbanked people at their doorsteps. We expect that we can provide other financial services, including loan and insurance, through mobile within the next five years, and may also go for global expansion," said Adnan Mehdi, head of treasury, finance and accounts division of Bkash. Bkash is not only for sending money or buying airtime. It covers many other services, which can be expanded even up to providing small loans to a poor Bkash client for a short time. But there is no guideline for the MFS operators to provide loans, he also said. "We have sent a draft guideline to Bangladesh Bank (BB) on technicality, process and security areas in this regard," he added. He said these at a seminar - 'Fintech: The Bangladesh Story' - held at Independent University of Bangladesh (IUB) in the capital's Basundhara residential area. IUB's Department of Finance under School of Business organised the seminar. Bkash conducted a road-show there to promote fintech to the business students. Mr Adnan, in his presentation, said the number of MFS clientele has reached over 27 million, indicating its increased popularity. The business size of Bkash, which started its journey in 2011, is Tk 20 billion. The amount reached Tk 27 billion during this Eid-ul-Fitr with a daily transaction of Tk 4.5 billion. Bkash authority targets to make it Tk 30 billion next year. "Through Bkash Tk 20 billion unseen money, both physical cash and electronic, is now being added to the economy," he further said. Daily average transaction of Bkash is Tk 5.26 billion, which reached Tk 5.99 billion in June 2017, showing a 21 per cent rise from the corresponding period of the previous year. In 2016, daily transaction of Bkash was Tk 4.99 billion. Besides, the company has experienced 6.0 per cent growth in the number of customers. The total number of Bkash customers was 26.17 million in 2016 that increased to 27.73 million in 2017. Mr Adnan said there are huge potentials of providing financial services to the countrymen, provided that they can afford more mobile phones in the rural areas. There are 2.5 billion unbanked mobile users globally. But there is no official statistics on unbanked mobile users of Bangladesh. He noted that there are 100 million mobile phone users in Bangladesh, of whom about 70 per cent live in the metro areas. It is assumed that 30 million of these 100 million mobile users do not have bank accounts. Bkash started providing its services targeting the unbanked people, especially in the rural areas. "The scenario is contrasting in the case of Bkash clients, as 70 per cent of its client base is mostly in the rural areas. The more is the mobile penetration, the more financial services are available to the countrymen." With some other competitors in the MFS market, Bkash now holds 70 per cent of market share. It has over 250 distributors, 180,000 agents, 50,000 merchants, 3,000 sales agents and 1,000 employees (permanent and contractual). The average cost of Bkash service is 1.87 per cent of the total amount, which is Tk 160 for the banks for a single client. Mr Adnan said MFS have created various opportunities for the country's highly-educated young generation, including graduates of engineering, computer science and business. Earlier there were limited number of jobs and employment scopes for the BUET graduates, as there were only a few mobile operators, who could employ them. Now a large number of technology-based companies are operating in the country, creating more employment opportunities. "Young people can identify the financial service needs and find out MFS-based solutions. It will facilitate entrepreneurship development along with other backward-linkage industries here," he added. msshova@gmail.com ....

Published at: 2017-07-14 00:00:04

The concessional foreign aid to Bangladesh has dropped by 13 per cent to US$ 3.56 billion in the last fiscal year mainly due to a slow development work following Holey Artisan café attack in July last year, officials said Thursday. The external development partners disbursed $ 530 million less concessional loans and grants in the last financial year (FY) 2016-17 compared to $ 4.06 billion in the same period of the previous FY 2016, provisional data of the Economic Relations Division (ERD) showed. Meanwhile, the foreign aid commitment surged to a record high to $ 17.86 billion in the last FY 2017, a 154 per cent higher than that of the corresponding period of the previous FY 2016. The aid commitment swelled by 154 per cent mainly due to a single-largest $ 11.36 billion state credit commitment by the Russian government for Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant project. Meanwhile, the development partners confirmed $ 7.05 billion worth of foreign loans and grants during the period between July 2015 and June 2016. The working development partners of Bangladesh including the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, Japan, the Islamic Development Bank, China, India, the United Nations (UN), and the European Union (EU) usually confirm first their aid commitment. Then they start disbursement of confirmed assistance against specific projects or programmes gradually. A senior ERD official said: "It is a provisional data. They are yet to get data on disbursement from some small donors. The donors sometimes provide data even three months after the last month of a particular fiscal. So, the final figure of aid disbursement may increase a little bit by the final calculation." According to the ERD provisional data, the development partners in the just-concluded FY 2017 provided Bangladesh with $ 3.06 billion worth of medium and long-term (MLT) loans and $ 331.5 million worth of grants. In the previous FY 2016, the government received $ 3.56 billion as concessional loans and $ 539 million as grants from different development partners. Meanwhile, out of $ 17.86 billion worth of aid commitments in the past FY 2017, the Bangladesh government received $ 17.49 billion in loans and $ 363.5 million in grants from external development partners. In the corresponding period FY 2016, the government obtained a confirmation of $ 6.50 billion as loans and $ 546 million as grants, out of total $ 7.05 billion assistance. The government utilises the loans and grants mainly to implement development projects and programmes of the country. A senior ERD official said aid disbursements could be more if the Holey Artisan militant attack in July did not hinder the development works. "Some development partners including Japan withdrew their manpower from Bangladesh immediately after the attacks. It continues for some few months which hampered the development works. So, foreign aid disbursement has been affected during that period," he told the FE preferring anonymity. Besides, the slow progress in the Annual Development Programme (ADP) especially poor spending from available foreign assistance (project aid) has affected aid disbursement in the last fiscal, he added. The government agencies and ministries spent 78 per cent of their Tk 357.97 billion foreign fund allocations in the Tk 1.19 trillion ADP outlay in the last FY 2017. However, they performed better in spending the government internal funds as they utilised 93 per cent of the government's Tk 777 billion own fund in the last fiscal. kabirhumayan10@gmail.com....

Published at: 2017-07-14 00:00:04

The government is likely to make it mandatory for the pension, gratuity and provident funds (PFs) to invest a certain portion of their money in fixed income securities, officials said. A policy guideline on 'Fixed Income (Bond) Fund in Securities Market of Bangladesh' was under preparation that might include the provision, as part of an effort to develop a bond market in the country, they added. Sources said officials from Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC), Bangladesh Bank (BB) and Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (ICB) at a recent meeting put forward the proposal for investing the funds in the fixed income securities. It was also proposed that a minimum portion of the life insurance and general insurance funds could be invested in bonds to help develop the bond market, which the government has been trying for long. Sources said officials involved in preparation of the policy suggested keeping the interest rates of national savings schemes lower than the bonds to attract people in the bond market. The BSEC officials considered essential to develop a bond market for ensuring stability in the stock markets and opening a new avenue to collect funds for investing in different industrial sectors. They said experts have opined in favour of developing a bond market in the country following the stock market debacle in 2010-11, recommending alternative investment options for small investors. After the debacle, the BSEC prepared the 'Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (Private Placement of Debt Securities) Rules, 2012' as an initial part of establishing a bond market. Presently, the financial and manufacturing sector companies are issuing bonds and debentures of different terms and coupon rates for collecting long term capital. According to a senior BSEC official, there were various types of barriers in developing a bond market in Bangladesh. These include lack of demand for bonds, excessive dependency on equity securities, limited supply of bonds in primary and secondary markets and no scope of selling those in the market. If the barriers can be removed, the bond market will be able to help strengthen and stabilise the country's stock markets, he added.   A senior official at the Ministry of Finance told the FE that a committee, led by executive director of BSEC Mahbubul Alam, was working on preparing the draft of the proposed policy guidelines on the fixed income (Bond) fund. The committee held one meeting so far and sought two months more time to prepare the draft. syful-islam@outlook.com....

Published at: 2017-07-14 00:00:04

Just over a year ago, a tragic event unfolded that seemed to mark a turning point in Dhaka and in Bangladesh.  I refer to the savage attack on the Holey Artisan Bakery that resulted in the death of 22 innocent victims from five countries who were simply enjoying one another's company in one of Dhaka's finest restaurants.  That their lives should come to such an unthinkable end at such a gathering place shocked Bangladeshis and friends of Bangladesh alike. We all suffered many losses that day.  In addition to the horrific loss of life, we began to question whether we could all enjoy this diverse and exciting city without fear.   Bangladeshis witnessed a kind of terror not seen in their country before.  As foreign visitors living in Bangladesh's open, hospitable, and tolerant culture, we lost the innocence of a presumption that we were not a target of terrorists.  That the young men who zealously conducted this carnage were products of good homes and superior educations made the event all the more senseless.  These privileged youth would likely have been assuming positions of leadership in their fields within 10 or 15 years had they not destroyed themselves along with their innocent victims. Marking the anniversary (July 01) of the tragic incident, it is fair to say that Bangladeshis and the expatriate community had yet to fully come to terms with their loss and pain.  The moving commemoration that took place on the site of the attack one year later reminded us that wounds had yet to heal and, more importantly, that the victims - along with their families and friends -- were not forgotten.  It is the memories, hopes, and dreams of those lost that must be foremost in our thoughts and prayers as we continue to try to come to terms with the attack.  I wish I could speak personally about each of the victims.  They were business leaders, students, and aid workers, all in Dhaka because they wanted to be here; because they believed in Bangladesh.   Many of us did not know them personally, but we are united in our grief for the senseless loss of accomplishment and potential of each of the 22 women and men.   In response to a brutality meant to foment incapacitating fear, we are instead inspired by the heroism of one of the youngest to die that day - Faraaz Ayaaz Hossain -- the Bangladeshi student who stayed with his friends and faced death rather than be released by the gunmen.  Such a selfless act challenges us to ask ourselves how we respond to everyday acts of violence, from bullying to domestic violence to abuse of power. One example serves to illustrate how unimaginable loss can inspire action by what U.S. President Abraham Lincoln called our "better angels."  It was my privilege recently to visit a school founded by the mother of Abinta Kabir, a Bangladeshi American and her mother's only child who also died in the attack.  Her family has dedicated themselves to transforming the memory of Abinta into new schools for poor Bangladeshis - choosing creation rather than destruction, education and opportunity rather than nihilism and chaos.  What a beautiful and enduring gift in young Abinta's memory, and to the girls and boys who will benefit from her vision and her family's generosity.    The metaphor of the lotus is apt here.  From mud grows a beautiful flower.  So too from this tragedy is growing a new dedication to traditional values all Bangladeshis hold dear -peace, tolerance and an appreciation of diversity.  Our prayers are with the souls of those lost that night, and their families and friends as we reflect on their beautiful lives. The writer is the US ambassador in Bangladesh. e-mail: YasminMX@state.gov....

Published at: 2017-07-14 00:00:04