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Turnover at the Dhaka and Chittagong bourses on Tuesday hit record highs at Tk 409.32 crore and Tk 66.96 crore because of heavy trading at the markets.
   ‘Investors carried out huge trading amid the dividend announcement period of the banking stocks,’ said Ahmad Rashid Lali, senior vice-president of the Dhaka Stock Exchange.
   He said heavy transaction in the high valued shares also pushed up the turnover level at the bourses. The listing of a number of large companies also increased the trading size recently, the stock broker added.
   Stock market analysts said some market-related positive developments pushed the investors’ confidence level up in recent times.
   Previous highest of turnovers at the DSE and the Chittagong Stock Exchange were at Tk 372.37 crore and Tk 65.86 crore respectively reached on February 5 this year.
   Stock prices, however, lost on Tuesday because of profit taking selling pressure from the investors after a five-day bull run, said the DSE stock broker.
   The DSE general index lost 20.58 points or 0.67 per cent to close at 3034.61, while its blue chips index, DSE20, shed 41.89 points or 1.74 per cent to close at 2364.63.
   The CSE selective categories index lost 32.95 points or 0.66 per cent to close at 4962.81, while its blue chips index, CSE30, shed 48.51 points or 0.70 per cent to close at 6878.66.
   Of the total 248 issues traded at the DSE, 89 advanced, 149 declined and 10 remained unchanged, and out of 139 issues traded at the CSE, 44 post gains, 88 dropped and seven remained unchanged.
   The AB Bank topped the turnover leaders at the DSE with total transaction of Tk 75.85 crore.
   Other turnover leaders at the bourse were Grameen One, IFIC, Square Pharmaceuticals, ACI, Heidelberg Cement, Apex Adelchi Footwear, Fareast Life Insurance, ICB 1st NRB Mutual Fund and Uttara Bank.

The Securities and Exchange Commission at a meeting Tuesday gave approval to the largest ever mutual fund ICB AMCL 2nd NRB Mutual Fund for floating initial public offers.
   ‘The Tk 100 crore mutual fund is the biggest among the mutual funds listed with the bourses,’ said Farhad Ahmed, executive director of the SEC.
   He said the ICB Asset Management Company Ltd, a subsidiary of the Investment Corporation of Bangladesh, floated the mutual fund aiming the non-resident Bangladeshis.
   Of the total offer, NRB investors will be allowed to buy shares of Tk 60 crore, local general public to buy shares of Tk 20 crore, sponsors to buy shares of Tk 10 crore and the existing mutual funds will buy remaining shares of Tk 10 crore as 10 per cent quota is reserved for the funds, said the SEC official.
   Presently, a total of 15 mutual funds are listed with the stock exchanges. Of them, ICB and its subsidiaries have floated 12 mutual funds while BSRS and private sector companies Aims and Grameen have one such fund each.
   Tk 17 crore Grameen One is the second largest among the mutual funds. The size of ICB AMCL 1st NRB Mutual Fund is Tk 10 crore, the SEC official informed.
   In the meeting, the SEC also extended deadline for submitting bank certificates for the existing beneficiary owner’ accounts holders up to June 30.
   Farhad said existing BO accounts holders had to fulfil the obligations within six months after issuance of the order in October last year.
   ‘Banks have received a circular from the Bangladesh Bank regarding the certificate lately,’ said the SEC ED adding, ‘We have extended the deadline considering the BO accounts holders’ convenience.’
   The SEC on Tuesday also decided that from the next IPO, it would forfeit application money of the applicants whose beneficiary owner’s accounts would be found invalid in the share allotment period.
   The SEC official said the commission found that number of invalid BO accounts in IPO allotment period was rising recently.
   Currently, the number of BO accounts, through which investors take part in trading, is around 14 lakh but most of the accounts are used only to participate in the IPO, said SEC sources.
   Meanwhile, the DSE officials Tuesday met the SEC authorities to consult over the resumption of trading of Rupali Bank shares on the bourse after the government on Monday scrapped a deal with Saudi Arabian prince Bandar to sell off 93.26 per cent shares in the bank, said Salahuddin.
   The SEC informed the Dhaka Stock Exchange that it would wait until receiving an official communique from the government to decide over the resumption of trade of Rupali Bank shares on the bourses.
   ‘The regulatory body has suggested us to wait till the communique is received,’ said Salahuddin Ahmed Khan, chief executive officer of the DSE.
   A senior official of the SEC said the commission would take decision over the resumption of the trading of the shares of the bank after getting the communique from the government.
   With the suggestion of the SEC, the DSE and the Chittagong Stock Exchange kept the trading of the bank’s shares suspended since November 5 last year because of volatility in the bank’s share price following confusing reports on its disinvestment process.

Businessmen from China, which has been grabbing shares of Bangladesh’s and other players in global apparel export market, this time advises Bangladeshi exporters to search for market opportunities in China.
   The Chinese businessmen has also agreed that they would partner Bangladeshis providing technical and marketing supports for gaining markets in China and elsewhere.
    ‘The domestic apparel market in China is increasing at round 28 per cent annually. So, being top competitive suppliers, Bangladeshi garment exporters can earn shares in the lucrative market,’ said Cao Xin Yu, vice-chairman of the China Chamber of Commerce and Industry for Import and Export of Textile.
   The Chinese business delegation, during a meeting withy the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the morning, argued that not only in garments, Bangladeshi exporters could explore market in China for diversified products.
   Presiding over the meeting, DCCI vice-president Salahuddin Abdullah said Bangladesh could be a lucrative investment destination for the Chinese entrepreneurs.
   The Chinese businessmen agreed that sharply increasing wages in China might force many of the Chinese entrepreneurs to search low-cost locations in the future.
   Yu, who is an exporter of fabrics, led his delegation at a meeting with leaders of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association in the afternoon.
   ‘If you want, my organisation will help Bangladeshi garment exporters in exploring market in China,’ Yu was quoted to be said in the meeting.
   Leader of the Chinese textile manufacturers also said they would provide Bangladesh’s garment industries technical supports, assisting in human resources development and supplying raw-materials.
   Cao also invited Bangladeshi garment exporters to showcase their products at the Australian Textile and Apparel Exposition arranged by Chinese in Melbourne.
   The BGMEA president, Anwar Ul Alam Chowdhury Parvez, said with Bangladeshi exporters markets in EU and the USA are threatened by elimination of quota system benefiting China.
   He invited Chinese entrepreneurs to invest in backward linkage industries to smooth supply of raw materials to Bangladesh apparel exporters who depend on imports especially for raw materials for woven garments.
   China is the largest trading partner of Bangladesh which sources consumer goods and industrial raw-materials for local industries concentrating both domestic and export market.
   Bangladesh’s import from China annually amounts at around $3 billion while exports total at less than $200 million.
   Expanding Chinese market shares in Global Apparel Market keep Bangladeshi garment exporters panicked.
   With no other significant industrial sector, garment industry, the BGMEA leaders said, in Bangladesh employ 2.4 million and earn 76 per cent of the country’s export earnings amounting $ 9.2 billion annually.

The Tata Motors Limited has launched a long-distance version CNG-bus chassis on Tuesday at the Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre to meet the growing demands of long-distance CNG bus in the country.
   The new version of LPO 1510 CNG LDV bus will meet the demands of the owners and businessmen of inter districts bus operators and will provide other facilities, said the organisers.
   Abdul Musabbir Ahmad, managing director of Nitol Motors Limited, the only distributor of Tata bus and truck in the country, said about one thousand number of LPO 1510 CNG buses are operating in the country but they were made for city service. The long-distance version of this particular model was made according to the demand of bus owners, he said.
   The new version has Cummins dedicated CNG-engine, increased CNG storage capacity of 792 litters with four cylinders which would cover about 450 kilometer to 500 kilometer, said Nitol managing director. He said special offers would be provided to the first 35 buses of this version.
   N Ramchandran, country manager of Tata Motors, Bangladesh, said bus owners would get after-sales service at the 11 Tata service centres across the country where the expert mechanics and engineer were available.
   Sujay Nag, resident representative of Tata International, Bangladesh, and Sudhakar Dalela from Indian high commission, Bangladesh and bus owners were present at the programme.

The Biman Bangladesh Airlines Limited will not operate any domestic flight except on the Sylhet and Chittagong routes as the national flag carrier is eyeing to establish itself as a world class airliner.
   The fleet committee in its proposal said that it would not be a wise decision for Biman to operate domestic flights except on Chittagong and Sylhet routes.
   ‘We include Chittagong and Sylhet as there are huge number of expatriates from these two areas live in different countries around the world,’ Captain Shah Alam, a member of the fleet committee, told the news agency Tuesday.
   He said the fleet committee proposed to operate connecting services for Sylhet and Chittagong.
   Replying to a question, Capt Shah Alam said, there are four private airliners operating their domestic flights and the domestic market is already saturated.
   ‘We don’t want to enter in that saturated and small market; we want to do our core business and that is operating international flights.’
   In the proposal, the fleet committee mentioned that there is no need to procure small aircraft in future to operate domestic flights.
   ‘Rather, we are looking to make a new impression in the international market,’ the fleet committee member said.
   Chief adviser’s special assistant Mahbub Jamil on Monday at a press conference also said that they are not interested in domestic market.
   ‘We will open the domestic sector to the private airliners,’ he had said.
   Biman currently owns three types of aircraft — four McDonnell Douglas DC10-30s, four Fokker F28s and three Airbus A310-300s. Out of a total of 11 planes of Biman fleet, only four or five are operating now while the rest are grounded.
   Amid aircraft shortages, Biman cut seven international routes and was forced to reduce flight frequencies on five profitable international routes like Riyadh, Jeddah and Kuwait. Biman’s market share came down to almost half of what it had in 1991.
   Capt Shah Alam said the national flag carrier would try to restore its flights on the profitable international routes.
   The Biman Bangladesh Airlines on Sunday decided to purchase eight Boeing aircraft at a cost of US$ 1.265 billion to resuscitate the country’s lone public sector airlines.
   Biman will sign a MoU with Boeing representatives here on March 15.
   
   Of the eight Boeings, the first consignment of four aircraft will be arriving here in 2013 while the second consignment in 2017.
   Currently, GMG Airlines, United Airways, Best Air and Royal Bengal are operating domestic flights along with Biman.
   The new private airlines are now operating domestic flights on routes connecting Dhaka with Chittagong, Cox’s Bazar, Sylhet and Jessore.

The BRAC Bank on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding with the Intraco CNG Limited with a view to providing discounts and exclusive services on CNG conversion for the bank’s car loan clients.
   Under the agreement car loan clients of the bank will get discounted rates on CNG conversion and other benefits and services from the Intraco CNG, said Abedur Rahman Sikder, head of marketing and corporate affairs of the BRAC Bank, at the signing ceremony held at the Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre in the Dhaka city.
   Irad Ali, deputy managing director of Intraco CNG, said from now on the BRAC Bank’s customer would get special services at Intraco’s CNG conversion centre and filling stations.
   Beside the discount price on the regular CNG conversion price the car loan clients referred by BRAC Bank will receive other benefits at Intraco like as premium services at the 11 filling stations.
   They will get a 20 months service warranty for the converted vehicles, 15 months replacement warranty for kit and five years warranty for cylinders, 30 per cent discount on the after sales service membership card, free computerized cylinder re-test facility for first 20 months and 24 hour after sale service at any Intraco CNG outlet all over Bangladesh including mobile ambulance services for roadside troubleshooting.
   BRAC Bank’s head of retail banking Zabed Amin, head of non-funded business and secured value centre Abdur Rahman, and Najmun Nahar, chief operating officer of Itraco CNG, among others were present at the programme.

The Eastern Bank Limited has launched travel loan scheme to cater the need of travel lovers.
   The scheme is designed to provide a traveller with necessary funding of Tk 50,000 to Tk 5 lakh for trip abroad, said Ali Reza Iftekhar, managing director and chief executive officer of the bank, at a press conference on Tuesday.
   The loan is available at secured and unsecured versions, he informed.
   Fixed deposit receipts would be pledged for secured loans and interest rate would three per cent higher than the FDR rate, he said.
   For unsecured loans, 18 per cent interest rate would be charged and one per cent service charge or Tk 2,000 which one is higher.
   A service-holder with monthly salary of Tk 15,000 and a businessman with Tk 20,000 monthly income can apply for such loans and have to repay in 12 to 60 instalments, he said.
   The bank will soon launch home loan product, he said.
   Mamoon Mahmood Shah, head of consumer banking, and Nazeem A Choudhury, head of marketing, attended the programme.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has fined 10 directors of ACI Limited Tk 2,00,000 each for non-compliance of securities laws regarding non-dissemination of price sensitive information of the company.
   They are Anis Ud Dowla (chairman/director), Najma Dowla, Syed Manzur Elahi, Ziaul Haque Khondker, Rafiqul Islam Khan, Arif Dowla (director/managing director), Shusmita Anis Salam, Waliur Rahman, Wajed Salam and Sheema Abed Rahman.
   The stock market regulator also fined Mercantile Bank Ltd. Tk 2,00,000 for non-compliance of securities laws regarding declaration for sale of directors’ shares.

The Bangladesh companies were very successful in earning export orders to the tune of US $ 1.36 million as confirmed and $13.2 million as prospective one from ASAP Show in Las Vegas, USA.
   Some of the participating companies informed that negotiation is still going on with the newly contacted buyers to materialise those orders.
   Besides, 119 business enquiries were received and 160 new contacts established during the fair. Most of the companies were highly optimistic about achieving significant business from the buyers contacted through our participation in ASAP Show.
   Bangladesh participated in the 13th edition of ASAP (Apparel Sourcing Association Pavilion) Global Sourcing Show, a premier Apparel Exposition held recently in Las Vegas, USA, an export promotion bureau press release said in Dhaka on Tuesday.
   Thirteen garments exporting companies, members of BGMEA & BKMEA took part in the show under the auspices of Export Promotion Bureau.
   The show was held in Sand Exposition Hall of very famous Venation Hotel.

The Cathay Pacific Airways expanded its freighter network with new services to Hanoi and Dhaka on Tuesday.
   The new flights will be operated by a B747–200F flying on the Hong Kong- Hanoi-Dhaka-Hong Kong route every Tuesday and Thursday, said the organisers at a briefing at Sheraton Hotel in the Dhaka city.
   ‘Cathay Pacific and its sister carrier Dragonair carry cargo to a total of 80 destinations in Asia, the Middle East, Australasia, Europe and North America, said Dragonair Bangladesh-Nepal manager Rick Symington.
   ‘Each cargo will carry 80 tonnes of goods. Of them, 40 tonnes will be readymade garments and leather goods and the rest will be fish, crabs and other goods, he added. ‘We have a plan to increase number of flights to east-west via Hong Kong,’ said Rick, adding the Cathay Pacific carried 23 millions of passengers last year.
   Cathay Pacific cargo manager of India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan Ashish Kapur and Expolanka Group director Kazi Zahrul Qyyum attended the briefing.

India’s Tata Motors, expected to clinch a deal soon to buy British luxury car brands Jaguar and Land Rover, said Tuesday it would raise up to one billion dollars to fund its expansion drive.
   The announcement came as ailing US carmaker Ford was in talks with Tata Motors to sell the Jaguar and Land Rover marques in a deal analysts say would give the Indian firm a major technological boost.
   The board of directors of Tata Motors ‘has in principle approved, subject to other approvals as may be required, raising of additional long-term resources up to 40 billion rupees (one billion dollars),’ a company statement said.
    ‘The company has major growth plans for expanding its position in the domestic and global markets in both the commercial vehicle and passenger vehicle business,’ company spokesman Debasis Ray said in the statement.
    ‘This will be achieved by upgrading and enhancing the company’s product portfolio, expanding manufacturing facilities in India and strategic acquisitions/alliances in India and abroad,’ he said.
   Ford named Tata as the preferred bidder for the exclusive Jaguar and Land Rover marques in January.
    ‘The acquisition opportunities will have to be financed upfront,’ Ray said. The funds ‘are being raised to part-finance overall funding requirements to meet some of the strategic plans.’
   The money mould be raised by issuing ‘appropriate securities in the foreign and/or domestic market in one or more tranches on terms to be decided’ by the company in due course, the company statement said.

China’s vast sovereign wealth fund is expanding the scope of its investments beyond traditional assets like stocks and bonds to private equity and hedge funds, state media reported Tuesday.
   The 200-billion-dollar China Investment Corp. has already entrusted money to external asset managers to focus on these alternative investments, the China Securities Journal said, citing Jesse Wang, the fund’s vice president.
   Wang was not quoted as saying how much money had been entrusted to the outside asset managers, but said that the fund planned to set up branches in global financial centres.
    ‘The basic point for our overseas investments is being a financial investor. We seek maximum investment returns with manageable risks,’ the newspaper quoted Wang as saying.
   When British prime minister Gordon Brown visited China in January, he invited the fund to set up an overseas office in London. China has not so far publicly responded to this invitation.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co said Tuesday it planned to invest five billion US dollars to expand capacity in its facility in northern Taiwan.
   TSMC, the world’s leading contract maker of semiconductors, said it will build the fourth and fifth phases of a factory in a new area in Hsinchu industrial park.
    ‘Our plan is to invest five billion US dollars there for research and development...,’ said company spokesman JH Tzeng.
    ‘Phases four and five will provide manufacturing services as well,’ he said, adding the investment is expected to create about 3,000 jobs.
   Hsinchu industrial park officials said TSMC as well as Powerchip Semiconductor Corp. and Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp. broke ground Tuesday on the construction of five plants.

Inflation in China hit a near 12-year high of 8.7 per cent in February, the government said Tuesday as it called for a ‘cool-headed’ response to one of the nation’s most pressing economic concerns.
   The figure, issued by the National Bureau of Statistics, marked the steepest rise in consumer prices since May 1996 and showed China’s policy makers falling further behind in their efforts to keep inflation to 4.8 per cent this year.
    ‘China’s inflation will stay for quite a long time,’ said Dong Tao, a Hong Kong-based economist with Credit Suisse.
    ‘It’s very hard to say how long it could last before there are any positive signs. So far I haven’t seen any such signs,’ he said.
   Food prices, the main driver of inflation, were up 23.3 per cent in February from a year earlier, according to the bureau. The price of pork, the nation’s favourite meat, was up 63.4 per cent.
   By contrast, non-food prices increased by a mere 1.6 per cent in February from a year earlier.
   In a rare comment attached to the end of its statement, the statistics bureau called for a calm reaction to the February data, which followed a rise in the consumer price index of 7.1 per cent in January.
    ‘We must remain cool-headed, assess the situation correctly and adopt efficient measures in order to conscientiously keep the overall price level from rising too fast,’ it said.
   The bureau said the spike in inflation early this year was partly due to the worst winter weather in half a century, reducing the supply of key commodities such as food by stifling transport networks.
   But economists said this factor should not be overemphasised, arguing the continued expansion of liquidity — brought about mainly by a large trade surplus — was a more important cause.
   The latest inflation data came just days after the central bank governor said there was room for hiking interest rates further, and analysts said they expected a broad monetary policy response.
    ‘We believe that the central bank will have to raise rates more aggressively than they were previously prepared to do,’ said Jun Ma, Hong Kong-based chief economist for Deutsche Bank.
   Investment bank Goldman Sachs said in a research note that policy makers will probably react to the inflation data ‘with a combination of tightening tools.’
   These tools may include not just a modest interest rate hike, but also an increase in the money banks must keep in reserve, tightened credit and faster appreciation of the currency, Goldman Sachs said.
   China had already raised interest rates six times last year, while lifting the bank reserve ratio 11 times since the beginning of 2007.
   The stock market reacted immediately to the release of the inflation data, with the benchmark composite index down 1.40 per cent from Monday’s close just minutes after the figures were out. The market ended the day down 0.47 per cent.
    ‘The impact on the market was obvious, and the inflation figure got investors thinking monetary policies may tighten, and we might even see a rate hike,’ said Zhang Xinfa, an analyst at Galaxy Securities.
   In an address to parliament last week, Premier Wen Jiabao said the government’s inflation target for this year was 4.8 per cent, as he listed soaring prices as the top worry for China’s 1.3 billion people.
    ‘The current price hikes and increasing inflationary pressures are the biggest concern of the people,’ Wen said.
   Inflation in China was 4.8 per cent in 2007, the steepest rise in 11 years, as the economy expanded by 11.4 per cent over the 12 month period.
   For China’s communist rulers, inflation is of particular concern because it threatens to lead to social unrest and fuel anger at the government, as was the case in the lead-up to the 1989 democracy protests that the military crushed.

The European Central Bank said Tuesday that it had pumped nine billion euros (13.9 billion dollars) into the eurozone banking system in a one-day quick tender to offset a liquidity shortage.
   The bank, which had initially announced a tender for 3.5 billion euros, raised the amount alloted owing to what a bank spokeswoman termed a ‘technical revision.’
   The change did not indicate increased stress on the money markets, she said.
   Bids for funds totaled 45.08 billion euros, the ECB added in a statement.
   A quick tender is a procedure used by eurozone central banks for so-called fine-tuning operations, when the ECB seeks to make a rapid impact on the amount of cash available in money markets.
   The procedure is executed within a time frame of one hour, covers a period of one day, and is restricted to a limited number of monetary financial institutions, which are mainly commercial banks.

Japanese stores took delivery of no second-generation mobile telephones in January for the first time since their launch as shipments of advanced handsets soared, an industry group said Tuesday.
   Japan and South Korea are at the forefront of third-generation (3G) phones, which offer high-speed Internet access and other interactive features and have not even entered the market in many developing nations.
   Manufacturers sent 4.08 million cellphones to Japanese stores in January, the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association said.
   ‘For the first time, the number of second-generation models was zero,’ it said.
   Japan becomes the second country to be virtually finished with second-generation following South Korea, according to Nomura Research.
   Japanese stores continue to offer a small number of second-generation phones, but it is almost impossible for new users to start fresh subscriptions.
   At the end of February, nearly 85 per cent of Japanese mobile users were carrying third-generation or equivalent phones. Japan’s top-ranked NTT DoCoMo Inc. in 2001 became the world’s first company to offer 3G.
   Despite the success in Japan and South Korea, 3G has caught on more slowly in other countries amid questions over whether customers will pay much steeper prices for features they could find on their home computer.
   Third-generation or advanced second-generation accounts for about 50 per cent of North American cellphones and 10 per cent of Western European mobiles, according to industry surveys.
   In Japan, mobile operators have increasingly written off second-generation phones as a source of profit and have been developing more advanced features to woo customers.
   More than 60 per cent of the phones delivered by manufacturers in January are equipped for digital television broadcasts.

Slowing economies in leading countries will moderate thirst for oil but high prices are not the result of speculation alone and are here to stay, the International Energy Agency warned on Tuesday.
   The day after after the oil price topped 107 dollars a barrel for the first time, the IEA said: ‘We are in an era of higher oil prices.
    ‘So if we look at 100 dollars per barrel of oil we have to do so with an understanding that prices are unlikely to return to levels seen in the early part of this decade.’
   The IEA said in its monthly report that it was holding its estimate for world oil demand this year at 87.5 million barrels per day ‘with downward pressures from weaker economic growth in the OECD mostly offset by stronger former Soviet Union (FSU) projections.’
   This estimate was an increase of 1.7 million barrels per day or 2.0 per cent from demand in 2007 which grew by 1.1 per cent.
   World supplies of oil rose by 185,000 barrels per day in February to 87.5 million barrels per day but an increase in output by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries in January had raised the base line of comparison.
   However, ‘seasonal limits on OECD production and steady OPEC output may flatten global supply over the next two months.’
   Supplies by OPEC had fallen by 120,000 barrels to 32.1 million barrels per day in February. OPEC’s spare capacity remained at about 2.0 million barrels per day.
   Growth of overall oil demand in the OECD was expected to come almost solely from demand for fuel from the transportation sector, but even this growth should be weaker than in the past as a result of ‘slowing economic activity, notably in the US, and higher oil prices,’ the IEA said.
   Stocks held by industry in advanced countries covered by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development increased by 32.6 million barrels in January to 2.617 billion barrels or 52.9 days of consumption.

The US Federal Reserve announced moves Tuesday to pump more liquidity into the global financial system,
   easing terms for direct loans to banks and increasing swap arrangements with other central banks.
   The Fed said it was pumping 200 billion dollars into a new Term Securities Lending Facility, with term of 28 days instead of overnight under an existing program.
   This allows banks to obtain Treasury securities by pledging collateral such as mortgage-backed securities and other debt. Auctions will be held on a weekly basis, beginning on March 27.
   The Fed also said it has authorized increases in its existing temporary reciprocal currency arrangements or swap lines with the European Central Bank and the Swiss National Bank.
   The Fed will provide up to 30 billion dollars to the ECN and six billion to the SNB.
   It was the latest in a series of steps to help get credit flowing in the global financial system, which has been gridlocked by concerns about market turmoil.

The US trade deficit widened 0.6 per cent in January to 58.2 billion dollars, as crude oil prices rocketed, the government said Tuesday.
   The bulging US trade gap widened at the start of the year compared with a revised 57.9 billion dollars in December.
   Most economists had expected the deficit to widen, but by a bigger margin to 59 billion dollars.
   The widening in the deficit was largely explained by increased oil costs as the average price for a barrel of imported oil struck a record 84.09 dollars per barrel.

German investor confidence jumped in March amid hope that the worst of the financial market crisis would be over by late 2008, the ZEW economic institute said Tuesday.
   ZEW’s closely-watched monthly economic sentiment indicator defied analysts’ expectations to gain 7.5 points and stands at minus 32.0 points after hitting minus 39.5 points in February, the lowest level since January 1993.
   The institute said the figures reflected analysts’ expectations that current financial market turmoil would taper off and the US dollar would strengthen in a boost to Germany’s all-important export sector.

Leaders of Japan’s main opposition party decided Tuesday to reject the government’s candidate for the next head of the central bank, a top party official told reporters.
    ‘We disagree with Mr. Muto as the Bank of Japan governor,’ said Yukio Hatoyama, secretary general of the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan.
    ‘Mr Muto is the finance ministry itself, and (his nomination) fails to ensure the independence of the Bank of Japan. This was the agreed opinion,’ he told reporters after a meeting of leading party officials.
   Toshiro Muto, a former top finance ministry bureaucrat, must be approved by both houses of parliament to become Bank of Japan chief.
   The opposition controls the upper house.

The Mutual Trust Bank Ltd signed an agreement with ITCL, an ATM and P05 service provider at its head office recently.
   Kazi Md Shafiqur Rahman, managing director of MTB, and Kazi Saifuddin Munir, managing director and chief executive officer of ITCL, signed the agreement on behalf of their respective sides, said a press release.
   From now onwards MTB cardholders will enjoy the facility of using Q Cash ATM to withdraw cash, balance inquiry, mini statement and charge MTB debit card at ITCL POS at a free of cost.
   Other high officials from both the sides were present at the signing ceremony.

The Pubali Bank Limited has inaugurated its Raozan branch at Chittagong recently.
   Hafiz Ahmed Majumder, chairman of the board of directors of the bank, formally inaugurated the branch as chief guest while managing director of the bank Helal Ahmed Chowdhury presided over the function, said a press release. Directors of the bank Moniruddin Ahmed, Sk Wahidur Rahman, Giasuddin Ahmed, Monzurur Rahman, Ahmed Shafi Chowdhury, Fahim Ahmed Faruk Chowdhury and alternative director Kabiruzza man Yakub were also attended at the ceremony.
   The chairman said Pubali Bank is committed to providing the best and innovative banking services.

The dollar plunged to an all-time low against the euro on Tuesday following the release of a stronger-than-expected survey on economic confidence in Germany, the eurozone’s largest economy.
   In morning trade, the European single currency surged as high as 1.5495 dollars, which beat the previous record of 1.5464 that was set last Friday. It later stood at 1.5475.
   German investor confidence jumped in March amid hope that the worst of the financial market crisis would be over by late 2008, the ZEW economic institute said Tuesday.
   ZEW’s closely-watched monthly economic sentiment indicator defied analysts’ expectations to gain 7.5 points, and stood at minus 32.0 points in March after hitting minus 39.5 points in February, the lowest level since January 1993.
   Analysts said the news provides some hope that Germany may manage to escape the worst of the fallout from the looming US slowdown.
   ‘Today’s report can only add to the positive euro sentiment,’ said CIBC analyst Jodie Tiller.
   She added: ‘German investor confidence (is) holding up well in light of rising oil prices, a stronger euro and persistent uncertainties on the markets/economic front.’
   The ZEW institute said the figures reflected market expectations that current financial market turmoil would taper off and that the US dollar would strengthen in a boost to Germany’s all-important export sector.
   ‘On the whole, today’s release suggests that the resilience shown by the euro-area economy in the recent dataflow had a stronger impact on analysts’ assessment than the continued deterioration abroad.
   Before the ZEW release, the dollar was already on the backfoot as traders avoided risks after a stream of bad news from credit markets, dealers said.
   ‘The dollar continues to be sold on falling US shares and credit insecurity, which is in turn supporting currencies like the Swiss franc and the yen,’ said Daisuke Uno, chief strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation. Investors shunned risky positions and rushed to safe-haven assets including commodities such as oil, gold and US Treasuries.
   Markets were jittery about new signs of credit market problems that triggered losses on Wall Street on Monday.

Canada is warning that new US legislation could prohibit its southern neighbor from buying fuel from its oilsands with ‘unintended consequences for both countries,’ officials said Monday.
   ‘The government of Canada has concerns about how section 526 of the December 2007 US Energy Independence and Security Act could be interpreted to include Canadian oil sands,’ Eugenie Cormier-Lassonde, a spokeswoman for Canada’s foreign affairs department, told AFP.
   Section 526 of the law prohibits the US government from procuring alternative fuels with higher lifecycle
   greenhouse gas emissions than conventional petroleum sources.
   Canada’s Alberta oil sands have been classified as an unconventional energy source and, according to environmentalists, they create up to five times more carbon emissions than conventional oil production.

Dividend
   Power Grid Company of Bangladesh
   The company has informed that the dividend warrants for the year 2006-2007 will be delivered to the honorable shareholders through a courier service form 11th March in the recorded address of the shareholders.
   
   Shares offloaded
   Eastern Lubricants
   The company has informed that as per decision of the government to increase the supply of good fundamental shares in the capital market, the Board of Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation has decided to offload 10 per cent (65,550 shares) of its holdings in the company to the market.
   
   Net Profit
   United Leasing
   As per audited accounts as on December 31,2007, the company has reported net profit of Tk 14.45 crore with EPS of Tk 68.83 as against Tk 12.32 crore and Tk 58.68 respectively as on December 31, 2006.
   Sinobangla Industries
   As per audited accounts as on December 31,2007, the company has reported net profit of Tk 1.93 crore with EPS of Tk 1.93 as against Tk 0.45 crore and Tk 0.45 respectively as on December 31, 2006.
   
   Life fund
   Prime Islami Life Insurance Ltd
   As per audited accounts for the year 2006, total life fund of the company was reported Tk 43.86 crore out of which maximum 10 per cent of life fund available for shareholders is estimated to be Tk 4.39 crore (as at least 90 per cent of life fund is a liability of the company to the policy holders). Thus maximum life fund available per share of the company stood at Tk. 146.21 only based on pre IPO paid up capital and Tk. 58.49 only based on post IPO paid up capital.
   
   Response to DSE query
   Apex Adelchi Footwear Ltd
   The company has informed that there is no undisclosed price sensitive information of the company for recent unusual price hike.
   Source: DSE, CSE

Bangladeshi trade show in Bahrain on April 10-11
A showcase on Bangladeshi products and a concert will be held at Bahrain International Exhibition Centre in Manama, Bahrain on April 10-11. The showcase will exhibit various Bangladeshi products and services in a limited number of Bangladeshi stalls of banks, insurance and real estate companies, food items and garments and handicrafts. Eminent Bangladeshi artistes and singers will perform at the concert and cultural show. Dhaka International Exhibition Company (DIEC) in cooperation with Bangladesh Association in Bahrain will organise the showcase and concert. A large number of Bangladeshi expatriates living in Bahrain are expected to attend the showcase and concert. Interested banks, insurance and real estate companies and other related business houses are requested to contact Ali Akbar, director, DIEC, (62/1 Purana Paltan, 4th floor, Dhaka Ph: 9558318-19, 01710-852522) by March 20 for having stall booking.
— UNB

Moulvibazar now under CSE network
Firstlead Securities Ltd, a leading member of the Chittagong Stock Exchange based in Sylhet region, opened its new branch in Moulvibazar Tuesday to increase its client range. Speaking at a function on the occasion, CSE president Nasiruddin Ahmed said increase in trading volume in the bourses needs doorstep service by the members. This will provide opportunity to investors at every corner to do share trading. He said capital markets in the country eyes a good prospective in the days to come. If investors utilise pragmatic skill on investment decision they will get a good return. ‘Investors need only to learn the pros and cons of investment tools and techniques,’ he added. Nasiruddin said entry of new issues including state-owned companies’ shares and overall price hike in shares led the market capitalisation to rise. The increase indicates that the capital market is promising. ‘The market capitalisation growth should be sustained with floatation of fresh securities especially from the telecommunications, power, gas, energy and infrastructure sectors,’ he added.
— UNB