Record exports seen rising as BD woos US consumers
Investors looking for alternatives amid the global slump would do well to check out Bangladesh.
Exports rose to a record last month even as other regional economies reported continued declines, and economists say shipments will increase as Americans rush to buy cheap clothes. Bangladesh’s central bank forecasts inflation will slow and the World Bank predicts growth will accelerate to 6.7 percent this year, making it one of the world’s fastest-growing economies.
“Over the medium-to-long term, we are bullish on the growth prospects of Bangladesh’s industrial and export sectors,” Raphael Mok, Asia analyst at Fitch unit BMI Research, said by e-mail. “The country boasts a large and youthful population, as well as relatively low labor costs.”
BB launches $ 200m ‘green transformation fund’
The central bank of Bangladesh is launching a US$200 million fund to green the country’s clothing factories.
Governor Atiur Rahman trailed the initiative at a sustainable development conference in Dhaka last week.
The goal was “transforming Bangladesh into a fully fledged ‘green’ nation,” he told delegates, to stay competitive amid slowing global trade.
Following financial incentives to light Bangladeshi homes with solar power, it represents a scaling up of the bank’s green ambitions.
While it is not yet clear how, the fund is to shrink the carbon footprint of Bangladesh’s textile 
Farmers Bank takes BB to court
The High Court has stayed for four months a Bangladesh Bank (BB) decision to fine the Farmers Bank on charges of irregularities. The HC bench of Justice Tariqul Halim and Justice Bhishmadeb Chakraborty on 11 January issued the order after hearing a writ petition filed by the Farmers Bank, challenging the central bank decision.
In the same day, the Farmers Bank’s lawyer Anupam Biswas informedBangladesh Bank about the court decision through a letter, said authorities of the Farmers Bank. Bangladesh Bank deputy governor SK Sur Chowdhury on Monday confirmed this to Prothom Alo.
Airport security measures hamper RMG export
Bangladesh’s garment industry is struggling with delays to both imports and exports as security measures at Dhaka’s airport are beefed up after several countries expressed concern.
Delegates from the UK Civil Aviation Authority last week urged Bangladesh to adopt new security measures within the next three months, insisting on a “three-layer security system” for Dhaka-London flights.
Worries over “flimsy” security at Dhaka Shahjalal International Airport have already led to a ban on air freight imports by Australia.
The Dhaka airport authority has installed new scanning equipment, but garment manufacturers 
New Monetary Policy: BB cuts rates
Bangladesh Bank (BB), the central bank of the country has cut its benchmark interest rate by half percentage point – the first move since 2013.
The BB cut its repo rate from 7.25 per cent to 6.75 per cent. The reverse repo rate was also cut to 4.75 per cent from 5.25 per cent. The bank last changed rates in February 2013.
In a monetary policy statement at the end of last year, the bank had said it was considering easing.
The BB cut its repo rate from 7.25 per cent to 6.75 per cent. The reverse repo rate was also cut to 4.75 per cent from 5.25 per cent. The bank last changed rates in February 2013.
In a monetary policy statement at the end of last year, the bank had said it was considering easing.
$ 7.48n remittances in 1st half of FY 2015-16
Bangladesh in the first half of the current fiscal year 2015-16 ending in June received 7.48 billion U.S. dollars in remittances from its millions of expatriate workers, a central bank official said Tuesday.
The Bangladesh Bank (BB) official who preferred to be unnamed said some 10 million Bangladeshis, living and working abroad, in the first half of the current fiscal year remitted 
home 7.48 billion U.S. dollars, a little less than what they sent in the same period in the previous financial year, reports Xinhua.
In July...
home 7.48 billion U.S. dollars, a little less than what they sent in the same period in the previous financial year, reports Xinhua.
In July...
