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The energy and mineral resources division on Thursday announced a gas sector development programme for the next five years focused on engaging state-run Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company more in gas field development.
   ‘There have been allegations that Bapex has not been given enough work and international oil companies have been given preference. We want to assure people that Bapex will be engaged more in gas exploration and production,’ said the energy adviser, Tapan Chowdhury, at a briefing at the energy division.
   The energy secretary, AMM Nasir Uddin, said the government had assured them it would provide sufficient funds to Bapex for the development of a number of gas fields.
   He highlighted immediate, and short-, mid- and long-term development programmes to be carried out in five years, announcing that the government was ready to address the issue of gas shortage after 2011.
   As an immediate measure, Nasir said, they would take steps to increase gas supply to the Chittagong region by pigging in the Bakhrabad-Chittagong transmission line, Chittagong ring main line and other lines by June 2008. The troublesome Sangu gas field, operated by the Cairn Energy, will increase production by 10mmcfd.
   ‘At present we have sufficient gas reserves to meet the present demand, but because of problem in infrastructure, the Chittagong region is facing gas shortage. We are trying to solve the problem,’ he said.
   Nasir said Bapex would be engaged to develop Semutang, Begumganj, Shahbajpur, Kapasia, Srikail, Sundalpur and Salda Nadi gas fields under short- and mid-term development programmes.
   He said Bapex would start production from the Semutang gas field in Khagrachhari by June 2009 with an initial capacity of 30 million cubic feet a day. The cost of the project will be Tk 65 crore.
   Bapex and two other Petrobangla subsidiaries — Bangladesh Gas Fields Company Limited and Sylhet Gas Fields Limited — will jointly develop the Begumganj gas fields on their own fund of around Tk 205 crore. The field is expected to produce 20mmcfd of gas.
   The state-run company will drill exploration wells at the Kapasia structure in Gazipur under a Tk 58 crore project, Sundalpur structure in Noakhali under a Tk 67 crore project and the Srikail structure.
   The company will drill two more production wells at Saldandi. The drilling of second production well at Shahbajpur gas field will be completed later this year.
   Besides, Bapex will buy a rig, conduct 3D seismic survey at six gas fields of the BGFCL and Sylhet Gas Field Company, 2D seismic survey at Mobarakpur in Pabna and Netrokona and conduct work-over programmes in other gas fields.
   Nasir said they would employ foreign contractors to conduct work-over programmes at two gas well of Bakhrabad and a well at the Meghna gas fields as a short-term measure. Production from the fields will be increased by 40mmcfd by June 2008.
   He said Niko Resources would be given permission to drill two production wells at the Feni gas field by 2008 to increase production from the field by June 2008.
   The Cairn Energy will drill an exploration well at the highly prospective Magnama structure in the Bay of Bengal in October and at the Hatiya structure later. If gas is found in Magnama, production will be start from the field by 2008, he said.
   The secretary said French Total would start seismic surveys at offshore Block 17 and 18 by late 2007 and it would drill exploration wells later. He expected a result from the field by 2010.
   Nasir said they had hoped to hold the third round of bidding for offshore blocks later this year and gas production from the offshore areas was expected by 2015.
   He, however, said the Power Division advised not to take new gas-based power plant projects after 2012 and recommended coal-fired plants.
   Nasir said they would be able to supply gas to the proposed power plants of the Power Development Board, selected by a technical committee of the board and Petrobangla.
   Tapan said there had been lack of coordination between the power board and Petrobangla and the coordination had been established in recent times.
   Replying to a query, Tapan said they had no plan to increase prices of gas, fuel oil and power now, but prices would need to be increased some time in future.

Petrobangla, Barapukuria Coal Mining Company Limited and a Chinese Consortium led by CMC have signed a side letter agreement on completion of development work of Barapukuria coal mine.
   The side letter agreement was signed on Wednesday so that the consortium finishes incomplete development work of the mine as per the original development agreement signed in 1994, Petrobangla officials said.
   When the consortium will finish the development work, BCMCL, a subsidiary of Petrobangla, will issue takeover certificate to the consortium.
   The consortium was also given a six-year service contract for producing coal from the field in 2005. But it failed to produce coal as per the contract.
   A Petrobangla release said the visiting president of CMC, Tang, assured the government that the consortium would take ‘all out efforts’ to recover the closed section (1100) of the coal mine which was shut for the second time because of emission of carbon monoxide.
   The CMC will purchase a new set of equipment to produce coal as equipment worth millions has remained abandoned at the closed compartment. Petrobangla requested CMC not to charge BCMCL for the equipment.

Stocks gained slightly on Thursday following volatility in the prices of most of the blue chips in early trade.
   Selling pressure by some institutional investors pulled the main index, DGEN, about 1.0 per cent down before midday trade. It recuperated in the second half.
   Stocks with small market capitalisation continued rallying. A dividend announcement by Grameen 1 mutual fund drove mutual funds to finish higher.
   Cement stocks also regained pace but power, bank, pharmaceutical and IT shares ended mixed.
   ‘There was volatility in early trade. But it was not abnormal as some institutional investors bagged profits from the previous day’s gains,’ said Arif Khan, an analyst at IDLC Finance.
   The DGEN or general index finished at 2549.75, up 2.59 points or 0.10 per cent. The DSI or all-share price index added 3.26 points or 0.15 per cent to 2119.64. The DSE-20 blue chip index rose 2.32 points or 0.11 per cent to 2037.97.
   Turnover, however, dropped to Tk 1.57 billion from Tk 1.60 billion although the total number of traded shares was higher at 92,07,159.
   Some 96 issues gained, 80 lost and 17 held stable.
   The Chittagong Stock Exchange also closed almost flat with a downturn in turnover.
   Yawer Sayeed, chief executive of an asset management company, AIMS of Bangladesh, observed that the market absorbed corrections. ‘It is settled after absorbing corrections,’ he said. The bourse recorded Tk 175.0 million in turnover from the transaction of 12,72147 shares. Gainers beat losers 64 to 35. Seven scrips ended steady.
   BRAC Bank, the most active share, was 0.05 per cent up at Tk 1295.75. The bank bagged Tk 21.7 against a share in the six months up to June 2007.
   Power Grid Company of Bangladesh gained 0.87 per cent to Tk 633.75 despite reporting Tk 17.46 in earnings per share in 2006.
   DESCO that recorded gains in the last couple of days dipped 0.64 per cent to Tk 1192.
   UCBL added 1.10 per cent to Tk 4203.25 due to buying pressure.
   Gramee1 mutual fund rose 4.38 per cent to Tk 52.40 after its trustee announced 29 percent cash dividend for the year 2006-07.
   Market bigwigs Prime Bank, Dhaka Bank and AB Bank grew, but National Bank and Square Pharma slipped.
   Aramit Cement, Bengal Fine Ceramic and Niloy Cement led the gainers. 6th ICB mutual fund, Monno Ceramic and Rahima Food were the main losers.

The government is likely to appoint an international audit firm to scrutinise the price quoting of the Pre-Shipment Inspection companies over the next two months, against the backdrop of suspected import-inspection scam.
   Board sources said that three international audit firms submitted their tender as the NBR has floated tender in this regard.
   ‘The committee to verify the tender papers will open the tender file and hope that all processes will be complete in the next two months,’ a high official of the NBR said.
   But he mentioned that the government might cancel the tender, as the number of submitted tender papers is three. As per rule, the government can cancel the tender if the submitted tender papers are below four.
   ‘It is not mandatory to have four tender papers. If the committee members are satisfied with their three tender papers, they can appoint one audit firm from these three,’ he said.
   The government’s revenue authority has tried to appoint an audit firm to ensure checks and balances in the function of the PSI companies for a couple of years now. ‘But due to some legal complications and tight procurement system of the government we failed to appoint the audit firm,’ he said.
   About the payments for the audit firm, he said that as the firm is international so their remuneration will be obviously high.
   ‘NBR will bear the cost. We are taking one percent of the total import duties from the importers as PSI charge. From that charge we will cover the audit cost,’ he said.
   The government has taken the move considering the importers’ complaints about harassment and delays in getting their consignments after import valuation by the PSI companies.
   Recently, the NBR served show-cause to pre-shipment inspection company Cotecna Inspection SA for their alleged irregularities in import inspections, especially regarding luxury cars.
   Official sources said the NBR has served the notice seeking explanation of its alleged under-invoicing in the import of luxury cars and why their license should not be cancelled.
   The government’s revenue authority asked the company to submit their reply in 7 days.
   The NBR found irregularities of the company relating to the import of luxury vehicles, including the much-talked-about Hammer cars being seized from high-profile corruption suspects.
   In the recent investigations, the board has found duty evasion worth Tk 2.3 million on car imports.
   The board has found wrong price certification in clean report of findings. The PSI company has quoted 18,500 dollar instead of 35,215 dollar as original price of the Hammer 3.

Local Enterprise Investment Center in collaboration with Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services is arranging and funding a mission to the Scandinavian countries of Norway and Sweden for 10 Bangladeshi ICT companies in last week of October.
   The 10 participating companies are Bangladesh Internet Press Limited, BDCOM Online Limited, Business Automation Limited, Compulink International Limited, CSL Software Resources Limited, Datasoft Systems Bangladesh Limited, eGeneration Limited, Genesis Systems Limited, Spectrum Engineering Consortium Limited, and Tradexcel Graphics Limited.
   The LEIC is a private sector development project, managed by IDLC Finance Ltd, and contributed by the Canadian International Development Agency.
   The mission’s objective is to meet potential Scandinavian companies to explore long-term business to business alliances in the forms of joint venture or offshore outsourcing contracts or technical collaboration etc. This would allow the Bangladeshi companies to grow with better access to technical know-how, capital and market
   The LEIC and the participating companies signed agreements in this regard recently at a city hotel at a function followed by a workshop, said press release.
   Barbara Richardson, Canadian high commissioner in Dhaka, attended the function as chief guest. Abu Reza Khan, executive member of BoI, Anis A Khan, CEO and MD of IDLC Finance Ltd, Rafiqul Islam, acting president of BASIS, Israt Ara Younus, centre director of LEIC and other officials of the respective organisations were present at the event.
   lb Albertsen, B2B coordinator of Royal Danish embassy was the guest speaker and Rune B Westerman, CEO of SoftwarePeople, was the key note paper presenter at the event

East Invest Private Equity Limited, a British company, wants to invest one billion dollars in Bangladesh’s financial, IT, energy and transport sectors in three years.
   ‘We will participate in the pre-qualification bid of Oriental Bank on September 23 to buy the bank,’ said the company’s director, Bangladesh Operation, MM Roni at a press briefing at Dhaka Sheraton Hotel on Thursday.
   If the efforts of buying Oriental Bank are successful, this will be the East Invest’s first venture of investing in Bangladesh, Roni said and added then the other plans will be executed in phases.
   The British company, after buying the Oriental Bank, will establish a separate subsidiary from it for running a full-fledged micro-credit institution. At the outset it will introduce `micro-credit card’ for five lakh poor people, said Roni.
   The East Invest executive said it is a credit card for small amount of money, but other innovative ideas would be injected into the project when it goes into operation.
   In addition to those, he said, ‘Distribution of two million personal computers in the rural areas free of cost with the cooperation of Bill Gates also is in our cards.’
   The cost of IT connections will also be done with free of cost, he said.
   The cost of those noble causes will be spent from the corporate profit of the East Invest. The London-based company is eager to invest about 40 percent of its profit on noble causes, he said.
   In reply to a question, Roni said they have informed the Board of Investment about their intention and all the bindings will be followed accordingly when the process of acquiring Oriental Bank is finalised, he added.
   About his company, Roni said, ‘It is one of the leading equity companies in Britain which was founded 15 years ago’ and Steeve Gabison is its chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

Easy access to information and e-business is the key to the development of women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh.
   In order to ensure an easy access of women SMEs to the information technology as well as business network, the relevant infrastructure facilities is necessary.
   These were observed by the speakers at a launching ceremony of SME Helpline Outreach Centre jointly organised by Bangladesh Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the SME cell under the ministries of industries in the conference room of BWCCI in the capital on Thursday.
   Mohammad Ayub Miah, the additional secretary of industries ministry and managing director of SME Foundation, inaugurated the centre on the premises of BWCCI at Gulshan.
   BWCCI’s president Selima Ahmed chaired the launching ceremony while the representatives from different stakeholders like public officials, women entrepreneurs. journalists, business leaders attended this meeting.
   The new SME Helpline Center at BWCCI is among the 32 centres being established in Bangladesh to facilitate SMEs with required information.
   The Helpline Centre consists of a personal computer, printer, fax modem, a photocopier and internet facilities.
   It will also focus on capacity building, training and business information for women entrepreneurs.
   The strategic support and the information provided to the women entrepreneurs will be contained via the web portal on the Helpline.

Electro Mart Ltd, marketers of electronic appliances, launched new range of KONKA mobile phone sets for local market recently.
   The new mobile phone set models resemble hi-res colour LCD display, CMOS camera, MP3/MP4 player, FM radio, GPRS, T-flash memory card expansion, blue tooth, TV-in/TV-out, JAVA and lot more of the latest tech features.
   Specially, the 0266 products have the unique TV-in/TV-out feature which enables the user to watch TV on the mobile phone screen, said a press release.
   The newly launched seven KONKA models — C636FM, C676FM, D169, 0266, 0316, 0365 and ECOO1FM — are available at any showroom of Electro Mart and its authorised dealers’ shops across the country.

The European Central Bank warned Thursday that inflation still threatened the eurozone but said it wanted more data on financial market uncertainty before deciding whether to raise interest rates.
   ‘The medium-term outlook for price stability remains subject to upside risks,’ the ECB said in its monthly bulletin, repeating comments made last week by president Jean-Claude Trichet when its key interest rate was left unchanged at 4.0 per cent.
   But ‘given a high level of uncertainty’ in the wake of the US home loan crisis, ‘it is appropriate to gather additional information and to examine new data before drawing further conclusions for monetary policy,’ it added.
   After the report was released, the euro hit a record high of 1.3927 to the dollar, which could help stem inflation but also curb eurozone economic growth.
   The ECB had originally been expected to raise its main lending rate on June 6, but held off amid warnings that increasing the cost of borrowing in the eurozone would fuel tension within the global banking system.
   But the bank stressed Thursday that economic fundamentals were strong in the 13-nation zone and that as a result, ‘the ECB’s monetary policy stance is still on the accommodative side,’ which means it believed inflation could strengthen as well.
   Additional indirect taxes, higher oil and agricultural prices and wage increases were among the factors that could push inflation higher, the bank said.
   The bank’s Governing Council would act ‘in a firm and timely manner’ to keep inflation in check and ‘pay great attention to developments over the period to come,’ the bulletin said.
   It repeated the ECB growth forecast of 2.5 per cent this year, compared with a previous forecast of 2.6 per cent, and 2.3 per cent next year, unchanged from its previous outlook.
   But market volatility has not subsided subtantially and the US Federal Reserve was expected to lower its key interest rate to boost an economy hit by defaults on the high-risk market for mortgages, also known as the subprime market.
   That speculation pushed the euro up to a new record high against the dollar on Thursday, potentially limiting eurozone growth prospects.
   Many analysts now expect the ECB to refrain from raising its rates further until early 2008 at least.

The World Bank plans to review its anti-corruption unit, whose practices were seen as discretionary and lacking transparency under the tumultuous presidency of Paul Wolfowitz.
   An independent panel found in a report released Thursday that ‘severe strains’ between the Department of Institutional Integrity and other bank departments at times hurt the lender’s relations with borrowing countries.
   The bank’s new president, Robert Zoellick, welcomed the report from the panel of six experts led by former US Federal Reserve chief Paul Volcker. ‘There are a number of things that need to get fixed,’ Zoellick acknowledged.
   ‘We want to examine all the Volcker report recommendations, and frankly from my quick look at those ... I didn’t see anything that I have any problem with,’ he said in a telephone press conference. Wolfowitz had made eliminating corruption one of his priorities, but he was forced to step down in June after an internal probe found he violated rules by arranging a lucrative pay-and-promotion package for his partner, a bank employee.
   Before resigning over the scandal, his two-year tenure at the helm of the bank was marked by criticism from bank staff, shareholders and borrowers over the anti-graft unit’s practices.
   Volcker’s panel was tasked in February with looking into the unit, known as INT, which investigates possible fraud in World Bank programs. While the panel found that the unit had ‘achieved notable success,’ it found serious issues in relations between the INT and bank staff.
   ‘Serious operational issues and severe strains in relations with some Operations units have arisen, at times contributing to counterproductive relations between the Bank and borrowers and funding partners,’ the report said.

Thousands of cars and motorbikes formed long queues at petrol pumps in Nepal’s capital on Thursday after officials warned of a looming fuel shortage after they failed to pay their gas bills.
   Landlocked Nepal has no oil reserves and relies on giant southern neighbour India to truck in petrol, gas and other fuel. But supplies have been tightened after the impoverished Himalayan country failed to pay its bills.
   ‘Over the past few weeks, the Indian Oil Corporation has cut the supplies by 40 to 60 per cent to us as we have not been able to pay overdue bills,’ said Iccha Bikram Shah, a spokesman at the state-run Nepal Oil Corporation.
   ‘The stock we have now would last for just two to three days more,’ he told AFP.
   Crude oil prices are trading near record highs after New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for October, rose to a record high of 80.18 dollars during US trading hours overnight.
   The Nepal Oil Corporation, a monopoly, sells fuel products at a loss, and as a result has a monthly loss of 3.84 million dollars. It currently owes the Indian Oil Corporation 45.7 million dollars.
   Shah said Nepal’s government ‘needs to provide funds to us to pay to the IOC, or they should increase the price of petroleum products,’ Shah said.
   Last August the government tried to increase the price of petroleum products by up to 25 per cent, but backed down from the move after two days of protests at the price hike.

US lawmakers vowed Wednesday to enact stricter legislation to prevent potentially dangerous Chinese-made toys from being sold in America, as leading toy firms said safety checks were being boosted.
   Lawmakers voiced concern during a congressional hearing on recent mass toy recalls by Mattel and other toy companies affecting millions of Chinese-made toys tarnished with lead paint or other safety defects.
   ‘Made in China’ has now become a warning label,’ Republican Senator Sam Brown-back said at a Senate Financial Services and General Govern-ment subcommittee hearing.
   ‘Our toy safety system is not as strong as it should be,’ said Democratic Senator Richard Durbin.
   Senators said stricter laws were being drafted, as Mattel chairman and chief executive officer Robert Eckert apologised for multiple recalls initiated by the world’s biggest toy maker related to toys tainted with lead paint.
   ‘I want to reiterate my personal apology on the behalf of Mattel,’ he said.
   The US toy industry is vying to ward off a mounting political storm and increasing public fear about the safety of Chinese-made products following a series of mass recalls in recent months.
   Some lawmakers expressed disbelief that toys bearing lead paint could potentially end up being sold in US retail stores.
   ‘This just simply shouldn’t be happening in America,’ said Democratic Senator Bill Nelson.
   Eckert also pinned blame on Chinese manufacturers. ‘Our systems were circumvented and our standards were violated,’ he said.
   The hearing occurred a day after the US and Chinese governments struck an agreement in Washington aimed at stopping any more Chinese-manufactured toys painted with lead paint reaching US shores.
   The Consumer Product Safety Commission said China’s General Administration of Quality Supervision had agreed to boost safeguards on Chinese-made toys exported to the United States.

A new outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease among cattle was confirmed in Britain on Wednesday, prompting the European Union to re-impose a ban on British meat exports.
   The new case was discovered close to a farm south of London where an outbreak was first reported last month, while the agriculture ministry confirmed that animals on an adjacent farm to the latest site were to be slaughtered ‘on suspicion’ of infection.
   Restrictions imposed in August were only lifted four days ago and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs imposed a new England-wide ban on the movement of cattle, sheep, pigs and other ruminants.
   Cattle were ordered slaughtered on the affected farm, near Egham, west of London. Egham is 21 kilometres from the village of Normandy, where foot and mouth disease was confirmed on August 3.
   A three-kilometre protection zone was thrown around the farm holdings with a wider 10 kilometre surveillance zone imposed on the farm.
   Animals on the farm next to that site were to be slaughtered because they were suspected of having been infected, Defra said in a statement on Wednesday evening.
   ‘This is a precautionary measure and was identified by Animal Health during surveillance this afternoon,’ it said in a statement.
   The European Union re-imposed a total ban on meat and livestock exports from Britain to the other 26 member states, the European Commission said.
   Britain’s red meat export market is worth about 500 million pounds ($1b) a year, mostly with the EU. Britain was the ninth largest beef exporter last year among the 27-member European Union.
   After chairing a meeting of COBRA, Britain’s top-level cell to cope with national crises, prime minister Gordon Brown vowed that his government would do everything to stamp out the disease and find its ‘root cause.’
   But Brown said: ‘I don’t think it’s possible to say at this stage what finally caused this particular outbreak.’
   An official investigation last week concluded that the earlier outbreak was probably caused by leaking drains, flooding and vehicles moving from nearby animal vaccine laboratories without pinpointing the exact source.

China is planning to quadruple its strategic oil reserves to 12 million tonnes within three years and secure roughly the equivalent of one month’s import by 2010, state media said Thursday.
   By 2020, reserves will be further raised to the equivalent of three months’ import, the Shanghai Securities News said, citing Chen Deming, vice chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, China’s top planning agency.
   China started to build four strategic oil reserves in 2004 and two of them are already in operation. So far it has invested about six billion yuan ($795m) to secure storage of 10 million tonnes, earlier reports said.

German Greenpeace militants denounced auto pollution Thursday by painting three cars pink and adding pigs’ noses, ears and tails to them as the Frankfort motor show opened to the public.
   ‘Manufacturers have resorted to all sorts of tricks to transform the show into a green week,’ the environmental group’s auto specialist Wolfgang Lohbeck claimed as he stood before the sprawling Frankfurt fair grounds.
   Around 20 Greenpeace activists transformed the three German cars, an Audi, a BMW and a Volkswagen, to attract attention to what they called ‘climate hogs.’
   The world’s biggest auto show was placed under the theme of sustainable mobility, and scores of automakers presented new models designed to cut fuel consumption and greenhouse emissions.
   But Lohbeck charged that proposals to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide produced by motor vehicles were ‘old plans that were lying around engineers’ drawers and hauled out at the last minute.’

A huge gas field off the Norwegian coast went into service Thursday that when fully operational in 2010 will make Norway the world’s second leading natural has exporter, the site operator said here.
   ‘Gas production from the Ormen Lange field on the Norwegian continental shelf began at 0902 GMT on September 13,’ the Norwegian group Norsk Hyrdo announced.
   ‘Completion of this breakthrough development will make Norway the world’s second-largest exporter of natural gas.’
   Norway is currently the third largest exporter after Russia and Canada. When Ormen Lange reaches peak output in 2010, Norway will be able to export 120 billion cubic meters of gas a year against 85 billion at present.
   The facility will pump gas through the 1,200 kilometer underwater Langeled pipeline, with daily export capacity of 70 million cubic meters of gas and 50,000 barrels of oil.

British finance minister Alistair Darling criticised banks and financial institutions for lending money too freely to customers who might be unable to pay the loan back, in an interview published Thursday.
   Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, Chancellor of the Exchequer Darling said that in ‘crude terms, they need to know who they’re lending to, how much they’re lending and what the risk is.’
   ‘Now, that’s elementary banking, one might think, but there are times when going back to good old-fashioned banking may not be a bad idea.’
   Darling also urged borrowers in Britain to ensure they asked themselves whether they could repay the debt they were to take on, and said that recent market turmoil would ensure that ‘people will be a bit more cautious.’

Bangladesh Parjartan Corporation signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the mobile phone operator Banglalink at its head quarter in the city on Thursday.
   Rashid Khan, CEO and managing director, and Omer Rashid, director marketing, of Banglalink, and Md Hafizur Rahman Bhuiyan, chairman, and director planning, director finance, and other senior officials of the Bangladesh Parjartan Corporation, were present at the MoU signing ceremony.
   This MOU will make it possible for Banglalink and BPC to work together closely for the betterment of the tourism industry in Bangladesh.
   Banglalink will become the official partner of BPC and its supporting activities across the country.

The Mercantile Bank Limited will extend its term loan facility worth Tk 100 crore for financing various Micro-credit schemes of the BRAC aiming to boost the NGO’s poverty alleviation initiatives.
   A financial agreement to this effect was signed between the Mercantile Bank Limited and the BRAC at the bank’s head office in the city on Tuesday.
   BRAC, a non government organisation, under its poverty alleviation programmes will disburse the money among the landless and poor farmers of the country, said a press release.
   MA Shahjahan, deputy managing director of Mercantile Bank, and SN Kairy, director finance of BRAC, initialed the agreement on behalf of their respective organisations.
   Rabiul Hussain, consultant of the Mercantile Bank, and executives of both the organizations, were present at the deal signing ceremony.

The euro hit a fresh record high 1.3927 dollars Thursday on expectations of a US rate cut next week, while some economists forecast the single currency could top 1.40 dollars very soon.
   The European single currency had Wednesday risen above 1.39 dollars for the first time since its creation in 1999, amid persistent fears over the United States economy — in contrast to the brighter eurozone outlook.
   After reaching a fresh all-time high of 1.3927 dollars Thursday, the euro stood at 1.3898, compared with 1.3904 dollars in New York late on Wednesday.
   Next Tuesday, the US Federal Reserve is set to slash US borrowing costs from 5.25 per cent, dealers said.
   ‘Amid the countdown to next Tuesday’s Fed meeting and expectations of a rate cut, together with an improvement in risk appetite, euro/dollar and other major currencies versus the dollar continue to grind higher,’ said Commerzbank analyst Gavin Friend.
   Currency investors are increasingly worried that the US economy may be heading towards a recession owing to a downturn in the American property market.
   ‘The catalyst sending the euro to its latest high against the dollar is the growing expectation that the Fed could trim interest rates by up to 50 basis points at its 18 September policy meeting,’ Global Insight economist Howard Archer said.
   ‘The euro seems likely to remain well supported against the dollar in the near-term at least and could well break through 1.40 dollars imminently.’
   The Fed was likely to cut rates ‘due to the danger that the current credit squeeze and subprime mortgage problems will increasingly spill over to significantly weaken already fragile US growth,’ Archer added.
   Roller-coaster volatility has gripped financial markets since early August as concerns about high-risk home lending in the United States have prompted investors to reassess their overall risk exposure.
   ‘Much of the weakness in the dollar can be attributed to intensifying concerns about the US economy but if the Fed does cut as we expect, it may be able to help avoid deeper damage to the economy as lower rates provide a stimulus,’ Calyon economist Mitul Kotecha said Thursday.
   ‘Although a 50 basis points move by the Fed next week cannot be ruled out, it would smell of panic and instead the Fed is likely to pursue a more gradual pace of rate cuts over coming months, with the Fed Funds rate set to fall to 4.50 per cent by year end,’ Kotecha added.

Crude oil prices weakened in Asian trade Thursday on profit-taking after scaling new peaks on concerns over tight US supplies and hurricane worries, dealers said.
   At 3:50 pm, New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for October delivery dropped 12 cents to 79.79 US dollars a barrel from 79.91 dollars in late US trades Wednesday.
   The October contract rose to a record high of 80.18 dollars during US trading hours, smashing the previous all-time trading high of 78.77 dollars on August 1, after a bigger-than-expected drop in US crude oil reserves.
   Brent North Sea crude for October delivery fell 18 cents to 77.50 dollars.
   ‘I think the profit-taking at this stage and some sell-off after the record high is going to provide some prompt relief to the oil market,’ said Victor Shum, a Singapore-based analyst with energy consultancy Purvin and Gertz.
   Crude prices are expected to remain above 75 dollars, supported by tight US energy stocks and the Atlantic hurricane season where September is traditionally the peak month, dealers said.
   ‘We are in the middle of the peak hurricane month... then we enter the winter season, said Shum.

Trade
   Grameen Mutual Fund One
   There will be no price limit on the trading of the shares of the Fund on September 16 following its corporate declaration.
   
   Dividend
   Grameen Mutual Fund One
   The Trustee of Grameen Mutual Fund one has recommended 29 per cent cash dividend for the year 2006-07.
   
   Transaction
   Jamuna Bank
   Razia Sultana Deepa, one of the sponsors/directors of the bank, has reported her intention to buy 10,000 Shares of the bank at prevailing market price through stock exchange within next 30 working days.
   
   Request to collect dividend
   Sinobangla Industries
   The company has requested the concerned shareholders to collect their dividend warrants for the year 2005-2006 within September 16, 2007 from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm from Hotel Purbani Annex-2, 4th Floor, 1 Dilkusha C/A, Dhaka.
   Source: DSE, CSE

Canada-USA co to invest $12m in Ctg EPZ
A Canada-USA company named Aadi Towels (BD) Ltd, is to set up a textile manufacturing industry in the Chittagong Export Processing Zone with an investment of 12 million US dollar. An agreement to this effect was signed between the Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority and the Aadi Towels (BD) Ltd in the capital on Thursday, a BEPZA press release said. Prasanta Bhushan Barua, member (investment promotion) of BEPZA, and Mohammad Shahabuddin, general manager of Aadi Towels (BD) Ltd, signed the lease agreement on behalf of their respective organisations The 100 per cent foreign owned company will annually produce 8.5 million kilograms of textile products including wash cloths, kitchen and surgical towels and apron. It will also create jobs for 1,521 Bangladeshis and nine foreign nationals. Among others, BEPZA executive chairman Brig Gen Ashraf Abdullah Yussuf was present on the occasion.
— BSS

TCB starts selling essential items
The Trading Corporation of Bangladesh, the government’s marketing agency, started selling of essential goods at fair price at different points in the capital city on Thursday, a day before beginning of month of Ramadan. The TCB staffs sold the essential commodities from trucks standing at various points of the city. The TCB sells sugar at Tk 27 per kilogramme, lentil at Tk 60 per kilogramme, a two-litre bottle of soyabean oil at Tk 152 and the five-litre bottle at Tk 374. The selling will continue from 9:00am to 4:00pm everydays, except on Fridays and the government holidays. The trading operation launched in the wake of high prices of essentials. The TCB will also sell commodities in Chittagong, Khulna and Rajshahi divisional cities through their appointed dealers at different divisions and district towns.
— New Age

Gold price
closes lower
Hong Kong gold prices closed lower Thursday at 707.50-708.00 US dollars an ounce, down from Wednesday’s close of 712.00-712.50 dollars an ounce. It opened at 711.40-711.90 dollars an ounce.
— AFP