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The Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation has sent a proposal to the government for taking a loan of $200-300 million from France’s BNP Paribas bank for importing fuel oils.
   The BPC, in its proposal sent to the energy division, said that after the primary negotiation the French international bank had agreed to give the BPC a loan of $200-300 at the interest rate of LIBOR (London Inter-Bank Offered Rates) plus 1.83 per cent that will also include other charges.
   Sources in the energy division said that the division had sought the finance ministry’s opinion on BPC’s proposal to borrow from BNP Paribas.
   ‘If the finance ministry responds positively, a proposal to take the loan will be sent to the interim government’s economic affairs committee for approval,’ said an official source.
   BPC sources said that although the BNP’s interest rate was lower compared to the Standard Chartered Bank from where BPC borrowed $250 million last year, the BNP’s interest rate was still high. StanChart’s interest rate was LIBOR plus around 1.95 per cent.
   The BPC, which imports around 38 lakh tonnes of fuel oils, has been taking $700-1,000 million loan from the Islamic Development Bank for a few years at a rate of LIBOR plus 1.75 per cent.
   When the BNP-Jamaat government approved BPC’s proposal to borrow $250 million from StanChart, economists opposed the idea of taking loan from international commercial banks at high interest rates.
   The Bangladesh Bank recently said that the country would not take any foreign bank’s loan at such high interest rates.
   Inside sources, however, said that the BPC would need the BNP’s loan as its import bill this fiscal year is expected to touch around the $3 billion mark if the oil prices continue to soar in the international market.
   They said that they expected that the IDB would lend around $1 billion whereas the Bangladesh Bank has already taken steps to provide $300 million.
   ‘So the BPC needs the BNP’s loan to meet the demand for foreign currency to import fuel oils,’ said a source.

The turnover at the Dhaka Stock Exchange on Wednesday dropped to Tk 98.01 crore, nearing at its lowest mark of Tk 92.98 crore on August 1, four-month back.
   On Tuesday, the DSE turnover was Tk 160.40 crore, according to the statistics available at the bourse.
   ‘Recent turmoil at stock market has make the investors-institutional or retail- cautious,’ said Yawer Sayeed, chief executive officer of Aims of Bangladesh, and a stock market analyst.
   A group of retail investors staged demonstrations in front of the DSE building protesting at the SEC’s correction measures. Following the agitation, the Securities and Exchange Commission withdrew its loan suspension order for the brokers.
   Sayeed said the stock market passed a volatile situation in recent times. ‘It is the aftermath of the volatility which is one of the factors that push the investors to take a wait-and-see policy,’ he added.
   He said investors were also waiting for the shares of Jamuna Oil Company and Meghna Petroleum, two state-owned companies to make debut at the stock market in December.
   ‘Stock prices also fell across the board on Wednesday due to the profit taking selling pressure after the rise in the previous day,’ he said.
   The turnover at the Chittagong Stock Exchange also dipped down to Tk 12.72 crore from the Tuesday’s Tk 27.28 crore.
   DSE general index lost 15.78 points or 0.54 per cent to close at 2889.41, while its blue chips index, DSE20, shed 11.32 points or 0.49 per cent to close at 2278.37.
   CSE selective categories index lost 19.25 points or 0.41 per cent to close at 4725.58, while its blue chips index, CSE30, shed 22.74 points or 0.35 per cent to close at 6477.22.
   Of the total 228 issues traded at the DSE, 86 advanced, 124 declined and 18 remained unchanged, and out of 117 issues traded at the CSE, 50 gained, 61 dropped and six remained unchanged.

The extended tenure of the executive committee of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry expires today while the government is likely to appoint an interim chief executive to the country’s apex trade body.
   It is most likely that a businessman will be assigned as the FBCCI administrator to manage its day-to-day activities and facilitate bringing an existing legal wrangle over elections to the FBCCI executive committee to an end, sources in the commerce ministry and the federation told New Age on Wednesday.
   The incumbent FBCCI board of directors is scheduled to hold its last meeting at 11:00am today with the outgoing president, Mir Nasir Hossain, in the chair.
   According to the sources, government high-ups want that a neutral administrator should facilitate putting an end to the legal dispute over holding the FBCCI election and having it a new leadership.
   ‘The government wants to see that the legal dispute over FBCCI election is disposed of and that the apex trade body gets a new leadership thorough a fair and credible election,’ said a senior official of the commerce ministry.
   Although no one had been chosen till Wednesday afternoon, the official said the administrator was most likely to come from the private sector. ‘A senior businessman having a fair and neutral image might be chosen as the administrator.’
   The election scheduled for August 16 was deferred following a lawsuit lodged by a member of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters’ Association challenging inclusion of his association members in the general body of the FBCCI.
   Those included in the general body are eligible to stand for election to the executive committee. A former BGMEA president, Annisul Huq, announced to contest for the top post at the FBCCI. But a BGMEA member convinced the FBCCI committee concerned to suspend memberships of BGMEA representatives, alleging that the BGMEA leaders were not legally elected.
   Later the BGMEA went to the High Court, which stayed the FBCCI election till the issue of BGMEA leaders’ inclusion in the FBCCI general body was resolved. Following that the government extended the tenure of the existing FBCCI executive body twice, up to December 6.
   The High Court on Wednesday completed hearing the case. The court is scheduled to pass its sentence in the case on Thursday.
   At the FBCCI annual general meeting on December 1, its general members strongly demanded that the election to its executive committee should be held as fast as possible after the lawsuit was disposed of.
   Mir Nasir told the AGM that he or his colleagues were reluctant to stay on as FBCCI leaders after expiry of their tenure. ‘We will follow the directions of the court and the government,’ he was quoted as telling the meeting.
   The incumbent office bearers of the FBCCI led by Mir Nasir and the directors were elected uncontested in August 2005. The apex trade body saw a number of legal suits over nominations for the polls.

The president, Iajuddin Ahmed, on Wednesday requested Thai government to extend the duty-cutback on the import of 229 items from Bangladesh as the facility expires this month.
   He also said the Thai Government might encourage Thai businessmen to import more goods from Bangladesh.
   The president made the request when new ambassador of Thailand to Bangladesh Chalermpol Thanchitt presented his credentials to him at Bangabhaban.
   ‘Thai business community would be benefited by investing in road construction, infrastructure development, pharmaceutical and tourism sectors in Bangladesh,’ he said.
   Welcoming the envoy on his new assignment, the president said, ‘Bangladesh attaches special value to its relations with Thailand.’ He hoped that mutual cooperation in different areas of common interest would further strengthen the existing relations between the two countries.
   He observed that Thailand has been a good friend of Bangladesh and that Bangladesh wants to further accelerate the cordial relationship existing between the two countries.
   ‘Bangladesh attaches great importance to BIMSTEC under government policy of constructive engagement with the neighbors,’ the president stated.
   He apprised the envoy that the Bangladesh was interested in developing poultry, fisheries, and other agro-based industries following the Thai success and experiences in these areas.
   Ambassador Chalermpol Thanchitt assured the president of discussing with his government the matter of extending the facility of concessional import duty to 229 items from Bangladesh.
   The envoy said he would call upon his government to provide all-out cooperation in long-term rehabilitating programme for Cyclone SIDR victims in coastal districts.

The agriculture adviser, CS Karim, Wednesday stressed the need for effective private initiatives for boosting export of vegetables, particularly to European markets.
   He said the private sector of the country should take time-befitting steps for attracting foreign buyers facing stiff competitions in the global markets.
   The adviser was addressing a national workshop on ‘Lesson from European Union markets on fresh produce export’ in the conference room of the Sech Bhaban at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in the city.
   Hortex Foundation, an agri-business development and export promotion organisation, organised the workshop.
   Executive chairman of the Bangladesh Agriculture Research Council M Nurul Alam, National Consultant of the SME Sector Development Programme under the industries ministry Mohammad Saleh Ahmed and general manager of the Hortex Foundation Mohammad Sabjal Uddin, among others, addressed the function with agriculture secretary Mohammad Abdul Aziz in the chair.
   The adviser suggested that the private entrepreneurs should earn credibility in their activities so that they can get access to the foreign markets. Describing the plenty of scope for exporting agri-products to the European markets, he urged the private entrepreneurs to work for boosting the country’s economy.
   Requirements for export promotion in the foreign markets as the jobs of the private sector, the adviser said the government can only ensure necessary facilities for the private entrepreneurs to conduct their trade properly.
   Managing director of the Hortex Foundation TM Tajul Islam, director of the FBCCI Khurshed Ali Mollah, deputy chief of the Ministry of Agriculture Prashanta Kumar Chakraborty and AGM of Hortex Foundation M Abdullah Saadi jointly presented a keynote paper at the function.

Development activists urged the government to give up the mono cropping policy and encourage cultivation of more non-rice crops like lentil, potato and oilseeds, whose production fell drastically due to excessive focus on paddy.
    The boro acreage increased about 46 per cent while the land under lentil and oil seeds production declined 25 and 11 per cent respectively between 1991-92 and 2002-03, they said.
   They also urged the government to stop introducing hybrid rice seeds in the country for saving the ecology and the people from consequences of the climate change.
   The country has some 62 local boro varieties, which do not require any fertiliser and pesticides to get the optimum yields. But the government’s seed certification agency so far has introduced 44 types of hybrid paddy seeds, coming mostly from China. Most of the seed varieties are found not suitable for the country’s soil and climate, executives and researchers of UBINIG and Naya Krishi Andolon told a press conference in Dhaka Wednesday.
   Some of the imported seeds carried with them new types of disease, said Farida Akhter, executive director of UBINIG, a development research organisation.
   She was critical of some non-government organisations, which cheated farmers with imported rice seeds of inferior quality.
    A leading micro-credit organisation distributed ‘alok-6201,’ a so-called hybrid rice seed, among flood-hit farmers in 1998 under its credit programme, but this variety caught a new type of disease, which caused fall of grains during the harvest and left nothing but straws for growers.
   It is a conspiracy against the country and some quarters are active for making windfall from seed trade with multinational companies as the country’s annual seed related business is as big as Tk 2000 crore, she said.
   Palash Baral, M A Sobhan, Deepa Datta, Golam Rabbi Badal, Shima Das and Mozahidul Islam also spoke at the programme.

World oil prices leapt above 91 dollars a barrel on Wednesday after the powerful OPEC cartel froze its crude production at current levels at a meeting in Abu Dhabi.
   In London, Brent North Sea crude for January delivery soared 1.49 dollars to 91.02 dollars per barrel, earlier hitting 91.91 dollars.
   New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for January delivery, surged 1.51 dollars to 89.83 dollars per barrel, after striking as high as 90.39 dollars.
   ‘Oil prices were higher after OPEC left production targets unchanged as we expected,’ said Sucden analyst Michael Davies in London.
   He added: ‘The outcome will come as a disappointment to consumer nations, especially the US, as they have been urging OPEC to raise supply, claiming even with the recent price decrease, oil prices are still too high.’
   With the output decision out of the way, analysts said other issues would now determine price direction.
   ‘The focus will now shift back to the weekly statistics and the Fed meeting next week,’ said Petromatrix analyst Olivier Jakob.
   Traders were on tenterhooks ahead of Wednesday’s reading on oil inventories in the United States — which is the biggest consumer in the world.
   The US Federal Reserve, meanwhile, appears set to cut interest rates from 4.50 per cent when it meets on December 11 — in a move which would encourage US energy demand, analysts said.
   Back in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries opted to keep its official production quota at 27.25 million barrels of oil a day.
   OPEC is a major player in the global energy market because it pumps about 40 per cent of world crude supplies.
   The 13-nation cartel added that it would hold an extraordinary meeting on February 1 in Vienna, after deciding against an output hike in Abu Dhabi despite recent record high prices.
   Angola, which joined the cartel on January 1, was also handed a quota of 1.9 million barrels of oil per day. Ecuador, which rejoined OPEC last month, was given a daily quota totalling 520,000 barrels.
   It was not immediately clear when the pair would begin operating their quotas, or if their output would be in addition to OPEC’s official output daily output.

China will see a sixth consecutive year of double-digit economic growth in 2008, despite government efforts to bring about a slowdown, a government think tank was quoted as saying Wednesday.
   Asia’s second-largest economy is forecast to expand by about 11 per cent in 2008, down just marginally from this year’s prediction of 11.6 per cent growth, the China Securities Journal reported.
   It was citing an authoritative annual economy bluebook released by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the nation’s top government think tank.
   Consumer inflation is likely to rise 4.5 per cent this year and four per cent next year, the paper said, citing the think tank.
   The report said a tendency of economic overheating was getting worse, and that excessive economic growth, particularly growth in investment spending, should be reduced.
   ‘The authorities must make up their minds to slow the economic growth and try to keep the gross domestic product growth below 11 per cent,’ Chen Jiagui, vice-director of the state think tank, was quoted as saying. ‘A level of around nine per cent would be best.’
   As part of its efforts to rein in the economy, this year China has raised interest rates five times and increased the money banks must keep on reserve nine times.
   It has also stepped up restriction on lending and land supplies, as well as administrative controls in some sectors such as the property market.

Indian business confidence has slumped to a five-year low amid slowing exports, tighter monetary policy and a rising rupee that has slowed the economy, a survey said on Wednesday.
   The quarterly business confidence survey was compiled by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry which called the findings ‘grim.’
   ‘India Inc’s business confidence is at a five-year low and the outlook for exports, investments, employment and profits has taken a severe hit,’ said the nationwide survey of 321 companies.
   The survey showed Indian industry is ‘deeply apprehensive about the slowing down of the growth momentum with export growth dipping and the rising rupee taking a toll on even intermediate and capital goods sectors.’
   The Overall Business Confidence Index measuring expectations for the year ahead recorded a decline from 68.4 in the last survey to 61.2 in the present survey. A lower reading on the scale of zero to 100 means greater pessimism.
   The findings follow official data late last week showing that India’s economic growth slowed to 8.9 per cent in the second quarter, still second only to China but analysts have predicted a further weakening in the months ahead.
   The impact of aggressive monetary tightening to tame prices and an appreciating currency would take their toll on what has been blistering growth by Asia’s third biggest economy, they said.
   The group said that the survey highlighted a need for an easing of aggressive monetary policy that has pushed interest rates to five-year highs to tame prices.
   Efforts should also be made to prevent any further rise in the rupee which has risen more than 12 per cent against the dollar since the start of the year.

Billions of dollars must be spent to improve India’s creaking infrastructure to achieve the economic growth needed to lift millions out of poverty, a top government policy adviser said Tuesday.
   India’s dilapidated ports, roads, power supplies and other infrastructure are a ‘critical constraint’ to stronger growth, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chairman of the government’s key Planning Commission, told the India Economic Summit.
   ‘Investment in infrastructure in 2006-07 was five per cent of gross domestic product and was inadequate. We need to increase it to about nine per cent’ by the financial year 2011-12 to around five billion dollars, said Ahluwalia.
   India’s goal of attaining 10 per cent growth by the 2011-2012 financial year would be unachievable unless infrastructure spending moves into much higher gear, said Ahluwalia.
   India has logged 8.6 per cent average annual growth in the last four years and economists say expansion must shift to double digits to make a significant dent in deep poverty afflicting millions.
   The Indian government will pick up the tab for 70 per cent of the infrastructure spending but the rest -— around 150 billion dollars -— must come from private sources, Ahluwalia told the summit, part of a series of regional meetings ahead of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in early 2008.
   The meeting of financial players from around the world eager to learn about India’s rapidly expanding economy has heard a litany of complaints from business leaders about the disastrous state of India’s infrastructure.
   The Indian government has introduced new policies to attract private sector investment and ‘now the scale of activity needs to increase’ to compensate for India’s ‘infrastructure deficit,’ Ahluwalia said.
   India’s high growth has pushed its shabby infrastructure to its limits. Power cuts last hours, congested ports delay loading and unloading and the nation’s roads are notoriously potholed.
   ‘Which state electricity board can guarantee continuous uninterrupted power?’ asked Deepak Puri, chairman of compact disc giant Moses Baer India.
   Many companies run their own captive power plants to overcome energy shortages and ensure continuous production.
   Rajat Nag, managing director of the Asian Development Bank, called infrastructure India’s most urgent problem.
   India needs to spend as much as 1.6 billion dollars over the next decade or 10.5 to 12.5 per cent of its GDP on infrastructure to keep growth on track, Nag said.

The United States revved up pressure Tuesday on China to end trade barriers that have put the brakes on the iconic American-built Harley-Davidson motorcycles in the world’s biggest market.
   The motorcycle was launched nearly two years ago in Beijing but sales have not take off due to various restrictions, including prohibitive taxes and non-tariff barriers.
   Four US Democratic senators wrote Tuesday to US trade representative Susan Suchwab and US secretary of commerce Carlos Gutierrez to ask Beijing to take ‘visible’ steps at an upcoming senior level bilateral meeting to scrap trade barriers restricting sale of the motorcycles.
   Schwab and Gutierrez will attend the meeting of the US-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade in Beijing next week aimed at resolving trade concerns and promoting bilateral commercial opportunities.
   ‘The Chinese market should be a hog heaven for US motorcycle companies, but China’s unfair trade practices are slamming the brakes on Harley sales,’ said Senator Charles Schumer, among the letter’s signatories.
   Last week, Harley-Davidson experienced a planned shut down of operations at its plants in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Missouri states due to flat sales. It employs 8,500 workers at the plants. Harley-Davidson sales in China are virtually non-existent due to municipal regulations that limit or even ban heavy-duty motorcycle use in urban areas, the senators said.
   The rules reflect ‘arbitrary, non-tariff barriers’ erected by China that have the effect of unfairly limiting access to the vast market, they said, adding that such action called into question Beijing’s compliance with its obligations as a member of the World Trade Organisation.
   ‘Fair trade must be a two-way street,’ said Senator Robert Casey. ‘China’s roadblock to Harley-Davidson is unacceptable. There will always be a demand for a classic like Harley-Davidson motorcycles, but artificial barriers are threatening US jobs.’
   A burgeoning US trade deficit with China has prompted calls in Congress for US sanctions, but administration officials have opted for negotiations and in some cases complaints at the World Trade Organisation.
   ‘As we import billions of dollars worth of Chinese products each year, American companies like Harley-Davidson deserve fair access to Chinese markets,’ said Senator Claire McCaskill.
   ‘This is important not only to American jobs, but also to our trade relationship with China.’
   Harley-Davidson officially arrived in China in April 2006 with the opening of its first authorized dealership in Beijing.
   At prices of up to 90 per cent more than in the United States due to Chinese customs duties and other taxes, only the very rich can afford the bikes, which cost between 100,000 and 300,000 yuan ($13,500 and $40,500) each in China.

The World Trade Organisation said on Tuesday that growth in global trade this year was likely to be less than the 6.0 per cent it forecast earlier this year.
   The prediction, made in April, now appears ‘a little high but not too high,’ according to WTO chief economist Patrick Low.
   He did not give an alternative figure.
   Global trade grew by 8.0 per cent in 2006. The WTO said in April that the slight dip was linked to the overall global economy, which was seen growing at 3.0 per cent in 2007 from 3.7 per cent the previous year.
   The WTO said in April that greater risks of a downturn in financial and property markets and large current account imbalances were fuelling investor uncertainty.
   Since then, investor
   sentiment has been hit by the sub-prime crisis in the US housing market and its impact on financial institutions worldwide, as well as the continued fall of the dollar and the rise in oil prices.

China has decided to adopt tight monetary policies next year, marking the first change in its stance in a decade, state media said Wednesday.
   Prudent monetary polices have been in place for the past 10 years, Xinhua news agency reported, suggesting a profound change in Beijing’s economic policies. The decision to change to ‘tight monetary policies’ was announced at the end of the three-day Central Economic Work Conference, which brought together top decision-makers from the Communist Party and government.
   The meeting also concluded it would be a priority in 2008 to prevent overheating and curb inflation, while controlling the volume and pace of loans, according to Xinhua.
   ‘China will strictly control the volume and... pace of loans, so as to better regulate domestic demand and balance international payments,’ Xinhua said, citing the conference.
   China’s economy is expected to expand 11.5 per cent this year, fuelled mainly by investment spending, according to Xinhua. It will be the fifth consecutive year of double-digit growth.
   In 2008, too, the economy is likely to experience double-digit growth, according to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the nation’s top think tank.
   ‘The theme of 2008 is preventing overheating and inflation. Issues related to prices are most crucial for now,’ said Wang Tao, a Beijing-based economist with Bank of America.
   Decisions made by the economic work conference, set the outer limits of policies available to China’s huge bureaucracy in the year ahead. Detailed measures are likely to emerge later.

Dow Chemical Co said Tuesday it would eliminate some 1,000 jobs worldwide in a reorganisation aimed at trimming costs and improving efficiency.
   The move affects operations in all regions of the chemical giant based in Midland, Michigan, which employees a total of 43,000 people.
   Dow will exit the automotive sealers business in North America, Asia Pacific and Latin America within the next nine to 18 months.
   It will also close a plan in Aratu, Brazil, that makes hydroxyethyl cellulose ‘in the face of capacity limitations, high structural and raw material costs, and aging technology,’ the company said. And its styrene plan in Camacari, Brazil, will be idled on January 1.
   Dow will also close a plant in St Charles, Louisiana, operated by its Union Carbide subsidiary. And it will begin consultations with local employees to begin shutting a plant in Lauterbourg, France.

Brazil on Tuesday sharply criticised joint proposals by the United States and European Union for fewer tariffs and other trade barriers on ‘green’ goods and services as protectionist and only serving their own interests.
   ‘Brazil is deeply disappointed. We find the proposal modest, biased and protectionist,’ Brazil’s trade negotiator at the WTO Roberto Azevedo told journalists.
   The EU and United States on Friday proposed that all 151 WTO members cut tariffs on at least 43 types of environmentally-friendly goods and services in order to boost their use worldwide.
   Brazil said the measure was ‘essentially protectionist,’ and took issue with the definition of ‘green’ products, not least the absence of bio-fuels.
   ‘The exclusion of bio-fuels is particularly striking,’ Azevedo said. Brazil is a key exporter of this alternative fuel source.
   ‘The approach of the proponents ignores high tariffs and other barriers they impose on goods they do not produce,’ he added.
   ‘Anything they don’t produce is not on the list,’ he claimed, concluding: ‘We don’t think this is a basis for negotiation on environmental products.’
   WTO member states have yet to arrive at a common definition of what should be classified as environmental products, within the wider framework of the Doha Development Round, which remains stalled over differences between developed and developing countries.

China strongly opposes US charges it is unfairly subsidising the manufacture of its steel pipes and woven sacks for export, the commerce ministry said Wednesday, in a further sign of trade friction between the countries.
   China is ‘strongly unsatisfied’ and ‘firmly opposed’ to a recent US commerce department ruling that says China is subsidising companies making rectangular pipes and laminated woven sacks for export, Wang Xinpei, a ministry spokesman said in a posting on the ministry’s Web site.
   As the US trade deficit with China has ballooned, reaching $232.5 billion last year, tensions over China’s growing exports and the level of its currency have grown, with the United States filing more antidumping investigations against Chinese goods.
   On November 27, the US commerce department said China is unfairly subsidising its laminated woven sack industry that make sacks to package dog food and birdseed. Exports grew by 80 per cent between 2004 and 2006. It said the same about rectangular pipes and tubes that are used for fencing, window guards and railings. American companies can petition the US commerce department and International Trade Commission to investigate practices they say can unfairly harm their business.
   In May, the US commerce department imposed duties on imports of Chinese glossy paper that attracted attention because it reversed 23 years of US policy by treating China as a non-market economy.

The US economy might fall into a recession if US consumption is hit by rising mortgage costs and declining housing prices, Robeco’s chief executive told Reuters on Tuesday.
   ‘If people cannot pay their mortgages anymore, and housing prices are falling, then you have a consumption problem in the US, and that translates into a declining economy,’ Robeco’s CEO George Moller said in an interview.
   Dutch asset manager Robeco, owned by Dutch privately-owned Rabobank, manages about 150 billion euros ($221b) in assets worldwide.
   ‘How bad it will be, we don’t know. It could be that China keeps up demand,’ he said about the impact of a slowing US growth rate on the global economy.
   The US economy could also face stagflation — a situation where growth stagnates but prices keep rising — as Moller expected commodities, such as oil, to continue to become more expensive.
   Slowing growth would also stem from banks faced with less room to offer credit to consumers and companies as they are forced to take off-shore assets back on their balance sheets due to the credit crisis, limiting their solvability, said Moller.
   Some banks, such as HSBC Holdings Plc last week, have put assets, mostly bank debt and asset-backed securities, back on their balance sheet as demand for these securities shriveled due to US sub-prime problems and a subsequent credit squeeze.
   US president George W Bush acknowledged on Tuesday that the US economy faced serious issues, citing the credit crunch and the home-building industry but said the country’s economic fundamentals were strong.
   Moller said US economic problems and the credit squeeze could also hit Europe’s economy, as European banks will also have less room to offer credit and a strong euro versus the dollar could limit demand for European products.
   The euro reached an all-time high at $1.4966 two weeks ago, but has retreated since then to $1.4755 by 12:20pm EDT, and Moller expected a stabilisation in the exchange rate for the next few months.
   He expected oil and commodity prices to rise on a medium to long term as scarcity would keep pushing up prices.

The head of the WTO warned company executives Wednesday against making hasty decisions to shift production out of the eurozone to escape the impact of the strong euro.
   ‘The relationships between the euro, the dollar, the yen, the yuan need to be considered over the long term,’ World Trade Organisation director general Pascal Lamy said on the network i-tele.
   ‘When you are the head of an enterprise and when you decide on re-locating in terms of comparative advantages, in terms of customers, you have to consider the medium term,’ he said. Lamy had been asked about statements this week from the heads of two European aerospace groups, EADS and Dassault Aviation that their companies would have to shift some production to dollar-based zones because of the sharp fall of the US currency against the euro.
   ‘I don’t think these are matters that can be decided in the short term,’ Lamy maintained.
   ‘You re-locate for reasons, very often, that have to do with the proximity of customers and, if I take the example of EADS and Dassault, they also have a lot of costs in dollars.’

Mobile operator Grameen-phone has recently signed an agreement with the Computer Source Ltd to provide Grameenphone subscribers special discounts on different ICT products.
   Under the agreement, all Grameenphone subscribers may enjoy five per cent discount on HP Desktop PCs, Notebook PCs and Handheld devices, Fujitsu Notebook PCs, Lexmark Inkjet, Laser and all in one printers, Avermedia Internal, external and USB TV Cards, CSM Desktop PCs, Pen drives (CSM & other brands), MP3 and MP4 players, Philips: Monitors, Prolink UPSs, Micro lab Sound Systems, Woofers, sub-woofers, and IPODs etc, from any branch of Computer Source, said a press release.
   Fahad Saleh, manager, alliance management, thankyou programme, Grameenphone, and Asif Mahmud, executive director, Computer Source Ltd, signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organisations.

The dollar crept higher against the euro on Wednesday, as dealers sat tight on the eve of crucial interest rate decisions in Britain and the eurozone, analysts said.
   In early European trading, the euro fell to 1.4739 dollars from 1.4764 dollars late on Tuesday in New York.
   Elsewhere, the dollar rose to 110.21 yen from 109.71 late Tuesday.
   Attention now turns to European interest rate decisions on Thursday and then monthly US employment figures due on Friday.
   Most analysts expect that the Bank of England and the European Central Bank will hold their key interest rates at 5.75 per cent and 4.00 per cent respectively.
   ‘The deluge of central bank decisions this week — including the European Central Bank and Bank of England tomorrow — have many market participants opting for the sidelines,’ ABN Amro analyst Dustin Reid said Wednesday. The US Federal Reserve, meanwhile, is widely expected to cut American borrowing costs again next week from the current level of 4.50 per cent.
   Central banks around the world are grappling with inflation worries and slowing economic growth amid a global credit squeeze that was sparked by the slumping US subprime or high-risk home loan crisis.
   Overnight, the Bank of Canada cut interest rates for the first time since 2004 in a surprise move, adding that it expected the US subprime woes to continue.
   Australia’s central bank left interest rates on hold at an 11-year high of 6.75 percent Wednesday, while warning that it remained concerned about inflationary pressures.
   Despite the greenback’s slender gains against the euro on Wednesday, dealers said dollar-selling sentiment remained strong as the market was still struggling to gauge the impact of US economic woes.
   The US unit was also weakened Tuesday by comments by Gulf Arab leaders about a policy of pegging their currencies to the sliding US unit.
   Although a two-day summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council concluded with leaders pledging to maintain the peg, analysts said there were signs that some members wanted to follow Kuwait’s example and use a basket of currencies instead.
   The countries price oil in dollars, meaning a weak greenback saps the value of their most valuable product. In European trade on Wednesday, the euro changed hands at 1.4739 dollars, against 1.4764 late on Tuesday, at 162.43 yen (162.01), 0.7226 pounds (0.7170) and 1.6479 Swiss francs (1.6481).

Trade
   UCB
   Manjurul Quader Chowdhury, one of the sponsors of the bank, has reported his intention to sell 2,000 shares out of his total holdings of 27,245 shares of the bank at prevailing market price through stock exchange.
   
   City Bank
   Abdul Motin Chowdhury, one of the sponsors of the bank, has reported his intention to sell 12,287 shares out of his total holdings of 1,38,783 shares of the bank at prevailing market price through stock exchange. Another sponsor of the bank Hosne Ara Aziz has also reported her intention to sell 10,800 shares out of her total holdings of 1,18,800 shares of the bank at prevailing market price through stock exchange.
   
   Zeal Bangla Sugar
   Trading of the shares of the company will also be allowed in spot market from today to December 13.
   
   Keya Cosmetics
   Trading of the shares of the company will remain suspended today.
   
   Keya Detergent
   Trading of the shares of the company will remain suspended today.
   Mithun Knitting
   Trading of the shares of the company will remain suspended today.
   
   Tallu Spinning
   Trading of the shares of the company will remain suspended today.
   
   Bangas
   Trading of the shares of the company will remain suspended today.
   
   Standard Bank
   Farzana Yousuf, one of the sponsors/directors of the bank, has reported her intention to sell 10,000 shares out of her total holdings of 1,90,328 shares of the bank at prevailing market price through stock exchange.
   
   Savar Refractories
   Trading of the shares of the company will also be allowed in spot market from today to December 13.
   
   Islami Bank
   Bangladesh Islamic Centre, one of the corporate sponsors/directors of the
   bank, has reported its intention to
   sell 200 shares out of its total holdings
   of 11,000 shares of the bank at
   prevailing market price through stock exchange.
   Social Investment Bank
   Md Humayun Kabir Khan, one of the directors of the bank, has reported his intention to sell 20,000 shares out of his total holdings of 70,000 shares of the bank at prevailing market price through stock exchange within next 30 working days.
   
   Eastern Insurance
   M Haider Chowdhury, one of the sponsors of the company, has reported his intention to sell his entire holdings of 9,000 shares of the company while Mohammed Mohsin and Haji Abdur Rahim, both are sponsors/directors of the company have reported their intention to buy 4,500 shares each of the company (in the Block Market) at prevailing market price through stock exchange within next 30 working days.
   
   Profit
   BSC
   The company has reported net profit of Tk 15.96 crore with diluted EPS of Tk 5.56 as against Tk 30.87 crore and Tk 10.75 respectively.
   
   Sonali Aansh
   The company has reported net profit of Tk 60.43 lakh with EPS of Tk 28.45 as against Tk 1.19 crore and Tk 52.68 respectively.
   Source: DSE, CSE

Petronas mulls developing bio-fuels
Malaysia’s state oil firm Petronas is considering developing bio-fuels in view of the growing popularity of the renewable energy source, a report said Wednesday. ‘We are not ruling out exploring bio-fuels,’ said Zamri Jusoh, senior manager of Petronas’ petroleum development management unit, according to the Edge Financial Daily. ‘Of course our focus is on oil and gas, but I think as we move into the future we cannot ignore the importance of bio-fuels,’ he was quoted as saying. Petronas is repositioning its research and development division to look at alternative energy sources, he added. Malaysia is planning to make palm oil-based bio-diesel development a national policy as it seeks to tap the booming bio-fuel market and reduce its reliance on fossil fuels.
— AFP

Indo-Bangla body talks L/C disputes
The banking sub-group of Indo-Bangla Joint Business Council discussed 24 Bangladeshi and 36 Indian L/C related disputes on Wednesday, central bank sources said. In the meeting Bangladesh Bank officials pointed out that there were 343 local disputes amounting to $5.18 million which are still unresolved. The number included both L/C and non L/C related disputes, but the sub-group only discussed the L/C related disputes.
— New Age

Hong Kong gold closes higher
Hong Kong gold prices closed sharply higher Wednesday at 805.00-805.50 US dollars an ounce, up from Tuesday’s close of 790.50-791.00 dollars. It opened at 801.10-801.60 dollars.
— AFP