Main Page «
Front Page «
Metro «
International «
Sports «
National «
Editorial «
Op-Ed «
Home «
Timeout «
Letters «

Archive «
Launch Supplement «
Special Supplements «

A group of London-based Bangladeshis showed interest in buying the troubled UK-based First Solution Money Transfer Limited, which is under the process of liquidation, said sources in the Bangladesh Bank.
   The investors contacted the central bank and expressed their willingness to take over the beleaguered exchange house. They requested the regulatory body to allow the company to operate with banks in Bangladesh, said an official.
   The Bangladeshi-owned money transfer company allegedly siphoned off 1.7 million pound sterling remitted in June by Bangladeshis living in the UK.
   The central bank has advised the potential investors to pay off Tk 24 crore to the deceived remitters first before they approach the central bank for permission for starting business in Bangladesh again.
   Meanwhile, the official receiver in the UK is currently in negotiations with the interested parties, according to the Insolvency website in Britain.
   The first hearing of the winding up petition took place on Wednesday. The hearing was adjourned until November 21 to allow the change of the company’s name, which is part of the liquidation process.
   The central bank earlier specified the region-specific guidelines for exchange house businesses to make sure that non-resident Bangladeshis are not cheated while sending money home.
   A money exchange house needs to have a drawing arrangement with banks in Bangladesh and the arrangement must be approved by the central bank.
   The willing British-Bangladeshi investors claimed that they got the court order in London and signed a selling agreement with the UK liquidator in October, said another official of Bangladesh Bank.
   But the Bangladesh embassy in the United Kingdom informed the central bank that the willing investors are only interested in the assets of First Solution, and not ready to bear its liabilities.
   ‘The central bank will not allow First Solution to operate if the potential investors do not repay the swindled money to remitters,’ the central banker said.
   Under the new guidelines, an exchange house has to deposit $25,000 to $50,000 in non-resident dollar account and Tk 5 lakh to Tk 10 lakh in non-resident taka account.
   First Solution had arrangement with seven local banks and it had less than Tk 1 crore as security money with the banks.
   The money-transfer industry, which faces lax regulations unlike banks, is growing at 20 per cent a year and is now worth 145 billion pound sterling, according to the World Bank.
   It grew quickly after September 11, 2001, when the western countries launched massive campaigns to discourage informal money transfers across national boundaries.
   The British Department for International Development gave 7.5 million pound sterling to the Bangladesh Bank to encourage the switch. This led to a rapid growth of companies such as First Solution, whose turnover soared to £87 million in 2006-07 from £4 million in 2004.

The general index of DSE hit fresh peak of 2940.15 points on Thursday due to buying spree from investors mainly on power and banking stocks.
   The benchmark index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange gained 54.45 points or 1.89 per cent. The DSE general index’s previous highest was 2901.99 points on October 25.
   ‘The Bangladesh Bank’s instruction to the scheduled banks for raising their paid up capital encouraged the investors to buy banks’ shares,’ said Sharif Atuar Rahman, vice-president of the DSE.
   Sharif, also managing director of SAR Securities — a brokerage house, said investors put funds on power stocks expecting their good future earnings.
   The investors have returned to the market after witnessing the dull last week, he added.
   Moin Al Kashem, a stock market analyst, said the Thursday’s surge was retail-investors driven. ‘There are numbers of speculation among the retail investors,’ he observed. He cautioned the investors saying that they should analyse fundamentals of the companies before putting their funds on the stocks.
   The bourse’s blue chips index, DSE20, advanced by 27.58 points or 1.24 per cent to close at 2252.22. Chittagong Stock Exchange’s selective categories index gained 82.58 points or 1.75 per cent to close at 4795.72, while its blue chips index, CSE30, advanced by 91.30 points or 1.39 per cent to close at 6637.52.
   Of the total 214 listed issues traded at the DSE, 133 advanced, 60 declined and 21 remained unchanged, and out of 118 listed issues traded at the CSE, 83 posted gains, 27 dropped and eight remained unchanged. Turnover at the DSE also increased to Tk 249.76 crore from the Tuesday’s Tk 195.70 crore and the CSE turnover went up to Tk 41.31 crore from Tk 31.53 crore. The Power Grid Company Bangladesh topped the turnover leaders at the DSE with total transaction of Tk 23.96 crore.

Development activities under the annual development programme could face setbacks this financial year as the import of black stone, limestone, river stone and black ash was halted.
   The government in an SRO on August 16 this year directed the importers to make import after inspection by the pre-shipment inspection company through all land-ports and land-stations. An international company, SGS, has been appointed PSI agent for import from India.
   The government floated the SRO to remove the present anomalies concerning imports coming through land-stations and ports along the border.
   But this SRO reportedly created roadblocks to the importers who import these stones, used for producing cement and construction of roads and bridges like other heavy constructions.
   Generally it is very much hard to do PSI of such items which are imported or exported in open mode. The stones and such other items are usually imported or exported on open-hood trucks.
   But the PSI firm has been appointed by the government to make sure that there be no scope for including or excluding anything after inspection from the loading station. For this purpose, the PSI men will seal the whole covered van or container. But, for an open-hood truck, it is not possible to seal.
   According to the importers, the PSI company SGS (Kolkata) officials never inspect the loading of black stone, limestone, river stone and black ash on truck.
   Also, the loading of these types of items is never done at one place.
   As such, the PSI officials never inspect consignments at the loading points.
   Generally, the PSI officials sit at the export point and inspect the trucks. From there they contact the Kolkata office that used to give provisional and final certificate for export.
   The importers already complained to the National Board of Revenue that due to the lower price of the materials and huge number of trucks waiting for clearance, the PSI-company officials pay less attention to their job.
   And, due to the neglect of duty, varied prices of black stones have been quoted in a single day, which is very much abnormal for an import item.
   Talking to the news agency, an importer said that if they comply with the new rules, they have to incur loss for every truck. ‘So we stopped importing black stones, limestone, river stones and black ash,’ he said.
   Sona Masjid Importers and Exporters Group has already sent a letter to the NBR requesting exemption of these items from PSI obligations.
   The Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry president, Hossain
   Khaled, recently in a meeting with NBR chairman Mohammad Abdul Majid pointed out the matter and requested the chairman to take steps regarding this.
   The chamber delegation said that if the importers stopped the import of black stone, limestone, river stone and black ash, it would hamper the development activities.
   When contacted, an NBR official told the news agency that they would sit with the importers shortly to sort out the matter.

The United Nations has warned that global cereal prices are expected to remain high for the coming year largely due to problems in production in several major exporting countries and very low world stocks.
   High international food prices are fuelling domestic food inflation in many parts of the world as supplies for most cereals are much tighter, a new UN report warns. Further complicating the situation is the rising demand for food as feed as well as for industrial use, the report published in ‘Food Outlook,’ just published by the FAO, said.
   Stocks, which were already low at the start of the season, were likely to remain equally low because global cereal production may only be sufficient to meet expected world utilisation, the report said, adding agricultural prices had risen sharply last year but this year, they are increasing even at a faster pace.
   FAO expects many countries would have to pay more for importing cereals from world markets than they did in previous years, even though they are expected to import less. Record freight rates and high export prices were the main reasons for the increase in their import bills.
   ‘High international prices for food crops such as grains continue to ripple through the food supply chain, contributing to a rise in retail prices of such basic foods as bread or pasta, meat and milk,’ the report said.
   According to the FAO analysis, the world has rarely felt ‘such a widespread and commonly shared concern about food price inflation, a fear which is fueling debates about the future direction of agricultural commodity prices in importing as well as exporting countries, be they rich or poor.’

Asian economies have weathered the US sub-prime mortgage crisis well and will experience only a mild slowdown next year, a senior International Monetary Fund official said Thursday.
   But any sharp US slowdown would have a significant effect on the region, especially if other industrial countries followed suit, said Jerald Schiff, the IMF’s assistant director for the Asia-Pacific.
   ‘Like the region as a whole, Korea weathered very well the crisis in the summer,’ Schiff said in a speech on the economic outlook for South Korea and the region.
   Schiff said the outlook for Asia remains positive next year, ‘although global developments have increased significantly the downside risks.’
   He said the IMF projects a mild slowdown in Asia in 2008 and a moderate slowdown globally but ‘there is a sizeable risk of a US recession and a sharper global slowdown.’
   This would most likely be triggered by extended weakness in the US housing market, spreading to lower consumption and investment and higher unemployment. The US housing market showed few signs so far of recovery.
   Schiff noted that Asia remains quite dependent on trade with the US and the European Union. But many regional countries including Korea had scope to loosen monetary policy, although further oil price rises would complicate policy.
   The IMF executive said Korea’s outlook largely mirrors that of the region. ‘US domestic demand growth and Korean export growth is very strongly correlated.’
   A one percentage point fall in the US growth rate could lead to a decline in Korea of a quarter to half a per cent, he said, predicting Korean growth of 4.6 per cent in 2008 compared to about 4.8 per cent tipped for this year.
   ‘In addition, while Korea escaped largely unscathed from the summer turmoil, further global financial volatility could have a longer-lasting impact, e.g. via business and consumer confidence,’ he noted.
   South Korea also faces several country-specific risks, Schiff said, citing the rapidly ageing population and high household debt.
   Next year, and especially in 2009, many mortgage payments would rise sharply with the lapsing of grace periods. ‘This could impact on consumption and economic growth for the next several years.’
   In the longer run the ‘quite dramatic’ ageing of society would erode the low-wage manufacturing base. Raising the service sector’s productivity was crucial through liberalisation and opening it to competition.
   The National Statistical Office in July forecast that South Korea would have the world’s most aged society by 2050 if the current trend of fewer births continued.
   However, figures released the following month showed that the number of births increased in 2006 for the first time in six years, slightly easing concerns.
   Despite such problems, ‘Korea’s impressive economic history gives confidence that these challenges will be successfully addressed,’ Schiff said.

Communications adviser Major General (retd) MA Matin on Thursday said dynamism that has been prevailing at the Chitttagong Port and Customs House following implementation of the reform programmes after January 11 changeover would have to be maintained.
   ‘None of the officials concerned will be spared for anything contrary,’ he said addressing a review meeting with the top officials of Chittagong Port Authority and Chittagong Customs House at the port auditorium.
   The adviser hoped the under construction New Mooring Container Terminal would start functioning fully by next July. Construction work of the container terminal is scheduled to be complete by December in 2008.
   During the meeting, CPA chairman Commodore M Faruque and customs commissioner Lutfar Rahman listed the progresses made by their respective organisations.

DEG, a German investment and development company, has extended long term loan of $ 7.5 million to Esquire Knit Composite Ltd, a member of Esquire Group, for its expansion project of knit composite unit located at Kanchpur at Sonargaon in Narayanganj.
   EKCL managing director Ehsanul Habib and DEG investment manager Natmol Mahapantz, signed an agreement to this effect on behalf of their respective organisations at a signing ceremony at the hotel Westin in the city recently, said a press release.
   A Taka facility agreement for Tk 21 crore was also signed at the ceremony by Ehsanul Habib, Eastern Bank MD Ali Reza Iftekhar and Dutch-Bangla Bank AMD AHM Nazmul Quadir.
   EBL arranged term loan facility of $ 7.50 million from DEG and term loan syndication facility of Tk 21 crore from EBL and DBBL for Esquire Knit Composite Ltd. Md Mofazzal Hossain, chairman of Esquire Group, was also present at the agreement signing ceremony.

World crude prices rebounded toward record high points and within striking distance of 100 dollars a barrel on Thursday amid supply concerns in the North Sea and unrest in oil-rich Yemen.
   New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for December delivery, climbed 63 cents to 97.00 dollars. On Wednesday it had hit an historic peak of 98.62 dollars.
   In London on Thursday, Brent North Sea crude for December delivery gained 60 cents to 93.84 dollars. On Wednesday it struck an all-time high of 95.19 dollars.
   ‘The dip in equity markets with higher oil prices cited as a drag on growth and the concerns over the credit crunch precipitated by the sub-prime crisis mean that the drive towards 100 dollars a barrel has been somewhat tempered,’ Bank of Ireland analyst Paul Harris said.
   Crude futures were nonetheless rising Thursday amid news that an impending storm over the North Sea forced oil firms to temporarily close platforms off the Norwegian coast cutting its production by 10 per cent.
   Britain’s BP closed its Valhall platform and US firm ConocoPhillips planned to shut down five platforms in the Ekofisk oilfield — representing a drop in production of around 220,000 barrels per day in Norwegian production.
   ‘The weather outlook for Friday looks slightly better,’ ConocoPhillips spokesman in Norway Stig Kvendseth told AFP. ‘It won’t take us long to get started again.’
   The Ekofisk field normally produces 140,000 bdp. One platform there has already closed, one is in the process of being closed and preparations are underway to close three others, Kvendseth said.
   Norway is the world’s fifth largest exporter of crude. In September it produced 2.179 million barrels per day.
   There was meanwhile oil-related unrest in Yeman on Thursday. Clashes between Yemeni tribesmen and security personnel protecting a Ukrainian oil company left 12 people dead in Shabwa province, east of the capital, a security source said.
   One of the world’s poorest nations despite its proximity to oil-rich Saudi Arabia, Yemen produces 380,000 barrels of crude a day.

The World Bank has suspended 5.4 million dollars’ worth of aid scheduled for projects in Iran because of US financial sanctions against the Islamic republic, a senior bank official said Wednesday.
   ‘The disbursements to these projects are delayed until the World Bank finds alternative financial institutions to handle the transactions,’ said the official, confirming a recent report in The New York Times. He spoke on condition of anonymity.
   The payments, for four of nine World Bank projects in Iran, were to have been made by Bank Melli, he added.
   The US government on October 25 slapped sanctions on three of Iran’s largest state-owned banks, cranking up pressure on Tehran over its alleged nuclear weapons drive and terrorist financing.
   The sanctions targeted Bank Melli, Iran’s largest bank, and Bank Mellat, for their alleged support of Iran’s nuclear programme.
   A third bank, Bank Saderat, was designated ‘a terrorist financier.’ The US had imposed other sanctions against the bank in September 2006.
   The sanctions forbid any financial transactions between a US citizen and private organisation with the targets, and froze all the targets’ assets under US jurisdiction.
   The suspension of World Bank payments affects four projects in Iran: emergency aid after a deadly earthquake in Bam, in the south of the country; water treatment, environmental management; and urban renewal.
   The World Bank has awarded nine nine loans to Iran, totaling 770 million dollars, the senior Bank official said.

Despite rising inflation, South Korea’s central bank Thursday kept its key interest rate unchanged amid global financial turbulence.
   For the third consecutive month the Bank of Korea froze the call rate, the interest charged on overnight inter-bank loans, at five per cent — a six-year high.
   ‘As high oil prices stoke inflation while putting downward pressures on the economy, the economic outlook on the macro-economic front is quite uncertain,’ Bank of Korea governor Lee Seong-Tae told reporters.
   The central bank said the domestic economy is continuing its uptrend.
   ‘While investment has been lagging, exports remain brisk and private consumption is accelerating,’ its statement said.
   But it acknowledged that higher oil prices and continued instability in global financial markets have increased uncertainty locally.
   Consumer prices rose three per cent year-on-year in October, a 29-month high, due to rising oil prices in a nation which imports all its oil.
   Lee projected that inflation will remain between three and 3.5 per cent for a while. Liquidity growth seems to be slowing down marginally but the money supply has as yet not been reduced to a satisfactory level, he added.
   The country has posted double-digit growth in the liquidity aggregate, the broadest measure of money supply, since September last year.
   The central bank has held the rate steady amid worldwide financial jitters triggered by US sub-prime mortgage defaults. It had raised it by a quarter-point in both July and August to prevent rising liquidity from fuelling inflation and creating an asset bubble.
   ‘The uncertainty in global financial markets weighed more on the central bank’s decision than growing inflationary pressure,’ Lim Roh-Jung, an economist at Kyobo Investment Trust Management, told Yonhap news agency.
   ‘The BOK will likely stand at on the key rate throughout the first half of next year.’
   Any rate rise would also have increased upward pressure on the already-rising won and made South Korea’s exports less competitive. The local currency is around a 10-year high against the dollar.

China has released new rules to prohibit or limit foreign investment in key industries as it seeks to cool its overheated economy and clean up its damaged environment, state press reported Thursday.
   In a wide-ranging directive published late Wednesday, China’s key economic developmental agency identified sectors from real estate and financials to oil and rare metals as restricted or off limits to foreign capital.
   Overseas investment that can help China to protect the environment, cut pollution and develop renewable energy will be encouraged, according to the National Development and Reform Commission statement.
   ‘It should give a shot in the arm to efforts to save energy and protect the environment by encouraging greener use of foreign investment,’ the official China Daily newspaper said in an editorial.
   Investment in high technology and advanced materials and equipment manufacturing will also be welcome, but those in production industries in which China has mature technologies and capacity will not be encouraged, it said.
   The directive highlights Beijing’s latest policy initiative to restructure its export-driven economy whose booming but lopsided growth has for decades relied on government and foreign investment to expand.
   Under the guidelines, foreigners are barred from investing in non-renewable mineral resources, such as tungsten, tin, antimony, molybdenum, as will investment in small and mid-sized oil refineries.
   Refining of copper, zinc, aluminium and rare earths will be restricted and so will the exploration for gold, silver and platinum.
   Limits will also be placed on high end real estate such as hotels and malls, property agent companies and brokerages, as part of efforts to cool soaring real estate prices nationwide.
   In the financial industry, the commission confirmed restrictions already in place in life insurance and asset management.
   China’s spectacular economic growth of the last three decades has come at a heavy price to its environment, while surging exports have created a huge trade surplus that is at the forefront of trade spats with major economic partners.
   Chen Xingdong, an economist at BNP Paribas in Beijing, said the rules reflected a fundamental change in China’s strategies for foreign funds.
   ‘In the past there was no control — China just opened the door, the window and let whatever foreign investment comes in,’ he said. ‘China doesn’t now want just rapid growth without paying attention to quality.’
   Some analysts also expressed concern for what they said looked like a turn towards protectionism.
   ‘The overall direction should be towards more open industries rather than the opposite, ‘said Shen Minggao, an economist at Citigroup in Beijing.
   ‘The government is worried about resources and the rise in commodity prices, and wants to make sure that scarce resources are under the control of domestic firms, but that’s the direction that we’re worried about.’
   Recent policy measures have added to the impression that China is becoming more discerning about investment.
   The government has rolled out rules that require state-level approval for mergers and acquisitions. China’s State Council, or cabinet, has also released a list of strategic sectors in which the state intends to retain control.
   Among them are military-related manufacturing, power production and grids, petroleum, gas and petrochemicals, telecoms, coal, civil aviation and shipping.

European borrowing rates will be on hold for another month as both the European Central Bank and the Bank of England held their key rates steady on Thursday.
   The ECB maintained its key interest rate at 4.00 per cent shortly after the Bank of England held its benchmark rate 5.75 per cent for a fourth month running, as policymakers sat tight amid rising concerns over the global credit squeeze.
   Both decisions had been widely expected at a moment when the global economy is grappling with soaring oil prices, deep financial market uncertainty and fears that the US economy, the world’s largest, could be losing momentum.
   Investors are now looking to post-meeting comments later Thursday from ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet for clues to the bank’s next monetary policy move.
   The single European currency had been set to cast a long shadow over the session, which comes just after the euro breached 1.46 and 1.47 dollars in a single day to set a new all-time high of 1.4731 dollars Wednesday.
   Meanwhile, oil prices appeared to mirror the euro’s ascent, closing in on 100 dollars a barrel Wednesday after hitting new record highs on global supply concerns.
   The rise in crude rates over the past several weeks, along with the cost of food items such as milk and butter, pushed inflation to 2.6 per cent in October for the more than 300 million people who live in the eurozone, according to an initial European Union estimate.
   That, along with the international credit crisis of recent months, stemming from a collapse in the US subprime housing market that undermined mortgage-backed securities, have lowered eurozone growth prospects for 2008.
   ‘Already it is apparent that the economic outlook for the next two years will be somewhat less favourable than we expected before the summer,’ EU economic affairs commissioner Joaquin Almunia said last month.
   But at the Capitol Economics research group, analysts said there remained ‘positive momentum’ in the eurozone economy as well as a deterioration in the inflation outlook.
   As a result, they said in a note, ‘we think it there is a reasonable chance that ECB president Trichet will surprise people by signalling a December rise.’
   That signal would emerge if Trichet in his remarks following the meeting pledged to exercise ‘strong vigilance’ in the face of inflation, they added.
   But at Bank of America, economists Holger Schmieding and Gilles Moec said that given ‘heightened uncertainties’ in eurozone growth prospects and the likelihood that a rate hike could drive the euro still higher, ‘the ECB will not pre-announce a December rate hike by calling for ‘strong vigilance.’
   European exporters and some political leaders, notably French president Nicholas Sarkozy, have made clear their exasperation with the ECB, charging that its tight monetary policies are dampening eurozone growth prospects.
   A rising euro tends to increase the price of eurozone exports, making them less competitive against those from the United States that are denominated in a weakening dollar.

Airlines from the oil-rich Gulf countries are tipped to steal the limelight at the Dubai Air Show, as the fast growing carriers strive to keep pace with the robust air travel market.
   The last air show in the booming emirate in 2005 netted staggering orders of around 23 billion dollars, with Dubai’s carrier Emirates placing a 9.7-billion-dollar order for 42 units from Boeing’s 777 family.
   Emirates, like other fast-growing Gulf carriers, vies to keep pace with the strong regional growth in passenger demand, which hit 17.8 per cent in the first half of 2007 — the highest globally, according to the International Air Transport Association.
   The Dubai flagship carrier is again keeping US manufacturer Boeing and its European arch-rival Airbus on their toes — this time in anticipation of a mega-order for 100 new mid-sized planes. The largest Middle East airline, which carried 17.5 million passengers in the 2006-07 financial year, is still weighing its options between Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner and its rival, Airbus’s A350 XWB.
   ‘At the moment, the idea is to have a single order, but that does not mean that in future we won’t look at both of them,’ Emirates president Tim Clark said last month.
   He said the carrier hoped to announce its choice—in a contract estimated to be worth a whopping 20 billion dollars — during the five-day show which opens on Sunday.
   Emirates — wholly owned by the government of Dubai — has a fleet of 110 aircraft and is now taking delivery of its Boeing 777 order at the rate of one plane a month.
   It is also expecting to start taking delivery in August 2008 of Airbus’s super-jumbo A380, of which it has ordered 55 units — the largest order by a single customer.
   Elsewhere in the Gulf, Qatar Airways is planning to nearly double its young fleet to 110 planes by 2015. It currently has 58 Airbus planes, but has ordered 22 units of the Boeing 777, the first of which should be delivered this month.
   Qatar’s national carrier has also placed a 16 billion dollars order for 80 A350s, and increased its previous order of two A380s to five units during the Paris Air Show in June.
   The Sharjah-based Air Arabia, the Middle East largest low-cost carrier, could be in the market for as many as 50 planes from either Airbus A320 or Boeing 737.
   Air Arabia, which floated a 55 per cent stake to the public in April, raising 700 million dollars in the first share sale by a Middle East carrier, reportedly plans to buy between 34 and 50 aircraft in November.
   The three-year-old carrier currently operates a fleet of nine leased A320s and has carried 1.95 million passengers in the first nine months of 2007, compared to 1.26 million passengers in the corresponding period of 2006.

Tirunelveli and Trichy, Durgapur and Dankuni hardly trip off the tongue of most Indian IT professionals living in the established hot spots of the information technology industry.
   But these small backwoods towns have joined the race to become the next Indian IT destinations, as Bangalore and other big cities battle soaring costs, talent shortages and overloaded, inadequate infrastructure.
   Already IT companies are biting the bait, with leading firms such as Tata Consultancy, Wipro and HCL lining up for land in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal states.
   ‘We are seeing a very active dispersal of the industry from the bigger to the small towns and small to even smaller,’ said Kiran Karnik, president of the National Association of Software and Service Companies.
   ‘The current will accelerate once the physical infrastructure is in place,’ said Karnik, the head of India’s top IT industry body. ‘It will result in a more even dispersal of employment and economic development across the country.’
   State governments are luring firms to the hinterland by promising quick land allotments, a vast pool of engineers, uninterrupted electricity and telecoms, good roads and air links.
   They are also trying to promote a superior quality of living in self-contained residential townships at a fraction of the cost of Bangalore, New Delhi and Mumbai.
   Tirunelveli and Trichy are among several locations being promoted by the southern state of Tamil Nadu.
   ‘We are very focused on building Tamil Nadu as the most preferred IT destination,’ said C Umashankar, managing director of the Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu.
   IT parks are being constructed or planned in several Tamil Nadu towns, including Tirunelveli, Trichy, Coimbatore and Madurai.
   Road and air connectivity is also being reinforced in India’s only power-surplus state, which has set apart 2,340 acres of land for the IT industry.
   West Bengal is also rushing to catch up, promoting towns such as Durgapur, Dakuni, Siliguri and Haldia with planned tax-free special economic zones devoted to the industry.
   About 20 million square feet is also under construction in state capital Kolkata that will be ready for occupation in the next two years, the state’s information technology minister Debesh Das said.
   ‘But we want inclusive growth that’s not just limited to Kolkata,’ Das said. ‘We want IT to go to the small towns.’
   India’s 50 billion dollar IT industry, which employs an estimated 1.6 million people, has been largely been confined to the big cities such as Bangalore, the New Delhi suburbs, Mumbai and Hyderabad.
   As economic growth steams along at an annual rate of nine per cent, however, real estate costs have doubled in such cities in the past four years while IT salaries have been growing at an average annual pace of 18 per cent.

European aerospace group EADS, saddled with costly delivery delays at aircraft unit Airbus, reported a sharp widening in its third quarter net loss Thursday and lowered its 2007 forecast.
   The European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company predicted that operating profit for the full year should be ‘around break-even’ after earlier forecasting that earnings would be roughly equal to 399 million euros reported in 2006.
   EADS shares were showing a mid-morning gain of 5.31 per cent to 22.62 euros, the best performer on an overall Paris market that was down 1.54 per cent. Analysts said the market had expected a more significant downward revision to group projections.
   The company said a 1.37 billion euros charge to cover delays to the Airbus A400M military transporter programme was behind a third quarter net loss that came to 776 million euros ($1.4b) from 189 million in the third quarter of 2006.
   EADS has also been plagued by severe production and delivery difficulties with its flagship A380, the world’s largest civilian airliner and the linchpin in efforts to catch up with US rival Boeing.
   The setbacks prompted management at EADS and Airbus to draft a sweeping restructuring drive, dubbed Power8 that will notably see the elimination of 10,000 jobs, principally at Airbus sites in France and Germany.

Thai consumer confidence slipped to a new five-year low in October on concerns over soaring fuel prices and the rising cost of living, researchers said Thursday.
   Despite easing political concerns after a coup last year, the consumer confidence index was at 75.5 points last month, down from 75.8 points in September, the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce said.
   The index has spent 40 months below 100, the level which indicates that pessimists outnumber optimists, the pollster said.
   ‘Although political uncertainties have eased as Thailand is moving toward a general election, the skyrocketing oil prices have become a greater concern for consumers,’ said pollster Thanawat Phonvichai.
   ‘Consumers have anticipated an improved economy after the election, but high fuel costs could have significant impact on economic growth,’ he added.
   The military-installed government has promised to hold elections on December 23, clearing the way for an elected government to take office early next year.
   Thanawat said consumers were also worried over the renewed appreciation of the baht, fearing that the strong Thai currency would affect exports and the economy overall.
   ‘They also worry that the world economy will be impacted by the US sub-prime woes,’ he added.

Japan’s Olympus Corp will build a new factory in Vietnam next year to produce hot-selling digital cameras, a company spokesman said Thursday.
   ‘We will build a manufacturing base in Vietnam ... as we aim to secure enough production capacity for digital cameras,’ the official said, adding the company aims to begin construction by late 2008.
   Investment will be some five billion yen ($44m), said the official who declined to be named.
   The spokesman denied a report in the Nikkei daily Thursday that Olympus would consolidate its two Chinese factories into one to transfer some operations to the base in Vietnam, where labour costs are lower.
   Olympus will build the Vietnamese base in addition to the two Chinese factories, he said.

National Bank Limited has inaugurated its 98th branch on Pragati Sarani at Mirpur in the capital.
   Parveen Haque Sikder, chairperson of the National Bank Limited, inaugurated the branch at a function held recently. A discussion meeting was also held on the occasion, said a press release.
   NBL directors Helena Rahman, Zakaria Taher, AM Nurul Islam, prof Mahbub Ahmed, and captain Abu Sayeed Monir attended the function.
   Parveen Haque Sikder, and NBL managing director M Aminuzzaman, addressed the discussion meeting focusing on the bank’s contribution and future plan to serve the clients.
   Md Abdur Rahman Sarker, additional managing director of the NBL, delivered his welcome address, and ATM Munjurul Alam, vice-president and manager of the Pragati Sarani branch, delivered his vote of thanks.
   Local elites and businessmen of the area were also present on the occasion.

Standard Bank Limited has held its 117th board meeting at the head office of the bank in the capital.
   Kazi Akramuddin Ahmed, chairman of the board of directors of Standard Bank Limited, presided over the meeting held recently, said a press release. Standard Bank vice-chairman Mohammad Shamsul Alam, and directors Kamal Mostafa Chowdhury, Abdul Ahad, Nurul Haque Sowdagor, Ferdous Ali Khan, Farzana Yousuf and Md Ziaul Haque Khondker, attended the meeting.
   Managing director Mosharraf Hossain, chief banking consultant Sahazada Syed Nizamuddin Ahmed, deputy managing director SA Farooqui, and EVP and board secretary AFM Nizamul Islam Chowdhury, of Standard Bank were also present at the meeting.
   The meeting took various important decisions regarding the bank’s investment policy and approved proposa1s received from different branches.

The dollar hovered close to record lows against the euro in Asian trade Thursday amid worries about the US sub-prime loan crisis and ahead of a European Central Bank decision on interest rates, dealers said.
   They said the greenback tumbled against the yen briefly as risky ‘carry trade’ bets on high-yielding currencies were unwound.
   The euro firmed to 1.4643 dollars in Tokyo afternoon trade from 1.4634 in New York late Wednesday, when it had earlier struck a record high of 1.4731 on rumours that China might sell some of its huge dollar holdings.
   The dollar fell to as low as 112.00 yen in early Asian trade, close to its August trough, before clawing back to 112.76, against 112.55 yen in New York.
   The euro rose to 165.05 yen from 164.73.
   The market was rattled by a heavy sell-off on Wall Street on Tuesday sparked by high oil prices, worries about the fallout from tighter credit conditions and news of a large loss at auto giant General Motors, dealers said.
   ‘The dollar will remain weak due to the continued concerns about the sub-prime crisis,’ said Frances Cheung, economist at Standard Chartered Bank.
   Dealers also reacted nervously to reports that investment bank giant Morgan Stanley had announced large write-downs due to recent credit market volatility.
   ‘Investors are shunning risk ... as they expect further uncertainty in the financial sector due to fallout from the sub-prime mortgage crisis,’ said Yosuke Hosokawa, head of forex at Chuo Mitsui Trust Bank.
   The yen tends to benefit from the unwinding of carry trade as it is often sold by speculators to buy higher yielding currencies such as the British pound, which hovered near to a 26-year high against the greenback.
   The Australian dollar also held firm a day after the Reserve Bank of Australia hiked interest rates, luring investors in search of higher yields.
   Traders also had their eyes turned towards a monetary policy decision by the European Central Bank later Thursday.
   The market expects bank officials to keep rates unchanged at 4.0 per cent although it sees a chance of future hikes, dealers said.
   ‘While the Fed is expected to cut interest rates, other central banks such as the European Central Bank are in a hawkish mood,’ said Cheung.
   US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke was due to testify before a Congressional committee later Thursday with dealers looking for clues on prospects for another US interest rate cut, dealers said.
   ‘With the ongoing shake-up of the financial sector, the Fed will be forced to make another cut whether it likes it or not,’ said Hosokawa.
   The greenback had fallen sharply in overseas trade after reported comments from a senior Chinese official that his country should diversify its massive foreign exchange reserves away from the US currency.
   ‘China and other Asian central banks are probably gradually shifting their foreign exchange reserves to euro, British pound and even the yen,’ Cheung said.
   The dollar was mixed in regional Asian trade, rising to 908.00 South Korean won from 903.50, to 9,155.50 Indonesian rupiah from 9,107 and to 43.37 Philippine pesos from 43.31.

Dividend
   Aftab Automobiles
   The board of directors of the company has recommended 6 per cent cash dividend and 10 per cent stock dividend for the year ended on August 31, 2007. The annual general meeting of the company will be held on December 17. Record date is on November 25.
   
   Fu Wang Food
   The board of directors of the company has recommended 5 per cent cash dividend for the year 2006- 2007. The company’s AGM will be held on December 17 at National Shooting Complex at Gulshan-1 in Dhaka. Book closure is from November 28 to December 17.
   
   EGM
   Summit Power
   The company has informed that the 10th extra-ordinary general meeting of the company will be held on December 12 at Bashundhara Convention Centre at Bashundhara R/A at Baridhara in Dhaka to insert a new guarantee clause in the memorandum and articles of association of the company. Record date for the EGM is on November 20.
   
   Profit
   DESCO
   As per audited accounts as on June 30, 2007, the company has reported net profit of Tk 71.11 crore with earning per share of Tk 55.94 as against Tk 57.87 crore and Tk 45.52 respectively as on June 30, 2006.
   
   MIDAS Financing
   As per audited accounts as on June 30, 2007, the company has reported net profit of Tk 5.52 crore with EPS of Tk 19.39 as against Tk 3.54 crore and Tk 12.43 (restated) respectively as on June 30, 2006.
   
   NAV
   Grameen Mutual Fund One
   On the close of operation on October 31, 2007, the fund has reported net asset value of Tk 29.03 per share against face value of Tk 10 whereas net assets of the fund stood at Tk 49,34,39,589.
   Aims 1st Mutual Fund
   On the close of operation on October 31, 2007, the fund has reported net asset value of Tk 3.13 per share against face value of Tk 1 whereas net assets of the fund stood at Tk 43,83,66,501.
   
   Response to DSE query
   Al-Arafah Islami 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.
   
   Bangladesh Industrial Finance Co
   In response to a DSE query, the
   company has informed that there is no undisclosed price sensitive information of the company for recent unusual price hike.
   
   Prime Islami Life Insurance
   In response to a DSE query, the company has informed that there is no undisclosed price sensitive information of the company for recent unusual price hike.
   Source: DSE, CSE

‘Govt working on draft labour laws-2007’
The government is working on draft labour laws-2007 for welfare of employers and workers, and for ensuring good governance and human rights. Secretary of the labour and employment ministry Ashfaq Hamid said this on Thursday while speaking as the chief guest at a national seminar on ‘draft labour laws- 2006’ prepared by the Manusher Jannya Foundation at the BIAM auditorium in the city, a ministry press release said. The secretary said the draft labour laws have contained directives on welfare and wages of workers, appointment, health, and safety and security. He urged all concerned to come up with constructive suggestions and opinions for finalising the labour laws-2007. Ashfaq Hamid also stressed the need for maintaining friendly working atmosphere keeping good relations among the employers, the workers and the government to increase production in the mills and factories for making the economy dynamic and creating the job opportunities. Chaired by executive director of the foundation Shahin Anam, the function was addressed, among others, by Advocate Nirmalendu Dhar, adviser of the employers federation Kazi Saifuddin Ahmed, Dr Hamida Hossain and labour leader Dr Wajedul Islam.
— BSS

India wholesale inflation declines
India’s inflation rate fell to its lowest level in more than five years as food staples such as fruits, vegetables and sugar declined, official data showed Thursday. Wholesale price inflation declined to a new low of 2.97 per cent for the year ended October 27, compared to 3.02 per cent in the previous week, according to India’s most watched cost-of-living index. Annual inflation was 5.46 per cent a year ago but has gradually dropped from two-year highs of nearly seven per cent earlier this year. Interest rates are at four-year highs and the Reserve Bank of India, the central bank, held rates steady at 7.75 per cent at its monetary policy committee meeting last month citing excess money supply and rising energy costs. Inflation worries persist in India, like elsewhere in the region, as crude oil surges close to 100 dollars a barrel.
— AFP