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Dhaka stocks plunged on Sunday due to price adjustment of Square Pharmaceuticals after the bourse lifted circuit breaker on the stock in its ex-dividend trade, said market operators.
   Dhaka Stock Exchange’s blue chips index, DSE20, lost 115.20 points or 5.69 per cent to close at 1908.45, while its general index shed 17.91 points or 0.76 per cent to close at 2343.44.
   Square Pharmaceuticals, one of the blue chips, lost Tk 1142.75 or 24.89 per cent to close at Tk 3449.25 on Sunday in its ex-dividend trade that started from August 16. Square Pharmaceuticals recommended 50 per cent stock dividend and 50 per cent cash dividend for the year ended March 31, 2007.
   Market operators said though the fall was for an adjustment in the heavyweight’s share price, the correction had a negative impact on the market.
   The pharma company, however, was the second biggest turnover leader at the DSE with total transaction of Tk 14.29 crore.
   Turnover at the DSE increased to Tk 168.75 crore from the Thursday’s Tk 142.06 crore.
   Summit Power retained the top position in the turnover leaders’ list with Tk 17.88 crore.
   Other turnover leaders at the prime bourse were Dhaka Electric Supply Company, United Commercial Bank, Uttara Bank, AB Bank, BRAC Bank, Aims 1st Mutual Fund, National Bank Ltd, IFIC Bank.
   Of the total 205 issues traded at the DSE on Sunday, 105 declined, 83 advanced and 17 remained unchanged.
   Meanwhile, Chittagong stocks gained on Sunday due to the buying spree from the investors.
   Chittagong Stock Exchange’s selective categories index gained 58.70 points or 1.52 per cent to close at 3922.91, while its blue chips index, CSE30, advanced by 91.99 points or 1.71 per cent to close at 5460.73.
   ‘Share price of Square Pharmaceuticals was adjusted at the CSE on Thursday as the bourse kept no price limit on the trading of the company’s shares on its first day of ex-dividend trade,’ said Atiquzzaman, general manager of the CSE.
   On Sunday, the CSE turnover went up to Tk 20.01 crore from the Thursday’s Tk 17.52 crore.
   Of the total 101 issues traded at the CSE, 51 declined, 46 advanced and four remained unchanged.

Bangladesh needs to concentrate on whole perspective of development for alleviating poverty in the foreseeable future, shifting excessive focus from a single or few sectors and micro-enterprises, says SouthAsia Enterprise Development Facility.
   The multi-lender window managed by the International Finance Corporation believes the country’s future lies with evolution of various business ventures ranging from small and medium enterprises to big corporations to meet the development needs of about 150 million people.
   ‘You have to look at the holistic perspective prioritising sectors. Otherwise, debates on definitions of business enterprises will continue even after 20 years without any real development,’ Deepak Adhikary, country head of the enterprise development facility told an interactive meeting with journalists on Sunday.
   The ‘missing middle’ between micro-enterprises supported by micro-finance institutions and big corporations financed by formal banks is small and medium enterprises, the focal point of his organisation in Bangladesh and other South Asian countries.
   Adhikary mentioned that the staffers of the international financial institution had long been in constant dialogue with local banks and financial institutions to fund innovative projects and invest in greenfield areas.
   ‘Of course, it is based on market and the private sector has to come up with viable projects for funding,’ Minakshi Seth, the corporation’s communications officer, said adding that their organisation’s motto was to promote business environment.
   The enterprise development facility assisted automation process at the office of Registrar of Joint Stock Companies that along with other interventions resulted in reduction in the processing time of company registration from 30 days to 16 days, according to its fact sheet.
   The meeting was told that the funding institution provided five major players in the poultry industry with technical assistance to prevent avian influenza and they all remained free from any case of the epidemic.
   Adhikary mentioned that they were also promoting corporate social responsibility and compliance with various environmental standards so that Bangladeshi companies could make businesses viable both locally and internationally.
   He cautioned that the readymade garment, the major export item, had to be made competitive, turning the manufacturers’ ‘personal relations’ into long-term business relationship. ‘Otherwise, the real effects of post-MFA [multi-fibre arrangement] will be felt.’
   The enterprise development facility, which holds 16 per cent share in BRAC Bank, runs an assistance programme aiming at doubling the bank’s number of small and medium enterprise clients.
    Asked about problems faced by female entrepreneurs in getting access to financing, IFC country manager Per Kjellerhaug said they would look into the issue and try to encourage the banks to come up with innovative programmes. ‘We cannot force them,’ he added.

Sri Lanka’s apparel exports to the United States could get hit if African countries block proposed tariff cuts on exports from developing countries, according to Lanka Business Online.
   Bulk of Sri Lanka’s trade falls under World Trade organisation rules – an international body that is working to put in place a rule based global trading system.
   Tariffs continue to be a significant barrier in world trade. Under the WTO’s last Doha round of negotiations, countries worked out modalities for getting greater market access for non-agricultural goods from developing countries.
   Called NAMA or Non-Agricultural Market Access, this agreement covers all products not covered by agricultural agreements at the WTO. Among the proposals are to bring down developing country tariffs for 16 apparel tariff lines.
   Sri Lanka’s top negotiator says however, opposition by African countries to the proposed tariff cuts could block potential gains for Sri Lanka under NAMA.
   Currently, African countries have duty free access into the US, while other comparatively richer countries like Sri Lanka pay heavy duties to access the lucrative US market.
   ‘The Situation is not that simple. There are countries from Africa that say they can only export garments to the USA simply because they have duty free access,’ Gomi Senadhira, Director of Commerce said.
   ‘Their competitors like Sri Lanka and China are paying 15-35 per cent duties and if these duties are reduced, their competitiveness will be eroded and at the end of the round they will be the losers.’
   Senadhira was speaking at an international trade law conference in Colombo organized by the Sri Lanka Law College in Colombo.
   Getting the benefits could spell big bucks for Sri Lanka, since as much as 40-50 per cent of the island’s exports are in non agricultural goods like apparel, most of that to the US.
   ‘In the United States we export about two billion dollars worth of goods and 220 million dollars are paid as duties,’ Senadhira said.
   ‘We have to get our duties down, otherwise for another 10-15 years we will have an unfair and uneven playing field.’
   African countries have identified 24 export products they want protection for, including garments and fish products. Countries like Lesotho, Kenya, and Mozambique export mainly garments, fish, and minerals products to the US and European Union.
   These products account for 60 to 90 per cent of their total exports to these two markets.

Borse Dubai launched a $4 billion cash offer for Nordic exchange owner OMX on Friday, trumping an agreed deal with US exchange Nasdaq, in a bid to create a group with global reach.
   Borse Dubai, which said it would accelerate OMX’s expansion in fast-growing markets, offered 230 crowns per share, valuing OMX at 27.7 billion Swedish crowns ($3.98 billion).
   That compared with Nasdaq’s cash and share bid currently worth 198 crowns per share or $3.7 billion.
   Nasdaq said it remained fully committed to its offer, and urged shareholders to support its bid, citing the opportunity to own a 28 per cent stake in the combined company. It said it remained ‘in close dialogue’ with OMX.
   Nasdaq chief executive Bob Greifeld plans to travel to Sweden early next week to meet management and stakeholders in OMX, sources familiar with the matter said.
   Borse Dubai, run by former OMX Chief Executive Per Larsson, said in a statement it controls 28.4 per cent in OMX if its options in OMX shares were exercised.
   ‘This combination will establish OMX as the group’s global platform, building on OMX’s leading technology and strong brand to position it to become one of the fastest-growing major exchange networks in the world,’ Borse Dubai Chairman Essa Kazim said.
   ‘We are prepared to give it financially full backing, to grow it and turn it into a truly global exchange,’ Kazim said, adding it was particularly looking to grow in Europe and ‘our region.’
   OMX said it was studying the bid and would come back to shareholders shortly. Sources familiar with the matter said Borse Dubai had not yet secured OMX agreement.
   A Borse Dubai official, speaking on a conference call after the bid was announced, said the group hoped to complete the deal this year.
   Borse Dubai, in the conference call, said there were synergies to be had but it did not specify an amount. It said the businesses of OMX and Borse Dubai were mostly complementary.
   Nasdaq said that under a merger, the two exchanges could cut costs by at least $150 million a year on a pretax basis.
   Borse Dubai management has been in Sweden this week meeting OMX executives and stakeholders.
   The Swedish government, which has a 6.6 per cent stake in OMX, had no immediate comment on the bid.
   Investor AB, also a shareholder, said it would analyze the offer, but added it was not clear the Dubai bid presented better value than the Nasdaq offer in the long term.
   ‘We have said before that we see an industrial logic between OMX and Nasdaq and it is not obvious that a cash bid at this level is better in a time frame of a few years, but that is something we will now analyze,’ Investor spokesman Fredrik Lindgren said.
   The pace of consolidation in the sector has accelerated following the demutualizations and public listings of exchanges in the past few years, driven by the need for scale and cost cuts as competition heats up and margins shrink.
   NYSE Group, owner of the New York Stock Exchange, in April bought pan-European exchange Euronext, while the London Stock Exchange (LSE.L) is in the process of buying Italian rival Borsa Italiana after fending off several unwanted takeover approaches.
   Nasdaq also has a significant stake in the LSE following an unsuccessful takeover attempt last year.
   One analyst who declined to be named said Nasdaq’s bid was a dream scenario for OMX when announced in May. It offers OMX global reach and gives Nasdaq access to European markets and OMX’s strong technology platform.
   But a number of major investment firms expressed worries at the time that companies listed in the Nordic region could be forced to conform to tougher US regulations if Nasdaq succeeded in its bid.
   This might hurt OMX’s competitive position and could lead some companies to delist, industry watchers said.

The Federation of the Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry has fixed the election date of the apex trade organistaion on November 20.
   It will formally announce the new schedules tomorrow, said sources in the FBCCI.
   The election board of FBCCI on Sunday at a meeting prepared the fresh schedule to elect 24 out of 38 directors, said the sources. The candidates will have to submit nomination papers by October 1.
   The primary list of valid candidates will be announced on October 20, the final list on October 28, and candidates will be allowed to withdraw their nominations by November 5, the sources added.
   The elected directors will choose one president and two vice-presidents as the office bearers for the next two-year term by November 22.
   The commerce ministry on July 10 suspended the FBCCI election, which was scheduled to be held on August 25. The ministry also extended the tenure of the incumbent executive committee till December 12, providing the FBCCI’s secretariat enough time to implement the government order barring questionable and dishonest businessmen from standing in the election.

Western Union, a global leader in money transfer services, signed corporate agreements with Rupali Bank, United Commercial Bank Ltd and the Prime Bank Ltd of Bangladesh recently.
   Under the deals, the state-owned Rupali Bank, and the two private banks, United Commercial Bank and the Prime Bank will commence the Western Union’s money transfer services in Bangladesh, said a press release.
   The inward remittances to Bangladesh have increased from $3.8 billion in 2005 to $4.8 billion in 2006, according to the Bangladesh Bank and the remittances constitute 7.7 per cent of the country’s GDP.
   ‘The people of Bangladesh have an enormous need for reliable and convenient means to receive money,’ said Anil Kapur, managing director of South Asia, Western Union.

Around 400 truckload of rice and other essential commodities imported from India are offloaded at Benapole land port everyday and delivered to different parts of the country under the supervision of the joint forces.
   Port officials said about 2.84 lakh metric tonnes of rice were imported through the Benapole, Bhomra and Darshana land ports during the last ten weeks to meet the shortfall in flood affected areas. Other essential commodities included pulse, onion, ginger, garlic and red and green chilies.
   UNB correspondent visiting the port found all sections of officials and workers busy round the clock in unloading, monitoring and quick delivery of the consignments to different parts of the country. The port is humming with activities even on the weekly holidays. About 1.7 lakh metric tonnes of rice were imported through the Benapole land port alone from June 1 to August 15.
   GOC of Jessore cantonment Major General Rafiqul Islam Sunday visited the Benapole port to see unloading and delivery of imported consignments. Later, he held a meeting with monitoring cell of the joint forces that was also attended by senior officials of the port, BDR, police and representatives of the C&F agents.

Josif Poro pats his new sofa, points with pride to his carpets and runs a wrinkled hand over a gleaming white refrigerator. He and his wife barely scrape by on their $220 monthly pension. They’d have to do without many of the items in their cramped apartment if their son, a factory worker in Greece, didn’t faithfully send home part of his earnings.
   ‘We call him our golden boy,’ said Poro, 83, a retired textile mill worker.
   Around the world, millions of immigrants are sending billions of dollars back home.
   One sweaty wad of bills or $200 Western Union moneygram at a time, they form what could be called Immigration, Inc. — one of the biggest businesses on the planet.
   Experts tracking the phenomenon told The Associated Press they have gotten a much clearer picture since the 9/11 attacks, when authorities trying to cut the flow of cash to jihadists began taking a harder look at how immigrants move their money around.
   Mass migration, they say, has spawned an underground economy of staggering proportions.
   Globally, remittances — the cash that immigrants send home — totaled nearly $276 billion in 2006, the World Bank says. Remittances have more than doubled since 2000, and with globalization increasing the numbers of people on the move, there’s no end in sight.
   If these guest workers incorporated as a company, their migrant multinational would rank No. 3 on the Fortune 500 list, trailing only Wal-Mart and Exxon Mobil in annual revenue.
   Remittances ‘are larger than direct foreign investment in Mexico, tea exports in Sri Lanka, tourism revenue in Morocco, and revenue from the Suez Canal in Egypt,’ World Bank economist Dilip Ratha said in a recent report.
   And unlike the conventional economy, more cash tends to change hands in an economic downturn, political crisis, natural disaster, famine or war.
   Counterterrorism officials say al-Qaida and other groups are financed in part through informal money transfer networks called hawalas. Governments and the International Monetary Fund have been working to regulate those.
   There are other downsides: fears of brain drains and a vast permanent army of economic exiles, and the untaxed earnings flowing out of host nations.
   The US lost $41.1 billion in 2005, according to the World Bank, while Switzerland watched $13.2 billion trickle out of the country that year.
   But Giuseppina Iampietro, a Swiss Economics Ministry spokeswoman, says little can be done: ‘Immigrants have no obligation to invest their money in Switzerland.’
   Meanwhile, from Poland to the Philippines, remittances are throwing lifelines to families combating poverty and helping to keep some national economies afloat:
   Across Latin America, remittances hit $62 billion last year and are projected to top $100 billion by 2010, the Inter-American Development Bank says. Mexicans wire home the most cash — nearly $22 billion — most of it earned in the US
   India is the world leader in remittances, taking in $23.7 billion in 2005 and an estimated $26.9 billion last year, the World Bank says. Western Union, traditionally one of the most frequently tapped money transfer companies, says its share of Indian transactions has grown at least 90 per cent over each of the past six quarters.
   Immigrants from Albania, one of Europe’s poorest countries, will send more than $1.3 billion back to their homeland this year. That’s 13 per cent of Albania’s GDP and enough to finance half the trade deficit.
   ‘Without the money we get from our son, who lives and works in Austria, my family and I would simply starve to death,’ said Jovana Acimovic, a housewife struggling to make ends meet in Belgrade, Serbia.
   In impoverished Tajikistan, the National Bank says migrant laborers sent home $1.1 billion last year — more than the country’s GDP. Filipinos working overseas sent home a record $13.6 billion in 2005. So much cash is flowing that mobile phone operators make it possible to transfer money over a cell phone.
   Maria Gorgan, a retired psychologist, left Romania two years ago for Spain, where she cares for Alzheimer’s patients. She earns $1,800 a month — seven times her monthly Romanian pension, and enough to help her son make a down payment on a new house.
   ‘We use the money I earn to support my family,’ said Gorgan, 56, who sends her husband a few hundred dollars each month. ‘I don’t eat much. It’s hard. But I have to do it.’
   In Albania, where the average monthly wage is only $250, a third of the population of 3.2 million have left for better jobs in the US, Britain, Greece, Italy and elsewhere.
   Many have no plans to return. But some, underscoring a trend also emerging in other countries — Latvia and Mexico for example — are coming back to buy homes and open businesses.
   Nearly one in three Albanian real estate transactions involves an expatriate buying property back home. ‘That means people see their future back in Albania,’ said Evis Ruci, who tracks remittances for the central bank.
   Nazmi Ajazi, 52, spent a few years working in Greece and returned to set up an Internet cafe and a small grocery store on the dusty outskirts of Tirana, the capital.
   ‘It feels so good to be back in Albania, where you can be your own master,’ his wife, Sofie, 50, said from behind a counter laden with eggs, oranges and freshly baked bread.
   But some see drawbacks.
   Much of the world’s migration is illegal, and although many immigrants work at menial jobs, some are doctors, engineers and other professionals. Their departure can mean a brain drain of highly trained personnel and create an immigration culture.
   ‘Migration creates more migration,’ said Ilir Gedeshi, director of the Center for Economic and Social Studies in Albania, whose emigrants have stashed an estimated $14 billion in foreign banks. ‘It’s a cycle. The next generation has to leave because there are no jobs being created for them here.’
   Elvin Meka, secretary-general of the Albanian Association of Banks, offers a blunt warning: ‘We export human beings, and they send us cash,’ he said. ‘Young people are addicted to the idea of leaving. That’s the biggest crime in this country. The government is killing their dreams.’
   In the former Soviet republic of Moldova, globalization has unleashed a troubling exodus.
   More than 600,000 of its 4 million citizens are believed to be working abroad, and since Jan. 1, 900,000 have applied for citizenship in neighboring Romania. Though emigrants sent back $920 million in 2006, more than the entire national budget, the trend has some officials wondering how much of a country will be left to govern.
   ‘If we don’t create conditions for higher wages and new jobs, people will just continue to emigrate,’ said Sergiu Sainciuc, Moldova’s deputy economy minister.
   Others don’t see a problem.
   Mugur Stet, spokesman for Romania’s central bank, denies that remittances — which hit $7.3 billion last year — are artificially propping up the ex-communist country’s economy.
   ‘We see new homes, new businesses,’ Stet said. ‘When they come back, it’s with a capitalist mentality. These Romanians may turn out to be better citizens than those who stay home.’
   For Ismet and Safija Helja, retired in impoverished Bosnia, the cash their carpenter son, Nedzad, sends from America boils down to this: not having to eat at a soup kitchen.
   Like clockwork, it arrives every three months. ‘Sometimes $1,000, sometimes $500, depending how good he does,’ said Ismet Helja, 67.
   ‘If it wasn’t for Nedzad’s money,’ he said, ‘we would die.’

US Gulf of Mexico oil and natural gas producers were evacuating offshore workers and shutting small amounts of production on Saturday as they watched powerful Hurricane Dean storm across the Caribbean Sea toward an entry into the Gulf next week.
   Forecasts and computer models point Dean away from the paths taken by 2005’s devastating hurricanes Katrina and Rita through offshore oil production areas and onshore refining centers.
   Taking a lesson from Katrina, which defied forecasts showing it would confine its damage to Florida, companies with operations from the central to western Gulf continued pulling support workers who were not essential to keeping offshore production running.
   The US Minerals Management Service said on Saturday that 10,300 barrels per day out of 1.3 million bpd in Gulf of Mexico oil production was shut in due to the threat of Hurricane Dean.
   About 16 million cubic feet out of 7.7 billion cubic feet of daily natural gas output in the Gulf of Mexico has been shut, said the agency, which oversees offshore energy production.
   So far, one production platform and two drilling rigs have been evacuated due to the storm.
   Oil majors Exxon Mobil, Shell Oil Co and ConocoPhillips said they were evacuating workers on Saturday.
   Exxon said production was not cut on Saturday as it pulled non-essential workers from the Gulf.
   Shell said 300 more support workers were being taken from the Gulf Saturday.
   ‘Since the beginning of the week, Shell has evacuated approximately 460 people,’ the company said in a statement. ‘Evacuations are expected to continue through the weekend.’
   Shell has shut in daily production of 10,000 barrels of oil and 15 million cubic feet of natural gas, the company said.
   ConocoPhillips was evacuating non-essential workers from the Magnolia platform on Saturday ahead of a possible shutdown on Monday, the company said in a statement.
   Offshore production and well operations were unaffected by the evacuations, Conoco said.
   Conoco did not expect Dean to affect onshore production in southeast Louisiana. The Magnolia platform is about 165 miles
   south of the central Louisiana coast and can handle 50,000 bpd in oil and 150,000 cubic feet of daily natural gas output.
   Leading driller Transocean Inc aid staff on its drilling rigs had been reduced by about 360 people in the last two days.
   Two of the company’s rigs in the western Gulf were to be evacuated by Monday, Transocean said.
   BP Plc planned to take workers from offshore platforms throughout the weekend, the company said on Friday.
   Murphy Oil Co also said on Friday workers were being evacuated.
   Non-essential workers are taken first to ensure there is room for workers essential to production aboard helicopters flying from the US coast when it becomes necessary to close to valves so the wells stop producing.

Swiss central bank chief Jean-Pierre Roth sharply criticised the US economic system in an interview published Sunday, after the home loans crisis that caused turmoil on world financial markets.
   ‘Something unbelievable happened,’ Roth said in an interview in the Swiss newspaper NZZ am Sonntag.
   The chairman of the Swiss National Bank indicated that he did not foresee a swift end to the crisis triggered by the US sub-prime, or high-risk, home loan market in the United States.
   Dozens of US mortgage lenders have been put out of business and major US and European banks have also taken a hit, making them more wary about granting new loans.
   Roth told the newspaper that many questions remained unanswered, generating a high degree of volatility and mistrust.
   ‘We’re certainly not at the end of the story with developments in the US mortgage market. The source is bad loans.’
   ‘People there who had neither income nor capital got credit with very attractive conditions that could only be tightened with time,’ he added.
   Roth underlined that the situation was encouraged throughout the US economic system: from financial institutions that set up structured products covering such lending, to ratings agencies that gave their seal of approval.
   ‘And now we’re seeing that there isn’t a market for such papers. Now reality is striking back. That leads to massive losses and there will be victims,’ he added.
   Roth said the turmoil had had no impact on inflation in Switzerland. He underlined
   that the bank’s interest rate policy would be dictated by the economic outlook, which was generally ‘positive’ in Switzerland.
   The economic climate in Europe was ‘robust’, while Asia remained ‘dynamic’, he added.
   ‘There are certainly some question marks now surrounding the development of the American economy,’ Roth said.
   Central bankers repeatedly warned about the underpricing of risk on financial markets and the state of the sub-prime market over the past year.
   Roth said he regretted that the problem had not unwound a year earlier, which would have left an opportunity for a softer landing.

The world’s banks have found themselves in the eye of the financial storm lashing world markets as analysts struggle to pinpoint their exposure to the slumping US housing sector.
   Markets in Europe and the United States staged a rebound on Friday, after a week of turmoil, as the US Federal Reserve acted to ease credit crunch concerns by cutting one of its key lending rates.
   Since last month, with rising numbers of American households failing to meet their
   subprime mortgage repay-
   ments, global equities have tumbled in value with banks
   bearing the brunt of the share price falls.
   Traders are worried that more and more banks and investment funds around the world will reveal the total
   extent of their losses from troubles in the US subprime or high-risk home loan sector, analysts said.
   ‘It will take time for markets to assess the extent of the losses due to the decline in sub-prime markets,’ said Henk Potts, analyst at Barclays Capital.
   ‘Until analysts have a much better understanding of the losses and their potential impact, (stock market) volatility will remain.’
   The crisis is centred in the United States but has global ramifications because many of the world’s biggest financial institutions—particularly in Europe—hold complex financial instruments tied to subprime home loans.
   These are known as mortgage-based securities are essentially high-stakes bets on US borrowers repaying their mortgages.
   Global banks have seen their shares plunge amid fears of a credit squeeze—a tightening of global lending conditions—following a lengthy period of historically low borrowing costs.
   ‘This entire period of economic expansion has been built on a vast amount of debt,’ said an analyst at brokerage Charles Stanley, Jeremy Batstone.
   ‘Increase the cost of that debt, tighten loan conditions and one might be in for a bit more than just risk aversion,’ he added.
   US investment bank Goldman Sachs last week said it had teamed up with other major investors to launch a three-billion-dollar (2.2-billion-euro) bailout of a hedge fund it manages.
   Goldman said it was injecting the cash after the turbulence on the markets had a sharply negative effect on the fund’s performance.
   Earlier this month, French bank BNP Paribas suspended three of its funds amid concerns sparked by the crisis in the US subprime mortgage.
   The funds held mortgage-backed securities, which the bank said it could no longer value because of a lack of liquidity in the market for them.
   BNP’s move followed a similar decision by the German mutual fund Union Investment which froze one of its funds that has exposure to the US subprime market.
   Rising numbers of defaults by these borrowers have led to losses for many banks and investment funds—and appetite for mortgage-backed securities linked to subprime loans has therefore dried up.
   Richard Hunter, analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown stockbrokers, added that current uncertainty was likely to continue in global markets for the time being.
   ‘Market volatility is going to continue until the extent of the problem is properly known.
   ‘It may take a few weeks for positions to unwind and for banks to hold their hands up and reveal how much they are exposed.’

The steep paper losses that China has suffered on its $3 billion investment in Blackstone Group will not deter its embryonic sovereign wealth fund from making further investments in private equity and hedge funds, according to a senior official.
   Shares in Blackstone closed on Friday at $24.08, down 22.3 per cent from its $31 debut price in June.
   The poor performance has sparked criticism of the investment within China, which bought its non-voting share at a 4.5 per cent discount and agreed to hold onto it for at least four years.
   ‘The company (Blackstone) is currently excellent in terms of both quality and earnings performance,’ Jesse Wang, vice chairman of Central Huijin, the central bank’s investment arm, said at the weekend.
   ‘If you are going to invest in a private equity firm, there probably is no better company,’ he told reporters on the sidelines of a forum in the southern city of Shenzhen.
   Blackstone, which is also active in hedge fund investing, asset management and corporate advisory, last Monday reported that net income in the second quarter more than tripled from a year earlier to $774.4 million.
   Wang, one of the officials who signed the Blackstone deal, said China would make more such investments worldwide once its state investment agency was up and running.
   ‘If you want to increase yields and still maintain low risk, then you should put aside part of the money to make alternative investments, such as private equity firms, hedge funds and real estate investment trusts,’ Wang said.
   He said he was expressing his personal view.
   Wang said there was no timetable for the launch of the state investment company, although media have said it will be in September.
   Wang declined to reveal the name of the fund, but said it would not be called State Investment Corp. He would not say either what benchmark China had set for the fund’s investment returns.
   The agency will take over $200 billion of China’s $1.3 trillion stockpile of foreign exchange assets from the People’s Bank of China with a mandate to diversify the country’s investment portfolio and seek higher returns.
   Bankers believe some two-thirds of the reserves are now invested in dollar assets, principally bonds.
   The Ministry of Finance will issue 600 billion yuan in special treasury bonds this week, the first tranche of a total of 1.55 trillion yuan, to the central bank in exchange for the assets, bankers say.
   Wang said the new agency would hire foreign asset management firms to invest on its behalf, at least in the early days, as it lacked experience in the international markets.
   ‘That’s of course a learning opportunity for us—to look at how they invest or ask them to help train our staff,’ he said.
   China would also hire overseas management and investment professionals to help run the fund. The agency’s top management will include Gao Xiqing, vice chairman of the National Social Security Fund; Zhang Hongli, a vice finance minister; and Xie Ping, chief executive of Central Huijin, which will be folded into the new agency, according to media reports.
   Central Huijin has pumped $60 billion into three state-owned commercial banks and analysts say it could be the vehicle to inject at least as much into two other banks—Agricultural Bank of China and China Development Bank.

A customer trying to call British telecoms operator BT Group was left hanging on the telephone for a total of 20 hours, The Times newspaper reported here on Saturday.
   In a statement, BT blamed long response times on a new calling system which has left a large number of customers in the lurch.
   Hannah King, 51, called a company helpline after a BT engineer failed to turn up to install a telephone line at her new flat in Milford Haven, south Wales, according to The Times.
   For eight hours in a row, she endured the sound of piped music. She gave up and tried again the next day—and waited another eight hours before putting the phone down.
   The following day, she spent a further four hours on hold before hanging up, which took the total time wasted to almost one day.
   ‘I was so frustrated and angry I broke down in tears,’ she told The Times.
   ‘It is a helpline for goodness’ sake, surely a company as big as BT can answer their phones.’
   BT said Saturday that customers were having trouble getting in touch because of a ‘new customer management system.’
   ‘Whilst this new system beds down, a small proportion of BT Retail customers have experienced difficulties getting through to our customer services,’ the group said in an official statement.

Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe arrived in Indonesia Sunday at the start of a three-nation Asian tour, with a key trade agreement to be signed between Tokyo and Jakarta during his stop here.
   Abe arrived at Jakarta’s Halim Perdanakusumah airbase, where he was met by local dignitaries led by foreign minister Hassan Wirayuda.
   On Monday, the premier will meet with host President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for bilateral talks and to oversee the signing of a comprehensive Economy Partnership Agreement, which has been under negotiation since mid-2005.
   The so-called EPA is a modified free trade deal that sees Japan offer extra benefits to partners beyond simple tariff cuts.
   Under the pact, more than 90 per cent of trade between the two nations will gradually become tax-free, while energy-hungry Japan will secure access to Indonesian natural gas sources and raw materials and Indonesia will receive assistance in several sectors.
   Indonesia is Japan’s biggest liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplier and Japan is Indonesia’s biggest trading partner.
   Southeast Asia’s largest economy exported 21.7 billion dollars worth of goods there in 2006, while imports from Japan stood at 5.5 billion dollars over the same period. Around 1,000 Japanese companies operate in Indonesia.

Fears over the scale of the reverberating US sub-prime mortgage market left Asian currencies vulnerable to sharp swings, with the Japanese yen closing the week much firmer against the dollar but most other currencies down.
   Japanese yen: The Japanese currency peaked at 111.60 to the dollar before ending Friday’s daytime trading at 112.70-73 to the dollar, far higher than 118.07-09 to the dollar a week earlier.
   Amid worries over the US subprime housing loan market, speculators kept unwinding so-called ‘carry trades,’ in which they borrowed currencies with low interest rates, such as the yen, to buy those with higher yields.
   ‘The market is in a state of panic with investors continuing to reduce risk with no idea when this is going to stop nor how serious the problems are,’ Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ currency research manager Kikuko Takeda said.
   With no flooring in sight, the greenback could fall below 110 yen, Hachijuni Bank forex dealer Yoshifumi Suzuki said.
   ‘All markets from foreign exchange to stocks to other products are falling like dominoes and unless the markets calm down traders will keep squaring their positions,’ Suzuki said.
   In a circular effect, the Tokyo market plunged Friday on worries over the stronger yen, which weakens exporters by making their products less competitive.
   The Bank of Japan is seen likely to postpone any hike in interest rates when it holds a monetary policy meeting on Wednesday and Thursday next week.
   ‘As it remains unclear when calm returns to the market, trading is expected to be nervous and swayed by speculation on credit risks,’ the business daily Nikkei said on its Internet edition on Friday.
   Australian dollar: Over the week the Aussie lost around 10 per cent of its value against the US unit, falling three cents on Friday to trade at 77.41 US cents in late local trade, down from 84.25 cents the previous Friday.
   It fell further after the close of local trade and is now down more than 11 US cents from its peak of 88.74 US cents, hit on July 25.
   New Zealand dollar: The New Zealand dollar ended a dramatic week amid global market turmoil at its lowest closing level since November last year of 67.15 US cents, down from 74.50 the previous Friday.
   Chinese yuan: On the over-the-counter market, it ended at 7.5951 to the dollar against 7.6040 the previous day.
   The central bank had set the yuan central parity rate at 7.6003 to the dollar Friday, compared with 7.5981 on Thursday.
   The People’s Bank of China allows a trading band of 0.5 per cent on either side of the midpoint.
   Hong Kong dollar: The US-pegged Hong Kong Dollar ended the week at 7.822, from 7.82935 a week earlier.
   Indonesian rupiah: The rupiah ended the week trading at 9,460/9,470 to the dollar, compared to 9,335/9,345 to the dollar a week earlier.
   Philippine peso: The Philippine peso traded lower at 46.85 to the dollar on Friday afternoon from 45.74 on August 10.
   Singapore dollar: The US dollar was at 1.5361 Singapore dollars Friday from 1.5207 the previous week.
   South Korean won: Dollar-won exchange rate rose to a five-month high of 950.40 won per dollar Friday, compared with 931.90 won a week earlier.
   Taiwan dollar: The Taiwan dollar rose 0.10 per cent in the week to Aug 17 to close at 32.931 against the US dollar. The local currency closed at 32.965 a week earlier.
   Thai baht: The Thai baht fell against the dollar over the past week as fleeing foreign investors dumped the local unit in line with heavy stock losses triggered by the US housing loan crisis, dealers said.
   The Thai currency closed Friday at 34.50-55 to the dollar, down from 34.07-09 a week earlier.

Trade
   Square Pharmaceuticals Ltd
   There will be no price limit on the trading of the shares of the company on Sunday.
   
   Response to DSE query
   Uttara Bank
   In response to a DSE query, the bank has informed that there is no undisclosed price sensitive information of the bank for recent unusual price hike.
   
   Net Asset Value
   ICB AMCL Islamic Mutual Fund
   On the close of operation on July 26, 2007, the fund has reported Net Asset Value of Tk 155.91 per share on the basis of current market price against face value of Tk 100.00 whereas total Net Assets of the fund stood at Tk 15,59,11,459.10 on the basis of market price after considering all assets and liabilities of the fund.
   ICB AMCL 1st MF
   On the close of operation on July 26, 2007, the fund has reported Net Asset Value of Tk 167.61 per share on the basis of current market price against face value of Tk 100.00 whereas total Net Assets of the fund stood at Tk 16,76,13,758.38 on the basis of market price after considering all assets and liabilities of the fund.
   ICB AMCL 1st NRB Mutual Fund
   On the close of operation on July 26, 2007, the fund has reported Net Asset Value of Tk 121.47 per share on the basis of current market price against face value of Tk 100.00 whereas total Net Assets of the fund stood at Tk 12,14,68,404.57 on the basis of market price after considering all assets and liabilities of the Fund.
   Source: DSE, CSE

Treasure bill
auction held
The 33rd auction of the treasury bills of different maturities was held on Sunday. Tk 1043 crore, Tk 256.00 crore and Tk 174.00 crore, in grand total Tk 1473.00 crore were offered respectively for the 28-day, 91-day and 182-day Bills. Of those, Tk 500.00 crore, Tk 80.00 crore and Tk 86.00 crore, in grand total Tk 666.00 crore were accepted respectively for the 28-day, 91-day and 182-day bills. Tk 120.00 crore and Tk 14.00 crore, in grand total Tk. 134.00 crore were devolved to primary dealers respectively for the 91-day and 182-day bills. The ranges of the implicit yield of the accepted bids were 7.29-7.31 per cent, 7.62 per cent and 7.88-7.89 per cent per annum respectively. Meanwhile, the reverse repo auction for commercial banks and financial institutions was held at Bangladesh Bank on Sunday. Ten bids of 1-day tenor amounting to total of Tk 382.00 crore were received and all the bids were accepted. The rate of interest against the accepted bids was 6.50 pre sent per annum.
— New Age

Chief of human resources of ACNielsen Asia Pacific due today
Ma Asuncion G Sunico (Chona), chief human resources officer of ACNielsen Asia Pacific, will arrive in Dhaka today. She is here to review and develop the company’s human resources issues and business in Bangladesh. She is accompanying by Oi Ling Tsang (Irene), executive director, human resources of Asia Pacific. Sunico oversees human resources for ACNielsen’s Asia Pacific region. In addition to her human resources role, she is a co-chair on the company’s qualitative council. She has worked in the human resources industry for nearly 24 years. Ms Sunico is based in ACNielsen’s regional headquarters in Hong Kong, China. The Nielsen Company is a global information and media company with leading market positions and recognised brands in marketing information (ACNielsen), media information (Nielsen Media Research), business publications (Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, Adweek) and trade shows.  The privately held company has more than 42,000 employees and is active in more than 100 countries, with headquarters in Haarlem, the Netherlands, and New York, USA.
— New Age