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The central bank has asked the nationalised commercial banks to improve their financial health and performances as their bad debt portfolio continues to mount.
   Bangladesh Bank governor Salehuddin Ahmed, while reviewing the state of Sonali, Janata, Agrani and Rupali banks at a meeting, expressed concern about soaring classified loans and instructed the banks to reduce them to a tolerable level, said a central bank official.
   The total classified loans of the four state-owned lenders increased to Tk 13,058.24 at the end of June from Tk 11,503.61 crore in December 2006.
   Total classified loan in the banking sector grew to Tk 22,302 crore from Tk 20,098 crore during the period.
   Classified loans of private commercial banks went up by Tk 784.83 crore to Tk 5,150 crore, foreign commercial banks by Tk 76.18 crore to Tk 160.03 crore. However, development financial institutions managed to reduce its classified loans by Tk 211.72 crore to Tk 3,933.16 crore.
   The Monday’s meeting attended by managing directors of the state-owned banks discussed the banks’ recovery performance especially from the top 20 defaulters.
   Top executives of the banks said they filed cases against a number of defaulters and pursued amicably out of court settlements with many borrowers who defaulted on loan payments.
   Capital shortfall of NCBs went up to Tk 6,866.07 crore in June compared with Tk 6633.7 crore in December, according to the central bank figure.
   The total advances of the banks went down in six months period to Tk 49,942.6 crore in June from Tk 50,156.55 crore in December.
   The International Monetary Fund said private sector
   credit growth slowed to 15 per cent as of June due to uncertainty and eroding business confidence. As a result, banks are wallowing in excess liquidity, raising risks for further inflationary pressures, bankers warned.
   Deposit of NCBs grew by Tk 2302.16 crore to Tk 70419.8 crore in six months till June.
   The four state-owned banks wrote off Tk 4,279 crore up to June against Tk 4090.53 crore in December.
   The five specialised banks deleted Tk 3,011 crore from their balance sheets while 30 private commercial banks wrote off Tk 4552 crore loans and nine foreign commercial banks Tk 160 crore up to June, said the central bank figure.
   Agrani Bank wrote off the highest amount of Tk 1441 crore, Janata Tk 1127 crore, Sonali Tk 1094 crore and Rupali Tk 615 crore.
   In the PCBs, National Bank wrote off Tk 895 while IFIC deducted Tk 800 crore from books.
   The banks can write off loans which are classified for two years with 100 per cent provision and they must pursue for realising those loans.

The stock prices and turnover gained on Wednesday due to fresh buying by the institutional investors after a three-day bear run in the week, said market analysts.
   The general index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange gained 4.98 points or 0.20 per cent to close at 2514.62, while its blue chips index, DSE20, advanced by 3.62 points or 0.18 per cent to finish at 1998.56.
   Chittagong Stock Exchange’s selective categories index gained 15.59 points or 0.37 per cent to close at 4211.37, while its blue chips index, CSE30, advanced by 9.69 points or 0.17 per cent to finish at 5817.49.
   Market analysts said stock prices gained as the investors went for fresh buying to avail the lower prices of shares. Active presence of institutional investors pushed the turnover, they said.
   Of the total 204 listed issues traded at the DSE floor on Wednesday, 101 advanced 81 declined and 22 remained unchanged while out of 96 listed issues traded at the CSE floor, 49 advanced, 37 declined and 10 remained unchanged.
   Turnover at the DSE increased to Tk 127.26 crore from the Tuesday’s Tk 105.35 crore and CSE turnover went up to Tk 16.53 crore from Tk 13.93 crore.
   Summit Power topped the turnover leaders at the DSE with total transaction of Tk 14.02 crore.
   Other turnover leaders at the DSE were BRAC Bank, Grameen Mutual Fund One, Aims 1st Mutual Fund, Dhaka Electric Supply Company, United Commercial Bank, AB Bank, International Leasing and Financial Services, Southeast Bank and Power Grid Company Bangladesh.

Retailers have agreed in principle to follow prices suggested by wholesalers for vegetables, spices and other perishables, whose prices vary widely between suppliers’ and end-consumers’ ends.
   The agreement was reached at a meeting Wednesday between leaders of the retail and wholesale traders, brokered by the Bangladesh Rifles, which has been in action for long to ease supplies and prices of commodities.
   Prices of perishables and spices grow to abnormally highs at consumer end due to unjustified gap between wholesale and retail prices, the meeting noted.
   ‘Traders have agreed that wholesalers will suggest justified retail prices after adding transport and other costs to wholesale procurement prices,’ Colonel MA Hailm, director training of BDR, told journalists after the meeting.
   Hasan Ali, a traders’ leader, said wholesalers would add Tk 3-4 per kg to prices of vegetables and other perishable items.
   Leaders of wholesalers’ and retailers’ associations from different markets in the city attended the meeting.
    The meeting also decided that wholesalers would charge maximum 5 per cent commission as profit on commodities that they sell.
    BDR officials said monitoring cells manned by personnel of joint forces would oversee regularly the prices in wholesale and retail markets.
   In the past week, BDR asked retailers and wholesalers to carry detailed invoices of procurement prices to show consumers and authorities whenever asked.

Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry has hailed the Bangladesh Bank decision for not to tighten monetary policy further.
   The governor of Bangladesh Bank on Monday said the central bank would shift from its present tight monetary policy to more relaxed one.
   Since 2005 the central bank was pursuing the tight monetary policy by squeezing the money supply to curb inflation.
   In order to control inflation, the DCCI recommended restoration of the supply chain and distribution channels including, evicted markets and collection centres, remove other supply constraints, provide adequate agro-inputs like fertiliser and diesels for farmers at subsidised prices and regaining private sector confidence.
   The DCCI identified high prices of food grains as the reason for growing inflation and urged the Bangladesh Bank to facilitate import of essential items, including food grains, by lowering the rate of exchange in terms of dollars as an interim and special measures.

Waliur Rahman Bhuiyan, a senior executive of a multinational company, has been appointed honorary officer of the most excellent Order of the British Empire.
   British high commissioner in Dhaka Anwar Choudhury, on behalf of the UK Queen, gave him the appointment in recognition of his services towards strengthening the UK-Bangladesh business relations, said a pres release on Wednesday.
   Under the leadership of Waliur Bhuiyan, managing director of BOC Bangladesh Limited, the company has grown from strength to strength.
   BOC is one of the first British companies to invest in Bangladesh in the 1950s to produce and supply industrial and medical gases.
   While presenting the honorary award, the Anwar Choudhury said, ‘Waliur Bhuiyan has been and continues to be a magnificent ambassador for Bangladesh, Britain and the business community.’
   ‘Being one of the first UK investors to enter the Bangladesh market, BOC and Waliur Bhuiyan have made a substantial contribution commercially and socially and to this day the company remains a responsible investor,’ he added.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has issued show cause cum hearing notice to the directors, managing director and company secretary of the Rupali Bank Ltd for non-compliance of securities laws related to annual general meeting of the company, reported Dhaka Stock Exchange in its official website on Wednesday.
   The commission has issued show cause cum hearing notice to the directors, managing director and company secretary of the bank also for non-compliance with securities related laws in connection with the audited financial statements for the year ended on December 31, 2006, the bourse reported.
   The SEC has also issued show cause cum hearing notice to the directors, managing director and company secretary of the IFIC Bank for non-compliance with the securities laws related to the audited financial statements for the year ended on December 31, 2006, said the DSE website.

The US home loan crisis could damage German growth by pushing up the euro and crimping exports from the biggest eurozone economy, economy minister Michael Glos warned Wednesday in an interview.
   ‘No one knows what the effects of the American financial crisis on Germany will be in the end,’ Glos told the mass circulation newspaper Bild.
   ‘The dollar’s weak level against the euro and high oil price could slow our growth, which has been strong until now,’ the economy minister added.
   ‘If the dollar continues to fall, it will hamper our export perspective,’ he said.
   In Asian trade on Wednesday, the euro traded for 1.3976 dollars, easing off an all-time high of 1.3988 seen late Tuesday in New York after the US Federal Reserve slashed its benchmark Fed Funds interest rate to 4.75 percent.
   Oil prices could hit 85 dollars a barrel meanwhile, after establishing new record levels above 82 dollars following the Fed’s move to boost the struggling US economy, analysts said Wednesday.
   Germany’s economy relies to a large extent on exports, while consumption represents a much smaller pillar of growth compared with countries like the United States.
   It was not the first time that Glos voiced concern over the banking system crisis that followed the collapse of the US market for high-risk home loans, known also as the sub-prime market.

The US Federal Reserve delivered a surprisingly strong jolt of stimulus to a struggling economy Tuesday, cutting key rates by half a point as insurance against a downturn, analysts said.
   The cut in the federal funds rate to 4.75 per cent ignited a powerful rally on Wall Street, with stock indexes surging by more than 2.5 per cent. But bond market reaction was lukewarm with long-term yields showing a surprise increase.
   The Federal Open Market Committee headed by Ben Bernanke, in a unanimous decision, also cut its discount rate for direct central bank loans by 50 basis points to 5.25 per cent.
   The cut in the federal funds rate is likely to lead to a lowering of borrowing costs across the economy, for consumers and businesses alike.
   Some analysts hailed the move as welcome relief for ailing housing and credit markets; but others said it was effectively a bailout for speculators and others who took on too much risk.
    ‘Today’s action is intended to help forestall some of the adverse effects on the broader economy that might otherwise arise from the disruptions in financial markets and to promote moderate growth over time,’ the FOMC said in a statement.
    ‘I think the Fed delivered a healthy dose of monetary medicine to the economy and housing market,’ said Scott Anderson, senior economist at Wells Fargo.
    ‘I think it will be viewed as an aggressive move by the Fed to avert an economic recession.’
   Brian Bethune, economist at Global Insight, commended the Fed for moving to head off a downturn and restore confidence in credit markets.
    ‘The forest fires in the economy had been spreading rapidly in the July-August period, and the Fed has recognized that it is going to take more than just a few buckets of water to bring this situation back under control,’ he said.
   The policy-setting committee, which was forced to reconsider its tough monetary stand when financial markets were roiled by fears of a wider economic crisis, had been widely expected to cut interest rates.
   But analysts had been divided on whether the central bank would move by a quarter point or a bolder 50 basis points. Some economists said a large cut might fuel inflation or bring back the easy-money conditions that created the problems.
   Some said the Fed opted for the more aggressive move, in the hope that economic and credit conditions would return to normal and that it would not have to trim rates at its next meeting October 30-31.
   Diane Swonk, economist at Mesirow Financial, argued that there were divisions among Fed members, ‘and the compromise is that they’re doing it now and hoping that they won’t have to do it again.’
    ‘While today’s cuts were more aggressive than many were looking for, the statement indicates that the Fed has assumed a more neutral stance, which lessens the odds that there are more rate cuts in the pipeline,’ said Dawn Desjardins, senior economist at RBC Financial Group.
    ‘We expect the Fed to hold the funds rate steady going into 2008 and are holding to our view that these rate cuts will be transitory and reversed by the middle of next year as the threat from financial market volatility subsides.’
   The FOMC statement cited some improvement in inflation but added that ‘some inflation risks remain,’ and that it would ‘monitor inflation developments carefully.’
   The panel said developments in financial markets since the last regular meeting ‘have increased the uncertainty surrounding the economic outlook’ and that it would ‘act as needed to foster price stability and sustainable economic growth.’
   While stocks rallied, long-term bonds fell, in a sign that traders anticipate higher inflation over the long term.
    ‘Bonds are acting in a way to raise long-term mortgage rates, not to cut them,’ said Robert Brusca at FAO Economics.
   Morgan Keegan bond analyst Kevin Giddis said he found the Fed action ‘puzzling’ in view of inflation risks.
    ‘The long end of the bond market gets it,’ he said. ‘A cut that is this aggressive will likely lead to inflation and ultimately, a Fed tightening.’
   Giddis said the situation resembles 1998 when the Fed cut rates in response to the crisis involving Long-Term Capital Management, then hiked rates later.
    ‘The combination of fed funds and discount rate (cuts) looks exactly like what I thought the Fed wanted to avoid: a Wall Street bailout,’ he said.

Australia’s long-running drought is expected to slash wheat production in the coming year by a third, lowering export levels and increasing price pressures, analysts said Wednesday.
   As farmers battle the worst dry spell in a century, the official government forecaster cut its prediction for total winter grain production in 2007-08 from 37 million tonnes to 25.6 million tonnes.
   The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Research Economics said Tuesday the forecast for the country’s largest crop, wheat, dropped seven million tonnes to 15.5 million tonnes because of a lack of winter rain.
   ABARE’s chief commodities analyst Terry Sheales said the latest report reflected the deterioration in farming conditions over the past three months which went from good rains at the start of the season to no follow-up falls.
    ‘Three months ago everything was looking great. Then it just suddenly stopped raining,’ Sheales told AFP.
   Australia is the world’s third biggest wheat exporter and while there is some wheat in domestic reserves, the shortage will have an impact, Sheales said.
    ‘You have to expect it would have some impact on exporters,’ he said.
   Much of Australia’s wheat crop is destined for overseas markets and the grain crunch will result in less grain to export and at higher prices, agribusiness economist at the National Australia Bank, Skye Dixon, said.
    ‘With global stocks so tight, they (farmers) really were counting on a reasonable crop to alleviate this tightness,’ she told AFP on Wednesday.
    ‘It will provide upside (price) pressure because of the shortage of stocks.’
   Dixon said the severity of the drought was reflected in the fact that the ABARE forecast was at the lower end of the consensus prediction of production of 15 to 18 million tonnes.
   She said it would be extremely unusual for another poor year following on the almost record low levels of 2005-2006.
   But there could be worse to come with some analysts suggesting the ABARE predictions could be optimistic given that the forecasts are dependent on spring rainfall to stabilise yields at current estimates.
    ‘While the current crop estimates are well above the same time a year ago, rainfall remains the question mark and crop estimates could fall further,’ Commsec equities economist Martin Arnold said.

The intervention by British authorities to bail out Northern Rock, which helped stop mass withdrawals and share price drops, has been criticised by those who argue that they overstepped their boundaries.
   The Bank of England, Britain’s central bank, last week agreed to provide an emergency loan to Britain’s fifth-largest mortgage lender, after it fell victim to turmoil in the financial markets.
   Finance minister Alistair Darling then pledged on Monday that the government would protect all savings deposited at Northern Rock, after three days of long queues outside the lender’s branches as panicked customers began withdrawing their money.
   ‘This mortgage-lending bank is not systematically significant and should have been allowed to swim or sink with its own resources,’ Willem Buiter, a professor at the London School of Economics, told the City AM financial daily.
    ‘They should have paid for their mistake.’
   Several critics of the decisions made by the finance ministry, the Bank of England, and the Financial Services Authority – the sector’s regulator – have said that the moves have created a poor precedent.
   They say that it gives investors the impression that excessive risk-taking is acceptable – much like the kind taken over American high-risk, or ‘subprime’, mortgages that sparked the market turmoil – because the government will be there to bail out anyone who loses money.
   Since the start of the credit crisis, the BoE has repeatedly argued that its role was not to save investors who took great risks, and that such investors should be made to learn from their mistakes. In a letter to a parliamentary committee last week, BoE Governor Mervyn King warned that providing short-term liquidity to the financial markets while they were experiencing trouble served to encourage ‘excessive risk-taking and sows the seeds of a future financial crisis’.
    ‘The BoE provided the credit line but under the Treasury’s (finance ministry’s) guidance,’ Dominic White, an economist at ABN Amro told AFP, adding that the reason the authorities stepped in was because ‘they didn’t believe the bank is insolvent’.
    ‘What’s happened is King last week set out the rules under which the BoE would take action and if it was seen to respond in another way then that was clearly down to a political decision.’
   The central bank, Britain’s lender of last resort, emphasised that by lending the money to Northern Rock at a rate of interest 100 basis points above its own base rate, it compensated for the so-called ‘moral hazard’.

The global economic outlook is growing increasingly uncertain, Japan’s central bank warned Wednesday as it refrained from hiking its super-low interest rates for a seventh straight month.
   Credit market turmoil and domestic political upheaval following the abrupt resignation of prime minister Shinzo Abe last week have prompted markets to scale back their expectations of another BoJ rate hike any time soon.
   The Bank of Japan’s policy board voted 8-1 Wednesday to keep the overnight call rate at 0.5 per cent, where it has been since February.
   The decision came a day after the Federal Reserve slashed its own key rate by a half-point, sparking a global stock market rally that saw Japanese share prices post their biggest points gain in more than five years Wednesday.
   But BoJ governor Toshihiko Fukui sounded a note of caution about the fallout from rising defaults in US subprime mortgages to risky borrowers.
    ‘Uncertainties over the global economy are increasing as financial markets around the globe remain unstable and the risks of a US economic slowdown is increasing,’ Fukui told reporters.
    ‘Financial markets in Europe and the United States have not worsened further nor improved dramatically,’ he said.
   Japan’s economy was likely to ‘keep its economic growth at a gradual pace under price stability,’ he added.
   Fukui refrained from giving any clear hints on whether the BoJ might raise interest rates later this year, saying only: ‘We will closely look at economic data and indicators so that we will be able to make appropriate judgement.’
   No change had been expected by the BoJ this month given growing concerns about the health of the global economy.
   Atsushi Mizuno, who has a reputation for being a policy hawk, dissented with the majority for a third straight month.
    ‘US financial system and economic concerns made the BoJ policy decision a foregone conclusion,’ said Macquarie Securities economist Richard Jerram.
   But a Japanese rate hike could come later this year if external markets calm down, he said.
    ‘We believe the BoJ will continue to be motivated primarily by a desire to normalise interest rates,’ added Jerram.
   The BoJ’s job has been made harder by domestic political uncertainties with the race to replace Abe underway.
   Some economists question whether there is any need for a rate hike in Japan given sluggish economic growth and a lack of inflationary pressures.
   Japan’s economy contracted in the three months to June for the first time in three quarters due to falling corporate capital spending, previously a key driver of the economic recovery, according to an initial estimate.

Global equities surged Wednesday, oil prices raced towards another record high and the euro neared its best-ever level against the dollar as markets reacted to a hefty US interest rate cut.
   Around the world, stock market investors cheered the Fed decision to cut the federal funds rate by a half-point to 4.75 per cent to boost the flagging United States economy and ward off the global credit squeeze.
   European stock markets soared Wednesday following bumper gains overnight in New York and earlier in Tokyo as investors welcomed the US medicine, which was the first cut in the Fed’s benchmark rate in four years.
   ‘The general consensus was for a 25 basis point cut, even though some analysts were predicting a 50 basis point move,’ said analysts at the Sucden brokerage in London.
   ‘As a result, stock markets rallied, helping commodity markets amid fresh optimism over the future of the US economy.’
   But the rate cut was bad news for the dollar. The European single currency hit an historic 1.3988 dollars on Tuesday and remained within striking distance of 1.40 dollars on Wednesday.
   New York oil prices — which hit a record high 82.38 dollars per barrel on Tuesday — held above 82 dollars per barrel as the rate cut eased concerns that a possible global economic slowdown would dampen energy demand.
   Elsewhere in London, gold prices surged to 726.70 dollars per ounce, last seen May 2006, as the precious metal was boosted by the weak dollar and runaway oil prices.
   Wall Street had rallied Tuesday after the Federal Reserve moved to ease tight credit and housing market distress.

An East Asian monetary union anchored by Japan is feasible but the region lacks the political will to do it, the Asian Development Bank said Wednesday.
   ADB economist Pradumna Rana said in a study released by the Manila-based lender that ‘it appears feasible to establish a currency union in East Asia — particularly among Indonesia, Japan, (South) Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.’
    ‘The economic potential for monetary integration in Asia is strong, even though the political underpinnings of such an accord are not yet in place,’ said another study by ADB’s Ganeshan Wignaraja and Michael Plummer of Johns Hopkins University.
   They said the real integration at the trade levels ‘will actually reinforce the economic case for monetary union in Asia, in a similar way that real-sector integration did so in Europe.’

Iran on Wednesday said OPEC would not allow itself to be pressured by consumers in the face of rising oil prices, saying current record crude highs were good for oil exporting countries.
   ‘The talk that OPEC is a provider and a regulator of prices and therefore can be pressured is not acceptable,’ government spokesman Gholam Hossein Elham told reporters after oil prices hit new highs in Asian trade.
    ‘Only around 30 per cent of the world’s oil comes from OPEC and there is no need to impose pressure on OPEC countries,’ he added.
    ‘Many OPEC countries in the region rely on oil income and the hike in prices is a suitable thing for these countries.’
   Iran is OPEC’s second largest exporter after Saudi Arabia and the fourth largest in the world. The lion’s share of its foreign currency earnings come from oil exports.
   OPEC is the world’s only organised grouping of oil exporting countries and can decide to increase production quotas largely owing to the spare capacity of its kingpin Saudi Arabia.
   Earlier this month OPEC announced it would pump an extra 500,000 barrels per day from the start of November as a signal of the cartel’s willingness to respond to supply fears in consumer countries.
   In the run-up to OPEC’s September 11 meeting, Iran had said it believed quota levels did not need changing but nevertheless expressed satisfaction with the results after the gathering.
   In early morning deals, New York’s main futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in October, surged to 82.37 dollars per barrel — which was a whisker away from Tuesday’s all-time high of 82.38 dollars.
   Elham’s comments came a day after Nobuo Tanaka, head of the International Energy Agency, urged OPEC members to increase their production if oil prices remained at their current record levels.

A global free trade deal nearly six years in the making is not a certainty this year or next despite a convergence of positions by key countries and blocs, World Trade Organisation chief Pascal Lamy said Wednesday.
   Negotiators are meeting in Geneva until Friday in a three-week drive to break a long-standing deadlock in key agricultural negotiations at the Doha round of talks on reducing barriers to global commerce. They are discussing ‘draft modalities’ that call for cuts in US agricultural support to below 16.2 billion dollars a year, compared to 19 billion dollars allowed now, and reductions in industrial tariffs charged by emerging nations to less than 23 per cent.

M/sr-Pac Bangladesh Packaging Co Ltd is going to set up a garment accessories manufacturing industry in the Adamjee Export Processing Zone in Narayanganj.
   An agreement to this effect was signed between the Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority and the M/sr-Pac Bangladesh Packaging Co Ltd at BEPZA Complex in the city on Wednesday, said a press release.
   Prasanta Bhushan Barua, member (investment promotion) of BEPZA, and Mae Nadine Lim, regional director of M/sr-Pac Bangladesh Packaging Co Ltd, signed the lease agreement on behalf of their respective organisations.
   The foreign-owned company will invest $5.548 million and will produce barcode, price ticket and labels, care labels, woven labels, integrated security labels, offset, labels, hang tag security labels.
   Among others, executive chairman Brigadier General Ashraf Abdullah Yussuf, member (finance) AKM Mahbubur Rahman, general manager (investment promotion) AZM Azizur Rahman and manager (industrial relations) Md Sobhan of BEPZA were present at the signing ceremony.

The dollar bounced off a record low against the euro in Asian trade on Wednesday, recovering some of its heavy losses seen in the wake of the Federal Reserve’s hefty interest rate cut, dealers said.
   The euro was at 1.3976 dollars in Tokyo afternoon trade, easing off an all-time high of 1.3988 seen late Tuesday in New York.
   The dollar inched down to 115.91 yen from 116.05 while the euro dipped to 162.02 yen from 162.26.
   The US central bank slashed its benchmark interest rate on Tuesday for the first time since June 2003, lopping off 50 basis points to 4.75 per cent to ease distress in credit markets and cushion the economy from the housing slump.
   ‘The Fed showed clearly its responsibility towards the subprime mortgage problems that have spread across the world,’ said Ryohei Muramatsu, manager of Group Treasury Asia at Commerzbank in Tokyo.
   Although a rate cut could make the dollar less attractive to buyers because of lower returns on US assets, ‘the fact that on the contrary it is being bought signifies investor risk appetite is returning,’ he added.
   The dollar initially fell against most currencies in response to the US rate cut, but managed to recover some ground against the euro in Asian trade as stocks rallied.
   The move was unlikely to provide lasting relief for the dollar, argued Barclays Capital currency analysts.
   ‘The move is clearly negative for the dollar. Investors are likely to interpret the size of the move as reflecting serious concerns on the part of the Fed about the outlook for the economy,’ they wrote in a note to clients.
   ‘Although the positive reaction of the equity markets to the rate cut has provided some support to dollar/yen, we feel that the support is not sustainable.’
   Dealers said the bold half-point cut had encouraged renewed carry trades by investors selling low-return currencies such as the yen to buy high-yield currencies like the Australian and New Zealand dollars.
   Markets are now speculating about the chances of further US rate cuts.
   ‘With US economic prospects not too bright and problems in the subprime mortgage market expected to continue for some time, there is a strong possibility that the Fed will continue to cut rates,’ said Muramatsu.
   Investors will continue to scrutinise the results of major US banks this week to gauge their exposure to mortgage-backed assets.
   Positive third quarter financial results from Lehman Brothers Tuesday gave the market some relief.
   The market largely ignored the Bank of Japan’s announcement that it will leave its key interest rate unchanged at 0.5 per cent for a seventh straight month amid worries about the fallout from credit market turmoil.
   The decision had been widely expected given political uncertainties following the abrupt resignation of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe last week.
   Against other Asian units, the dollar fell to 1.5076 Singapore dollars from 1.5168 a day earlier, to a one-month low of 926.65 South Korean won from 930.45 and to 9,259 Indonesian rupiah from 9,392.

The price of New York oil held close to 82 dollars per barrel on Wednesday after striking a record high the previous day as the US Federal Reserve slashed American borrowing costs.
   In early morning deals, New York’s main futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in October, surged to 82.37 dollars per barrel — which was a whisker away from Tuesday’s all-time high of 82.38 dollars. The contract later stood at 81.94 dollars, up 43 cents from Tuesday’s close.
   In London on Wednesday, the price of Brent North Sea crude for November delivery jumped 46 cents to 78.05 dollars per barrel. Brent is trading close to its record high of 78.64 dollars that was struck in August 2006.
   On Tuesday, the Federal Reserve cut US interest rates by a half-point to 4.75 per cent in a bid to boost the struggling American economy. For some time, oil market traders have been concerned that an economic slowdown in the United States — the world’s biggest energy consumer — would dampen crude demand and lead to lower prices.

Workshop on Basel II
A two-day workshop on new capital accord (Basel II) began on Wednesday at BRAC Centre Inn in Dhaka. Education Excellence, a consulting firm, organised the workshop, said a press release. M Shamsul Haque, vice-chancellor of Northern University, inaugurated the workshop. Education Excellence chief executive officer Samira Farhat Amin was present. Senior bankers and experts delivered lectures on Basel II, which promotes adoption of stronger risk based capital in banks to meet unforeseen losses. Officials of different public and private banks and financial institutions are participating in the workshop.
— New Age

Govt steps to protect livestock
The government has taken different steps to protect livestock from the onslaught of floods that have claimed 1,399 cattle and 15,808 poultry folks across the country, Fisheries and Livestock Ministry sources said on Wednesday. ‘The floods have caused a net loss of Tk 15.14 crore in livestock and poultry sectors,’ said an official handout, adding that both preventive and curative steps have been taken to save livestock and poultry. Veterinary medical teams have been rendering services in 228 upazilas and have vaccinated 5,94,000 cattle and 32,00,000 ducks and chickens during floods. Besides, the medical teams have also treated 1,88,000 cattle and 12,00,000 poultry during the period. Local level vets have distributed vaccines, de-worming tablets and life saving drugs to the animals and distributed feeds in the worst affected areas in Sirajganj, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat, Gaibandha, Manikganj and Faridpur.
— BSS

Workshop on role of shrimp industry held
The Bangladesh Shrimp and Fish Foundation, the Bangladesh Frozen Foods Exporters’ Association and the Department of Fisheries jointly arranged a workshop on ‘crucial economic role of the shrimp industry’ in the city recently. Syed Ataur Rahman, secretary, Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock, Brian Forey, charge d’affaires and acting chief of the European Commission Delegation to Bangladesh attended the programme where Zakaria Kajal, president, Economic Reporters’ Forum, was present as guest of honour.
— New Age