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Increased procurements of cotton and equipment for local textiles and apparel units are pushing up Bangladesh’s imports from the USA, helping the world’s biggest economy reduce trade gap with the tiny trading partner, industry people said.
   Textile and garment factories are buying more captive electricity generators, sewing machines and other machinery from the USA in recent times than in the past, industry data showed.
    Volume of cotton import from USA still remains low compared to Bangladesh’s total import of cotton, but it is growing steadily, trade and industry insiders said.
   Bangladesh could grow as a significant market for US cotton suppliers if the American authorities offer some incentives to Bangladeshi spinners, they felt.
   A senior official at the office the Chief Controller of Imports and Exports informed New Age that in nine months by September, US exports to Bangladesh stood at $322 million.
   Bangladesh’s annual imports from the USA amounted to $333 million in 2006 and $319 million in 2005.
   Industry people observed that increasing exports of cotton and equipment to local textile industry were helping the USA to reduce trade gap with Bangladesh to some extent in the current year.
   ‘We have been observing significant increase in procurements by Bangladeshi textile and garment entrepreneurs from US suppliers,’ the official said.
   In 2006 Bangladesh textile industry’s procurements from US suppliers crossed $110 million which was more than one third of Bangladesh’s total imports from the USA.
   Bangladeshi spinners that year imported American raw cotton worth $39 million while imports of captive electricity generating sets totalled $38 million, textile and sewing machinery $24 million and fine fabrics $10 million.
   Procurement values for generators and textile machinery increased by around 50 per cent over the year, showed US data.
   ‘We are delighted to see that US suppliers are finding a bigger market in Bangladesh,’ said Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association president Anwar Ul Alam Chowdhury Parvez.
   Garment exporters earned $9.2 billion or 76 per cent of Bangladesh’s entire export proceeds in the last fiscal year ended in June, with USA alone accounting for $3 billion.
   Monowarul Hoque, managing director of Ashik Composite Textile Mills, said although Bangladesh was the world’s second largest cotton importer, the market share of US suppliers was so far too little here.
   Higher price, longer shipment periods and technical preferences for CIS and Indian cotton have kept cotton supply from the USA limited, he observed
    Hoque felt that the US government should guarantee American cotton suppliers for delayed payments (after-use payments) for cotton sold to Bangladeshi spinners. ‘Such government-to-government arrangement could protect local spinners from high charges on cotton import financing and lure them to procure US cotton.’
   The cotton industry expert referred to the governments-brokered barter trade arrangement between Australian cotton suppliers and Indonesian spinners.
    Echoing Hoque, Bangladesh Textile Mills Association president Abdul Hye Sarker suggested that to mitigate high price factor, the US cotton industry could collaborate with their potential clients in Bangladesh.
   American cotton traders can sell more to Bangladesh by supporting Bangladeshi exporters to market more products in USA, he suggested.
   ‘If US importers pay higher prices for Bangladeshi apparels made of US cotton and US cotton industry offers marketing supports to Bangladeshi exporters, Bangladesh holds the potentials to become a big market for American cotton,’ said Hye.
   He stressed that the US government should arrange preferential market access for Bangladeshi garments made with US cotton.

The Securities and Exchange Commission Monday directed merchant banks and brokers/dealers of the bourses to stop providing or disbursing any loan or credit facilities to their clients with effect from today.
   The stock market watchdog took the move after the general index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange hit all-time high at 3094 points on Monday after crossing 3000-point mark on Thursday for the first time in a continuous bull run of the stock market.
   ‘The measures will cool down the fast swelling stock market by curbing funds flow to it,’ said Mansur Alam, member of the SEC.
   He said excessive flow of funds pushed up share prices to heavily overvalued positions.
   Market is not following fundamentals of the securities, said Mansur, adding, ‘It requires check and balance measures.’
   He said under the directives merchant banks, including portfolio managers and stock dealers/brokers of the DSE and the Chittagong Stock Exchange, would have to stop providing or disbursing any further loan to their clients until further instructions.
   On Monday, the Chittagong Stock Exchange’s selective categories index gained 59.62 points or 1.20 per cent to close at 5037.
   Turnover at the DSE also increased to Tk 280.68 crore from the Sunday’s Tk 231.49 crore and the CSE turnover went up to Tk 42.61 crore from Tk 41.41 crore.
   Mansur Alam said the regulatory body would review its decisions in due course once the market got cool.
   Analysts said huge fund injection from the institutional channel resulted in the stock market surge.
   ‘Banks, with or without merchant bank wings, invested huge funds in the market as the financial institutions sit on huge liquidity amid narrowed investment outlets,’ said Mahmood Osman Imam, professor of finance at Dhaka University, on Sunday.
   Retail investors also remain upbeat due to a long rally in the market, he said, adding, ‘Too much money chases too few shares.’
   Earlier, on October 23, under amended rules the SEC fixed loan ratio at 1:1 for the merchant banks with a view to preventing merchant banks from excessive financing.
   The revised (Merchant Banker and Portfolio Manager) rules of 1996 also bar the merchant banks from giving loans to their boards’ members, employees and their relatives.

The sharp rise in value of rupee against the dollar has impacted handicraft and carpet exports, which declined by 12.90 per cent during April-October 2007, the Lok Sabha was informed Monday.
   During April-October 2007, handicraft and carpet exports stood at
   Rs 8,348 crores, compared to Rs 9,585 crores in the corresponding period of previous fiscal, minister of state for Textiles EVKS Elangovan said in a written reply.
   While the government is taking steps like development of value-added products through product development programmes, the Export Promotion Council for Handicraft has asked for enhancing duty drawback rates on handicraft exports, he said.
   India’s textile exports, hit hard by the appreciating rupee, declined by over 11 per cent in dollar terms during April-May 2007.
   India recorded a meagre
   0.6 per cent growth in exports of textiles to the US in 2007, while China’s exports grew by 23.7 per cent during the same period.
   The government has increased duty entitlement pass book and duty drawback rates, provided exemption from service tax on seven items for exports and reduced interest rates of pre and post shipment credit to help exporters tide over the crisis arising out of rupee rise, he said.

With the government mulling to resume exports of hilsa, local fish traders and consumers’ rights activists have demand minimum export price of the delicious fish.
   They argued that freestyle exports of hilsa would encourage exporters and deprive the local consumers who often buy hilsa at prices much higher than that in foreign markets.
   Sources at the commerce ministry told New Age that the government was thinking to allow again exports of hilsa as a ban on its export four months back had created anger among consumers and politicians in neighbouring India.
   The Export Promotion Bureau has called a meeting today with local suppliers and exporters to discuss resumption of hilsa exports.
   ‘The high-ups feel that imposition of the ban on Hilsas might have provoked the Indian authorities to discourage exports of essential commodities, including onion, rice and pulses, for which Bangladesh is major market for Indian suppliers,’ one official told New Age.
   With hilsa getting less available and expensive in the local markets and in the face of criticism from different quarters, the government in early July imposed a ban on exporting and hoarding hilsa.
   Market observers say due to imposition of the ban and increased production this year, hilsas are cheaper in the local market.
   Anwar Sikder, general secretary of the Dhaka Metropolitan Small Retailers of Fish and Perishables, said, ‘It makes us sad that we have to sell hilsas in Dhaka at exorbitant prices when they are cheaper in foreign markets, especially in Kolkata.’
   Anwar argued that he heard the Indian authorities imposed minimum export price on onion and other agro-commodity exports. Bangladesh government can follow it, he added.
   General secretary of the Consumers’ Association of Bangladesh Quazi Faruk, who also supports the proposed minimum export price, said, ‘It is the justified right of local consumers to get hilsa at cheaper prices.’

OPEC leaders ended their summit clearly divided on key issues, leaving open questions about the use of the waning dollar for oil trading and the cartel’s willingness to increase production.
   A final declaration from the newly enlarged 13-member oil exporters’ group on Sunday pledged reliable supplies, urged world peace to help stabilise prices and included a commitment to help fight global warming.
   Saudi moderation prevailed over a bid by OPEC’s anti-US bloc to make the group more political and there was no return to the ‘revolutionary’ days of the 1970s that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez spoke wistfully about in his opening address.
   ‘OPEC shouldn’t be used as a political organisation,’ Saudi foreign minister prince Saud al-Faisal said at a closing press conference. ‘Oil should be a tool for development and not a tool for conflicts.’
   In the run-up to the two-day summit, the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries — which supplies 40 percent of world oil — had been under pressure to increase supplies to help cool record prices of nearly 100 dollars a barrel.
   Although some ministers expressed concern that expensive crude would eventually dampen demand for oil, they said blame for the near triple-figure price lay outside the cartel and turned a deaf ear to the demands.
   Oil ministers will meet next month in Abu Dhabi to discuss the cartel’s output policy, with any breach of the 100-dollar level in between times likely to heap pressure on the group to act.
   OPEC last decided to raise output in September when they agreed to provide an extra 500,000 barrels a day to the market, effective November 1.
   During the summit, the falling dollar, which is used by oil exporters to price and sell their crude, was at the centre of a clash between Iran, backed by Venezuela and new leftist member Ecuador, and key US ally Saudi Arabia.
   ‘The dollar is falling, all heads of state were upset today because of the dollar. The value of their financial reserves has dropped,’ Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in an attack on the ‘worthless’ US unit.
   ‘All leaders taking part in the meeting were willing to convert the pricing of oil into a currency other than the dollar,’ he said.
   The slide in the dollar, which has lost 15 per cent of its value against the euro in the last 12 months, has hit the exporters, which rely heavily on ther oil and gas industries.
   As a final compromise, leaders agreed that oil and finance ministers from the group would look at pricing oil with a basket of currencies, which would reduce volatility of prices but would further weaken the US currency.
   ‘By changing the pricing structure, you are really talking about revolutionising the economies of these dollar-based economies,’ commented Yasser Elguindi, oil analyst at US-based financial services group SIG.
   Dependence on the US currency also has clear political significance for the anti-US bloc, as well as Ecuador, which wants to abandon the greenback.
   ‘The day will arrive not only in OPEC, but also in Latin America, when we will be liberated from the dollar,’ Chavez said on Sunday.
   OPEC leaders had met only twice together before, in 2000 in Caracas and 1975 in Algiers.
   On financial markets, the dollar fell 0.16 per cent to 1.4641 against the euro on Monday, while New York benchmark oil prices rose 73 cents to 94.57 dollars and London’s Brent contract added 72 cents to 92.34.
   ‘The US dollar was not helped by a discussion at the OPEC meeting over the weekend spurred by Iran and Venezuela about whether OPEC should stop pricing in USDs,’ said an analyst at investment bank Calyon, Mikul Kotecha.
   In the final moments of the summit, the Iranian nuclear standoff cast a pall over the message of dependability contained in the joint declaration from the oil exporters’ group.
   Ahmadinejad alluded to the possibility of Iran suspending its oil exports if the US ‘took action’ against the country.

Oil prices were higher in Asia on Monday as traders again fretted over tight energy supplies with the northern hemisphere winter approaching, dealers said.
   Indications that the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is
   not about to raise output were also propping up prices, they said.
   ‘If one looks at the fundamentals, the market is
   tight,’ said Victor Shum, a Singapore-based analyst with energy consultancy Purvin and Gertz.
   ‘That is why the crude futures are showing fresh signs of strength,’ he said.
   In afternoon trade New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for January delivery was 92 cents higher at 94.76 US dollars a barrel from 93.84 dollars in US trades Friday.
   The December contract expired Friday, closing 1.67 dollars higher at 95.10 dollars.
   Brent North Sea crude for January delivery climbed 83 cents to 92.45 dollars.
   OPEC heads of state met in Riyadh over the weekend for a rare summit but they indicated no plans to raise the cartel’s crude production, which provide about 40 per cent of world oil, despite pressure from the United States, the world’s biggest energy user.
   Shum said any output hike would have limited impact in any case given that the northern winter hemisphere is fast approaching.
   Heating fuel demand typically peaks during winter especially in the US northeast region.
   ‘Even if OPEC decided to raise the output targets, it is too late for peak winter demand. And so as we are heading into the northern hemisphere winter season, demand will likely pick up,’ said Shum.
   ‘We have tight supply-demand fundamentals and that will continue to support prices.

India and ASEAN hope to resolve differences over few issues which impede their much-awaited Free Trade Agreement, as Indian commerce minister flies in here tomorrow for day-long talks with his counterparts.
   Differences continue over tariffs and market share, especially for palm oil, pepper and black tea, officials said on conditions of anonymity.
   The minister will have tete-a-tete with his counterparts from Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and will also meet the ASEAN economic ministers.
   Malaysia, which holds the Chair for ASEAN’s Tariff Negotiating Committee, wants India to reduce duty for crude and refined palm oils to 30 per cent and 40 per cent respectively. India has made an offer to slash customs duty to 50 per cent on crude palm oil and 60 per cent on refined palm oil by 2018.
   Palm oil producers Malaysia and Indonesia also want increased market share for the commodities. Vietnam is also seeking duty cuts on pepper and black tea.
   ‘ASEAN-India FTA negotiations have reached a concluding phase with only a few issues to be resolved,’ Kamal Nath told Malaysian business magazine Technology Business Review.

Chinese premier Wen Jiabao pledged Monday to resolve trade imbalances after the country’s surplus hit a record high in October and work to let the yuan move more freely.
   ‘We stand for free trade and oppose protectionism,’ Wen said in an address at the National University of Singapore.
   ‘We will speed up changing the mode of trade growth, improve the trade mix and strive to reduce trade imbalances.’
   Wen’s comments came after China’s trade surplus hit a monthly record of 27 billion dollars in October, prompting its global trade partners to urge Beijing to allow the yuan to appreciate.
   A stronger yuan would make Chinese exports more expensive overseas.
   China’s accumulated surplus for the first 10 months rose to 212.4 billion dollars, a leap of 59 per cent over the same period in 2006, already shattering last year’s record 177.5 billion dollars.
   ‘We will continue to follow an independent, gradual and controllable approach in improving the RMB exchange rate mechanism, increase its flexibility and gradually make the yuan convertible under the capital account,’ Wen said.
   Currently, the yuan is allowed during each trading session to move within a 0.5 per cent band on either side of a reference rate against the US dollar set by the central bank early in the day.
   The central bank widened the band in May from 0.3 per cent, a move seen at the time as an incremental step towards broader exchange rate reform.

Thailand’s Siam Cement Group is planning to develop a petrochemical complex worth 3.7 billion dollars in southern Vietnam, state media reported Monday.
   The leading Thai group will cooperate with local partners, including PetroVietnam and VinaChem, to develop the project, the Saigon Times quoted the group’s president Kan Trakulhoon as saying.
   The company believed ‘Vietnam will play a central role in SCG’s expansion strategy in the region,’ he reportedly said after he discussed the plan in a meeting with prime minister Nguyen Tan Dung.
   The Long Son complex, to be developed in southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau province, is scheduled to be fully operational by 2013, it said.
   Vietnam News Agency said the complex is one of three large oil refinery projects in Vietnam that need huge investment capital. The two others are the Dung Quat oil refinery under construction in central Quang Ngai province and Nghi Son in central Thanh Hoa province.
   In September, Singapore-based SP Chemicals Company received an agreement in principle from Vietnam to invest in a five billion dollar petrochemicals project in central Phu Yen province.

The state-run Bangkok Mass Transit Authority announced Monday that one-third of its staff, or 6,000 people, would be laid off under a restructuring plan aimed at cutting huge losses.
   The largest ever job cut at the BMA, which employs about 18,000 people to run public buses in Bangkok and the suburbs, comes after the authority posted losses of six billion baht ($177m) last year, its director said. ‘Our losses have increased every year, while services have yet to improve,’ BMA director Pinetr Puapatanakul told AFP. ‘As fuel prices are going up, we won’t be able to survive if we don’t do anything to cut costs.’
   The organisation planned to cut staff and instead bring in an electronic ticketing system under a plan recommended by the finance ministry, Pinetr said.

Indian jewellery makers Gitanjali Gems Monday said it has acquired US-based Rogers Ltd for an unclosed amount.
   Gitanjali Gems has acquired a 100 per cent stake in the specialty retailer that operates 46 stores in the US and has current revenue of 80 million dollars.
   ‘Gitanjali would not only have access to a large US consumer base, but leveraging Rogers’ existing retail infrastructure would give Gitanjali a better control over the entire value chain in the jewellery business,’ the company informed the Bombay Stock Exchange. The acquisition would also boost the company’s plans to expand its retail presence in the country and overseas.
   Rogers operates under brand names ‘Rogers Jewelers’ and ‘Andrews Jewelers’.

An interest rate cut and an improved economic outlook has resulted in a sharp surge in foreign investment heading mainly into the local stock market, central bank governor Amando Tetangco said Monday.
   The bank said in a statement the net inflow of foreign investment in Philippine stocks, bonds and other financial instruments in October amounted to 274.14 million dollars, up from 35.78 million in September.
   ‘The generally upbeat outlook on the domestic economy sustained the positive investor sentiment,’ the bank said.
   Tetangco credited the 25 basis point cut in domestic interest rates on October 4 and the upward adjustment in the International Monetary Fund’s 2007 growth forecast for the Philippine economy to 6.3 per cent from 5.8 per cent.
   Investors were also encouraged by some positive signs about the health of the US economy that emerged last month, and reports of strong third-quarter earnings of Philippine companies, he added.

No revised text on agriculture is expected to be presented to World Trade Organisation members until February as delegates continue to thrash out contentious points on subsidies, diplomatic sources said on Monday.
   The WTO’s chief agriculture negotiator, Crawford Falconer has called on the United States to reduce its agricultural subsidies to between 13-16.4 billion dollars — a range on which Washington says it is prepared to negotiate.
   But the draft text has been criticised as unfair by several developing countries, and Falconer has been forced to delay to an unspecified date a fresh revision of the text due to the lack of consensus.
   However, ‘this time, it’s not a question of delay because things are blocked, but rather because talks are proceeding and the delegates need more time,’ a diplomatic source told AFP.
   Falconer issued his initial text in July, alongside a parallel set of proposals on industrial goods issued by his counterpart chair Don Stephenson.
   Talks on both texts have been mired in an impasse ever since as developed and developing countries accuse each other of intransigence.
   But recent talks on agriculture have shown some convergence on the issue of export subsidies, leading to a fresh two-week session of negotiations in Geneva from November 26, sources said.
   These further talks, coupled with the end-of-year holidays and a possible ministerial meeting during the World Economic Forum at Davos in January, means a revised text is not likely to appear until February at the earliest, the source said.
   WTO Director General Pascal Lamy has repeatedly said he sees a deal as ‘doable,’ but many observers see minimal chances for progress in 2008 given the US presidential elections later that year.

The heads of the two biggest German banks, Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank, warned peers Monday that the US sub-prime crisis was far from over.
   Announcements by major US banks of fresh losses from the debacle and the fact that other financial institutions have not yet said how much the crisis would cost them ‘has raised tension by a significant amount’ on financial markets, Deutsche Bank chairman Josef Ackermann said.
   It would be nice, he added, if the international banking turmoil that rocked markets in August could be considered as over, ‘but that is not the case,’ the banker said. The subject ‘is going to concern us very intensively in the coming weeks,’ he stressed in an address to a banking conference in Frankfurt.
   Ackermann’s counterpart at Commerzbank, Klaus-Peter Mueller, concurred.
   ‘We will unfortunately not see clearly ... until the presentation of annual results next spring’ in the northern hemisphere, Mueller forecast.
   ‘From the second quarter on, we can focus on opportunities in international economies instead of primarily on crisis management,’ he told reporters on the conference sidelines.
   Major US banks such as Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan have said recently that they might have to report more write-downs in the fourth quarter, after some already posted massive losses from the sub-prime meltdown in the third quarter.

The strong euro is helping to cushion the single currency area from the negative economic effects of the current surge in oil prices, Austrian central bank chief and ECB governing council member Klaus Liebscher said on Monday.
   ‘The strong euro has substantially cushioned us against the ongoing oil price shock,’ Liebscher told a two-day conference on European economic integration here.
   Liebscher, who as head of the Austrian central bank sits on the policy-setting governing council of the European Central Bank, insisted that the ECB does not have an exchange rate target.
   The bank’s primary mandate was to safeguard price stability in the medium term, the central banker insisted in response to repeated calls from politicians and business leaders that the ECB cut its key interest rates in order to curb the euro’s flight against the dollar.
   Nevertheless ‘very abrupt changes’ in exchange rates were undesirable since they could become a risk to price stability and to the economy, Liebscher continued.
   ‘To that extent, exchange rate developments are taken into account in the governing council’s analyses and decisions,’ he said. The Austrian central bank chief said that exchange rates could not be put down to single individual factors.
   Also, it was equally difficult to determine what economic effects a rise in a currency’s external value can have, since a loss in competitiveness on the export front could be made up for by cheaper imports, Liebscher argued.
   An adjustment process was currently underway on the foreign exchange markets to correct global imbalances such as the huge current account deficit of the United States and the corresponding surpluses of Asian and oil-exporting countries. And the euro was bearing the brunt of that adjustment, Liebscher said.
   Nevertheless, it was the responsibility of all economic regions to ensure that their external and internal equilibrium was maintained on a lasting basis.
   Liebscher said that the competitiveness of the 13-nation euro area had improved as was reflected in the very robust economic growth in the region and the decline in unemployment.
   That was attributable to the stability-orientated policies of monetary union and structural reforms, Liebscher said.
   At the same time, the central bank chief called on goverments to implement even further reforms to further enhance the single currency area’s competitiveness and to be more ambitious in their efforts to achieve balanced budgets or budget surpluses.

Steel giant Arcelor-Mittal said Monday it would increase prices for flat steel products in North America and Europe next year as a result of raw material and energy cost increases.
   ‘Arcelor-Mittal announces price increases for flat steel products in NAFTA (grouping United States, Canada and Mexico) and European markets as a direct consequence of raw material and energy cost increases in 2008,’ it said in a statement. In the US, the steel group said in a statement it would raise prices by 40 dollars a tonne for strip mill products as of January 1.
   That comes on top of an average 20 dollars per tonne already introduced in the fourth quarter of this year. Arcelor-Mittal also said that current US prices ‘are below prevailing global market levels,’ adding that ‘low inventories, falling steel imports and relatively robust demand for high quality steels should underpin a realignment of US prices toward global market levels.’
   In the European Union, the company said it would apply price increases from the second quarter of 2008, reflecting raw material cost increases. In terms of demand, Arcelor-Mittal said it expected global growth in steel of around six per cent in 2008. That would be supported by economic expansion in emerging countries, ‘slower but positive growth’ in Europe, and an acceleration in demand in North America.
   In Europe, expected economic slowdown would affect activity ‘after two years of exceptional demand’, but growth would nevertheless remain positive, it said.
   It said it expected to benefit from an adjustment in inventories as imports declined due to strong domestic demand in China and rising freight costs.
   ‘The present slowdown of imports will help to readjust inventories to adequate levels and create strong demand after the winter season,’ it said. On the Paris stock exchange shares in the steel group in morning trade rose after the announcement taking on 1.35 per cent to 48.69 euros, on a Paris market which was 0.26 per cent higher.

China’s three leading banks have approached Temasek, Singapore’s state investment agency, over the acquisition of its stake in Standard Chartered, the emerging-markets lender, the Financial Times said Monday.
   Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Bank of China and China Construction Bank had in recent months made ‘informal and discreet’ contact with senior Temasek personnel about a possible deal for the group’s 17 per cent stake in Standard Chartered, the Britain-based emerging-markets bank.
   Temasek is understood to have rebuffed the advances because it considers its stake in Standard Chartered to be of financial and strategic importance, according to people familiar with the matter, the FT said.
   But Wang Zhenning, a Beijing-based spokesman for ICBC, denied the Chinese bank had approached Temasek regarding possible investment in Standard.
   ‘ICBC hasn’t had any contact with Temasek concerning this issue,’ he said. Bank of China and China Construction Bank could not immediately be reached, while Standard Chartered also declined to confirm the story.
   Standard Chartered is attractive to the Chinese banks because of its profitable and expanding operations in Africa, the Middle East and Asia, added the business daily.

A pledge by China’s regulators to let fixed-line phone operators enter the faster-growing mobile market could lead to much greater competition in the telecom industry, analysts said Monday.
   Vice minister of Information Industry Xi Guohua used a forum in Beijing over the weekend to announce plans by the government to grant licences to fixed-line telecom operators soon, the Xinhua news agency reported.
   ‘The rapid development of mobile telecom services had lured away subscribers of fixed-line services,’ Xinhua said, citing Xi. His ministry confirmed the remarks to AFP Monday.
   Fixed-line operators welcomed the news, but said they needed to know more before popping the champagne.
   ‘We’re still looking for a timetable,’ said Qin Shaojuan, a spokesman for China Netcom, one of the two large fixed-line operators in China. ‘But if they really are going to give a licence, that’s extremely good news for us.’
   The vice minister’s remark followed months of speculation that the government was considering ways to restructure an uneven telecom market, where mobile is as hot and vibrant as fixed-line is stagnant.
   ‘Xi’s statement appears to be an acknowledgement that the situation of fixed-line carriers is continually deteriorating relative to that of mobile operators,’ said Kelvin Ho, an analyst at Nomura International. Kang Zhiyi, a Beijing-based analyst with TX Consulting, said fixed-line operators were facing ‘immense pressure.’
   ‘Whether you look at revenue or profit growth, the difference with the mobile segment is large,’ he said.
   China Telecom Corp, the nation’s top fixed-line operator, said late last month its net profit for the first nine months was little changed from a year earlier amid continued competition from cell phone providers.
   By contrast, China Mobile Ltd, Asia’s biggest mobile phone company, said its net profit for the same period grew nearly 30 per cent, buoyed by strong subscriber growth and a wider rural reach.

Japan’s Olympus Corp, hoping to expand in medical equipment, said Monday it will spend some two billion dollars to buy Britain’s Gyrus Group Plc, a specialist in non-invasive treatments.
   Olympus, best known for cameras, launched a restructuring drive in 2005 in which it increasingly looked to make profit through high-end digital cameras and medical equipment such as endoscopes.
   Olympus said it would launch a friendly takeover for Gyrus at 630 pence a share. The total deal would be worth 211.7 billion yen or 935 million pounds by the time it is completed in early 2008, an Olympus statement said.
   Gyrus, which is based in the English city of Reading and is especially active in the US market, specialises in so-called ‘minimally invasive medical treatment,’ which can reduce pain for patients during surgery. Olympus said it saw growth in the field.
   ‘Through the acquisition, our company will expand its product line-up in the ever-growing area of minimally invasive medial treatment and contribute to the development of minimally invasive medical treatment in surgery.’
   ‘Our company can expand its worldwide sales network and we particularly expect business expansion in the areas of urology and gynecology in the United States,’ it said.

Tsutomu Kikuchi, newly appointed chairman of the NYK Group South Asia Pte Ltd, and Keiji Ushiyama, managing director of the NYK Line (Asia) Pte, from NYK Asia RHQ based in Singapore arrived in the city on Sunday evening on a two day visit.
   In this connection, Rashed Ahmad Ali, chief executive officer of the NYK Line (Bangladesh) Ltd, a subsidiary of NYK Line, Tokyo organised a dinner party Monday evening at the Radisson Water Garden Hotel in the city to welcome T Kikuchi and K Ushiyama along with other visiting delegates from NYK Tokyo, said a press release.
   Masayuki Inoue, Japanese ambassador to Bangladesh, a large number of local business dignitaries and chamber leaders, including Japan Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry, also attended the programme.

Mobile phone operator Citycell recently signed a corporate agreement with the Mishmak Developments Limited.
   Under the agreement, Mishmak Developments will enjoy CDMA2000 1X based high-speed wireless internet service ZOOM that offers faster data speed than any other nationwide mobile internet service. Mishmak Developments will also enjoy Citycell’s special corporate rates and exclusive value added services.
   Tulu Ush Shams, assistant general manager, operation of Mishmak Developments, and Mohammad Fahim, deputy general manager, sales of Citycell, signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organizations, said a press release.
   Other high officials from both the organisations were also present at the signing ceremony.

The dollar was weak in Asian trade Monday in the wake of soft US economic news as investors wondered about the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy action next month, dealers said.
   Trade moved in tight ranges as investors squared positions in shortened trade this week ahead of holidays both in Japan and the United States.
   The euro firmed to 1.4665 dollars in Tokyo afternoon trade from 1.4659 in New York last week, edging up towards its record high of 1.4752 dollars reached earlier this month.
   The dollar slid to 110.59 yen from 111.07, while the single European currency slipped to 162.15 yen from 162.87.
   The dollar, which has weakened considerably against the euro and most other currencies this year except the yen, came under pressure after negative economic reports late last week raised concerns about US growth.
   US industrial output fell 0.5 per cent in October, marking the biggest decline in production since January.
   A separate report also revealed a lower-than-expected flow of international capital into the United States during September.
   The US capital flow balance rebounded in September to a surplus of 26.4 billion dollars, compared with a deficit of over 70 billion dollars in the prior month, but September’s reading fell short of market hopes which had anticipated inward flows of around 70 billion dollars.
   Market participants have been crossing their fingers for the US central bank to trim rates once again at its December 11 meeting due to worries US growth will be skidding to a halt.
   The Federal Reserve has cut rates twice since September to its current 4.5 per cent to respond to distressed financial markets that were hit by fallout from the US ‘sub-prime’ housing market of loans to high-risk customers.
   However comments from two Fed officials, William Poole and Randall Kroszner, on Friday lowered market expectations of a December cut, dealers said.

Trade
   Azadi Printers
   There will be no price limit on the trading of the shares of the company today following its corporate declaration. The board of directors has recommended 10 per cent cash dividend for the year 2006-2007. Date of AGM: December 25.
   
   MIDAS Financing
   Normal trading of the shares of the company will resume on 20.11.07 after Record date.
   
   Summit Power
   Trading of the shares of the company will remain suspended from today to November 22, following record date for proper settlement of previous trading.
   
   BDCOM Online
   Trading of the shares of the company will remain suspended from today to November 22 following record date for proper settlement of previous trading.
   
   Dulamia Cotton
   Trading of the shares of the company will also be allowed in spot market with cum benefit today and tomorrow as book closure will start on November 25.
   
   Imam Button
   Trading of the shares of the company will also be allowed in spot market with cum benefit today and tomorrow as book closure will start on November 25.
   
   EXIM Bank
   Mohammed Shahidullah, one of the directors of the bank, has reported his intention to sell 59,505 shares out of his total holdings of 4,42,622 shares while Nasreen Islam one of the sponsors of the bank has reported her intention to buy 59,505 shares (in the Block Market) of the bank at prevailing market price through stock exchange within next 30 working days.
   
   Eastern Housing
   Trading of the shares of the company will be allowed only in the spot market and block/odd lot transactions will also be settled as per spot settlement cycle with cum benefit today and tomorrow. Trading of the shares of the company will remain suspended on record date i.e., November 25.
   
   Atlas Bangladesh
   Trading of the shares of the company will be allowed only in the spot market and block/odd lot transactions will also be settled as per spot settlement cycle with cum benefit today and tomorrow. Trading of the shares of the company will remain suspended on record date i.e., November 25.
   
   NCC Bank
   Md Rashed Pasha, one of the sponsors of the bank, has reported his intention to sell 3,350 shares out of his total holdings of 15,473 shares while Sayeda Nazmun Nahar, another sponsor of the bank, has reported her intention to buy 3,350 shares (in the block market) of the bank at prevailing market price through stock exchange within next 30 working days.
   
   UCB
   JK Fabrics Ltd, one of the corporate sponsors/directors of the bank, has reported its intention to sell 1,902 shares out of its total holdings of 54,116 shares of the bank at prevailing market price through stock exchange within next 30 working days.
   
   Dividend
   Dhaka Fish
   The board of directors did not recommend any dividend for the year 2006-2007. Date of AGM: December 13. There will be no price limit on the trading of the shares of the company today, following its corporate declaration.
   
   AGM
   Aftab Automobiles
   The company has further informed that the 27th AGM of the company will be held on December 17.
   
   Rahima Food
   The company has informed that the 17th AGM of the company will be held on December 27.
   Source: DSE, CSE

Reverse Repo
auction held
The Reverse Repo auction for the commercial banks and financial institutions was held at the Bangladesh Bank on Monday. Two bids of 1-day tenor amounting to total of Tk 21 crores, three bids of 2-day tenor amounting to total of Tk 278 crores and three bids of 7-day tenor amounting to total of Tk 295 crores, in grand total 8 bids amounting to Tk 594 crores, were received and all the bids were accepted. The rate of interest against the accepted bids was 6.50 per cent per annum.
— New Age

BTTB revenue
income rises
The revenue income of Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board has increased significantly in last 12 months. In the first two months of the current fiscal year, the board earned Tk 476.26 crore, which is Tk 143.56 crore higher than the same period of the previous year. An official handout on Monday said the revenue income of BTTB increased to nearly Tk 1,524 crore in 10 months from January-October 2007 due to the government drive against illegal Voice over Internet Protocol as well as various steps taken to collect the arrears. Of the Tk 1,667 crore realised in last fiscal year, about Tk 1,048 crore revenue was collected in six months from January-June
2007.
— UNB

Sugarcane growers cultivate rabi crops
The sugarcane growers in Rajshahi are cultivating rabi crops this season giving up their traditional sugarcane farming to overcome the losses they incurred in last season. Sources said the marginal growers have started cultivating rabi crops at their fields instead of sugarcane as they incurred a huge loss due to pest attack on the produces and low price. They said the price of sugarcane has come down at the local market due to sudden fall in the price of
sugar.
— UNB