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A group of retail investors on Monday staged demonstration in front of Dhaka Stock Exchange building being unnerved by the continuous fall in share prices.
   Dhaka stocks plunged on Monday for the straight fourth trading day due to selling pressure amid a volatile trend at the market in recent weeks, said market operators.
   The general index of Dhaka Stock Exchange lost 50.86 points, or 1.89 per cent, to close at 2633.83, while its blue chips index, DSE20, shed 41.08 points, or 1.78 per cent, to finish at 2267.93.
   A merchant bank official said a large number of individual investors as well as institutional investors remained almost inactive as they took a ‘wait-and-see’ policy very recently. Retail investors sold off their holdings being upset by the downtrend, he added.
   DSE general index lost 134.67 points in the last four trading days. On Monday, the benchmark index started to dive 30 minutes after the opening.
   Being frustrated with the persistent fall in share prices, a group of retail investors gathered in front of the DSE building at about 12:30pm and staged a brief demonstration there until police came to foil their protest, witnesses said.
   The demonstrators demanded steps of the authorities to arrest further fall in shares prices at the market, they said.
   Most of the securities dropped on Monday. Out of 231 issues traded at SDE floor, 202 declined, 21 advanced and eight remained unchanged.
   The Dhaka bourse, however, opened with positive note pushing the key index up nearly 40 points in the opening hour of the trade. Later, it started to shed because of selling pressure from the investors, said market operators.
   ‘Retail investors remained worried over the trend at the market which was experiencing a bearish trend during three weeks,’ said Salahuddin Ahmed Khan, chief executive officer of the DSE, at a press briefing held at the DSE board room.
   DSE held the briefing after a group of retail investors staged a demonstration in front of the bourse’s building.
   Salahuddin said a speculation that the market would fall further prompted the retail investors to sell off their holdings.
   He asked the investors not to be panicky with the downward trend at the market. ‘We expect that the market will bounce back soon,’ he said.
   Salahuddin said merchant banks started to return to the buying side. ‘But a number of leading merchant banks are still at the selling side mainly due to statutory restriction,’ he said.
   ‘The Securities and Exchange Commission, capital market regulatory body, will hold a meeting with merchant banks and stock exchanges on the present market situation tomorrow (Tuesday),’ he informed.
   DSE chief operating officer AFM Shariful Islam and chief financial officer Satipati Moitra were present at the press briefing.
   Share prices of Takaful Insurance Limited posted a rise by 236.50 per cent to Tk 336.50 a share on its debut on the bourse.
   The insurance company was the seventh turnover leader with shares worth Tk 5.67 crore changing hands. The face value of the company’s shares is Tk 100 each.
   DSE turnover decreased to Tk 228.14 crore from the Sunday’s Tk 249.05 crore.
   Beximco Pharmaceuticals topped the turnover leader with a total transaction of Tk 33.39 crore.
   Beximco, ACI, Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company, LankaBangla Finance, Square Pharmaceuticals, Uttara Bank, Islami Bank and Summit Alliance Port were the rest nine top turnover leaders.

The country’s export earnings increased by more than 20 per cent to $2.9 billion in the July-August period of current fiscal, compared to the same period in the previous year, according to a release of Export Promotion Bureau.
   The export processed also surpassed the target by about four per cent, showed the monthly export earnings statement of EPB released on Monday.
   The EPB release showed that earnings from readymade garment export increased by 44 per cent to $2.243 billion, knitwear 53 per cent to $1.128 billion and woven garment 36 per cent to $1.033 billion.
   Apart from apparel, frozen food grew by 5 per cent to $104 million, footwear by 63 per cent to $43 million dollar, fresh and processed agricultural products by 44 per cent to $35 million and terry towel by 24 per cent to $23 million during the period.
   Despite missing their respective targets, export earnings of jute goods grew by three per cent to $55 million, home textile by 30 per cent to $55 million, ceramic products by 31 per cent to $8 million and tea by 8 per cent to $3 million.
   The raw jute earned $18 million, finished leather $39 million and handicrafts $0.9 million during the period. These products missed their targets and saw export earning fall.
   The price index of the primary products increased by 25.4 per cent while that of the manufactured products by 6.2 per cent. In volume, the primary products’ index declined by 13 per cent, but manufactured products’ index increased by 39 per cent.
   The export earning target for the current fiscal year was set at 16.3 billion dollars, 15.6 per cent up over the target of previous year.

Prime minister Manmohan Singh on Monday said the global crisis had impacted Indian corporates, banks and investor sentiment, but assured that the banking system and deposits were safe and the government would take more steps to protect economic growth.
   ‘A crisis of this magnitude was bound to affect our economy and it has. International credit has shrunk with adverse effects on our corporates and banks. Global uncertainty is also tending to dampen investor sentiment,’ he said during a meeting with India Inc to review the state of the economy in the face of the global meltdown.
   He asked industry to refrain from any ‘knee-jerk’ reaction such as large-scale layoffs, which might lead to a negative spiral, and said, ‘industry must bear in mind its societal obligations in coping with the effects of this global crisis’, which the prime minister felt ‘is now likely to be more severe and prolonged’.
   ‘Our first priority was to protect the Indian financial system from possible loss of confidence or contagion effect ... The situation is abnormal and we need to be constantly on the alert. The situation is being watched on a day-to-day basis and more steps will be taken if required.’ The meeting was attended, among others, by Ratan Tata, Mukesh Ambani, KV Kamath, Shashi Ruia, Deepak Parekh, KP Singh, where Finance minister P Chidambaram, RBI governor D Subbarao and Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia represented the government.
   Singh said additional liquidity and reduction in repo rate will help to ‘provide credit at reasonable rates’.
   He said, ‘The government will take necessary monetary and fiscal policy measures on the domestic front to protect our growth rates,’ adding that India will also seek reform of international financial institutions to prevent recurrence of such crisis.

South Korean exporters Monday filed a class action suit against major banks, saying the currency options they hold should be nullified amid huge losses caused by the won’s steep decline.
   Hundreds of small exporters took out the options contracts known as ‘knock-in knock-out’ in recent years to hedge against currency movements.
   If the dollar soars beyond a given range, the firms stand to make hefty losses on their contracts.
   The won’s steep fall of around 30 per cent against the dollar this year has hit them hard. Combined losses reached 1.7 trillion won ($1.3b) as of August, according to the Financial Services Commission watchdog.
   Exporters say the banks failed to explain the high risk associated with the options and passed on their own forex losses to the exporters.
   Kim Moo-Song, a representative for a group of 97 exporters filing the suit, said that when the dollar soars exorbitantly against the won, the options violate the principle of good faith.
   ‘The system doesn’t function as a hedge,’ he told Yonhap news agency.
   The suit involves 13 foreign and local banks, including US Citibank, Britain’s Standard Chartered Bank and South Korea’s Shinhan Bank and Korea Exchange Bank.
   According to a report by the FSC last month, Korea Exchange Bank, Citibank and Shinhan Bank accounted for 70 per cent of all companies involved in the KIKOs.
   It said Korea Exchange Bank traded with 209 firms, whose combined losses amounted to 322.5 billion won. Citibank sold the options to 134 firms that suffered 408.9 billion won in combined losses, followed by Shinhan Bank with 117 firms that lost 327.2 billion won.
   The options ‘are unfair and violate the principle of good faith, which makes them invalid,’ Kim was quoted as saying.
   A group of 100 other smaller exporters plan to file a similar lawsuit next week.
   The government has promised help for small firms hit by losses over the options.

The European Commission will launch disciplinary action against Ireland in the coming weeks for allowing a sharp deterioration in its public finances, EU Economic Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said on Monday.
   ‘We will start the procedures to open an excessive deficit procedure with a recommendation to correct the deficit in the coming weeks,’ Almunia told journalists in Brussels.
   Ireland, which has long run budget surpluses, will see its public finances swing deep into deficit this year with a shortfall equal to 5.5 per cent of output, the European Commission estimated earlier Monday.
   That would put the Irish public deficit well beyond a limit of 3.0 per cent normally allowed in the European Union.
   However, the commission forecast that the situation would only get worse, estimating that the difference between Ireland’s spending and revenues would rise to 6.8 per cent in 2009 and 7.2 per cent in 2010.
   Eurozone member states that consistently breach the overspending rules expose themselves to the possibility of huge fines, although such sanctions would have to be approved by other members, making them unlikely in reality.
   After enjoying a long economic boom which has made the so-called Celtic tiger one of the richest countries in Europe, Ireland won the dubious title of being first eurozone country to plunge into recession in the face of the current financial crisis.
   After growing 6.0 per cent in 2007, the Irish economy is set to contract by 1.6 per cent this year and 0.9 per cent next year, according to sharply reduced forecasts from the commission on Monday.
   EU deficit rules, which were relaxed in 2005, allow member states flexibility in the case of a sharp economic slump, although countries are still expected to not entirely toss fiscal discipline to the wind.
   In Dublin, Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen acknowledged on RTE state radio that the ‘budgetary situation has deteriorated considerably this year’ and promised to work ‘constructively’ with Brussels to reduce the deficit.

Chinese premier Wen Jiabao said the global economic crisis had made 2008 the worst year for China’s development in recent memory, and warned of worse to come.
   His comments, in a signed article in a journal published by the Communist Party, come as China struggles with its slowest growth in five years.
   ‘We must be aware that this year is the worst in recent times for our economic development,’ Wen said in the article in Qiushi over the weekend.
   ‘The global financial turmoil and the economic downturn are getting worse. Inflationary pressure remains large as world oil prices are still at a high level despite some corrections.’
   ‘All these negative factors have affected and will continue to affect China,’ he warned.
   China’s growth slowed to nine per cent in the third quarter of this year, the lowest quarterly figure since the middle of 2003, partly due to a slowdown in exports.
   The country’s trade surplus for the first nine months of the year reached 180.9 billion dollars, down 2.6 per cent year-on-year, according to customs data.
   Experts said Wen’s article, targeting mainly Party cadres, aimed to prepare officials who still hold divergent views about how badly China would be affected in the worst-case scenario amid the global financial crisis.
   ‘It probably is meant to remind everyone that the financial crisis may be more serious and last longer than previously imagined,’ Su Chang, a Beijing-based analyst with research firm CEB Monitor Group, told AFP.
   He said some recent policies, including cutting interest rates three times in fewer than two months, are mainly fine-tuning.
   ‘These policies probably indicated that quite a number of people in the policy-making body were not very pessimistic about... an economic slowdown.’
   Wen said maintaining quick growth should ‘take an even more prominent position’ among the government’s priorities.
   Meanwhile, he called for a continued focus on inflation, which has emerged as a top policy concern over the past year.
   ‘We should fully grasp the harm that inflation can cause to economic growth, people’s livelihood and social stability,’ he said.
   The consumer price index rose 4.6 per cent year on year in September, compared with a 12-year high of 8.7 per cent in February, which was sharply higher than the 4.8-per cent target set by the government at the beginning of 2008.
   ‘We should... increase the focus, flexibility and effectiveness of the macro control policies, so as to maintain a balance between achieving stable and relatively fast economic growth and curbing inflation,’ Wen said.
   In his article, Wen also urged a boost to domestic consumption to reduce the country’s dependence on exports and therefore its exposure to external risks.
   ‘We have to work hard to alleviate and avoid excessive dependence on foreign demand, because it squeezes the real demand inside the country and increases the risk of external impacts,’ he said.
   ‘Given the current world economic downturn and the serious export situation, encouraging domestic demand, especially consumption, is particularly important for expanding economic growth potential... and preventing a slowdown.’
   He added the government would seek to reform the country’s income distribution to ‘ease and remove the worries that had prevented residents from consuming more.’

The shipping ministry has constituted a 10-member committee to make recommendations about inclusion of non-governmental entrepreneurs and institutions in collecting container carriers.
   The committee would make recommendations about container collection for Pangao Inland Container Shipping Terminal, said a government handout on Monday.
   The chairman of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation was made convenor of the committee.
   The committee would submit its initial recommendations by November 30. It would also review the existing laws and procedures about employing them.
   It would have talks with those directly involved with transporting containers on water route to fix their roles, interests, and liabilities and formulate strategies.

Speakers at a workshop in Khulna on Monday emphasised improvement of farming methods and coordination among all stake holders for boosting shrimp production.
   They also stressed foreign investment and joint-venture in the sector and adequate loan on easy term for the shrimp farmers.
   WorldFish Centre and Poverty Reduction by Increasing the Competitiveness of Enterprises project arranged the workshop with support of the USAID titled ‘Greater Harvest and Economic Returns From Shrimp’.
   Shrimp farmers, shrimp processing plant owners, depot owners, hatchery owners, fish-feed traders, exporters and officials attended the workshop.
   Professor Md Saifuddin Shah, vice-chancellor of Khulna University, attended the workshop as chief guest
   Alan C Brooks, regional director of WorldFish Centre, Bob Webster, project chief, Md Anisur Rahman Bhuian, deputy director of Khulna department of fisheries, Sheikh Abdul Baqui, vice-president of Bangladesh Frozen Foods Exporters’ Association, and S Humayun Kabir, managing director of Amam Sea Food Limited, were also present.
    Quazi AZM Kudrat-e-Kabir, project manager of WorldFish Centre, modarated the programme.
   The speakers said immediate steps are needed to raise farm yields for the interest of shrimp sector as well as economic development of the country.
   They also stressed the need for creating trained manpower and strong coordination among all stakeholders in shrimp sector.

Vietnam’s central bank said it would cut the benchmark interest rate by one percentage point to 12 per cent on Wednesday in a bid to free up credit for businesses amid the global financial turmoil.
   The second such rate cut in two weeks was announced late Monday in an online statement by the State Bank of Vietnam.
   The move aimed ‘to avoid a slowdown of the economy and to stabilise the macro-economy’ while keeping inflation in check, the bank said.
   The monetary loosening since last month reverses a series of three rate hikes earlier this year, from 8.25 per cent to 14 per cent.
   Those increases had aimed to control inflation, which last month fell slightly to 26.7 per cent, but the rate cuts since have aimed to stimulate the economy amid a domestic credit crunch and the global financial turmoil.
   Vietnam, a major producer of manufactured goods such as garments and footwear, and commodities including rice, coffee and seafood, could be hit hard by downturns in the United States, Europe and other export markets.

The worst financial crisis for generations has driven the EU economy into a recession and economic growth will come close to a standstill in 2009, the European Commission warned on Monday.
   The 15 countries sharing the euro have slumped into the first technical recession, defined by economists of two or more quarters running of economic contraction, since the bloc was formed in 1999, the commission estimated.
   ‘The economic horizon has now significantly darkened as the European Union economy is hit by the financial crisis that deepened during the autumn and is taking a toll on business and consumer confidence,’ said EU Economic Affairs commissioner Joaquin Almunia.
   In a broad downgrade of its estimates, the commission forecast a short, shallow recession for the EU, predicting the bloc’s combined economy would shrink by 0.1 per cent in both the third and fourth quarters of 2008.
   For the whole of 2008, the EU’s executive arm forecast that the 27-nation economy would grow 1.4 per cent and eke out growth of only 0.2 per cent next year.
   In the eurozone, the economy shrank 0.2 in the second quarter and is set to contract by 0.1 per cent in both the third and fourth quarters, according to the commission’s forecasts.
   The commission estimated that would bring growth over the whole of 2008 to 1.2 per cent, but said that the eurozone economy would come close to stalling in 2009 with growth of merely 0.1 per cent.
   ‘The situation in the markets remains precarious and the crisis is not yet over. This means weaker growth,’ Almunia told journalists.
   Global financial markets have seen some of the most volatile trading in decades over the last month although a relative degree of calm has returned over the last week.
   ‘I am convinced that we need common European action to help the recovery that is included in our forecast for the second part of 2009,’ Almunia said.
   The commission is in the midst of drafting plans for a coordinated European economic stimulus package, which it aims to present at the end of the month.
   While urging EU action specifically to boost slumping investment in the face of weak economic activity, Almunia warned that ‘we also need to be aware of the limit of the possibility of EU action in financing investment.’
   In the face of sharply slowing growth, the commission forecast that unemployment would return as a major headache in Europe after a steady decline in recent years.
   It predicted that the unemployment rate in the eurozone would creep up from a record low of 7.2 per cent in March to 8.7 per cent in 2010.
   Meanwhile, the economic slowdown would also take its toll on public finances driving deficits in the eurozone as a per centage of output from 1.3 per cent this year to 1.8 per cent in 2009.
   However, some countries would be far over the average with France’s deficit hitting the 3.0 per cent limit allowed by EU rules this year and breaching it next year with a deficit of 3.5 per cent.
   Some relief would come in the form of lower inflation which the commission said had peaked since commodity prices had fallen in the middle the year.
   It forecast that annual inflation in the eurozone would reach 3.5 per cent in 2008 before easing back to 2.2 per cent in 2009 and 2.1 per cent in 2010.
   If confirmed, that would bring the inflation rate much closer to the European Central Bank’s comfort zone of close to but less than 2.0 per cent, giving more scope for a series of rate cuts in the face of weak growth.

Because of the economic meltdown, more than a dozen US retailers have filed for bankruptcy so far this year, it was reported on Sunday.
   Industry experts expect more to file early next year as the reality of a lackluster holiday season becomes clear, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
   As the economic meltdown deepened, some well-known retailers in the nation, such as Mervyns, Linens ‘N Things, Shoe Pavilion and Whitehall Jewellers, have started liquidating their inventories, which is part and parcel of going belly up, the paper said.
   Both Mervyns and Linens ‘N Things originally filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in hopes of emerging smaller but financially stable, but later resorted to liquidation.
   Other recent bankruptcies include Sharper Image, Wickes Furniture and McMahan’s Furniture, a family-owed chain based in Santa Monica near Los Angeles. Other retailers are shutting lower-performing stores to try to stay in business, according to the paper.
   ‘We’ve got a number of retailers who are barely hanging on,’ said Bill Dombrowski, president and chief executive officer of the California Retailers Association.
   After initially being planned to begin Friday, going-out-of-business sales started Saturday at Mervyns’ remaining 149 stores after hearings held Thursday in federal Bankruptcy Court in Delaware determined which liquidators would run the sales.
   Hudson Capital Partners of Newton, Massachusetts, is one of four firms in charge of liquidating more than 900 million dollars in Mervyns merchandise.
   ‘I’ve been in this business for 15 years and I’ve never seen it like this,’ said James Schaye, Hudson Capital’s president and chief executive officer, adding that his firm is also running sales for Linens ‘N Things, Shoe Pavilion and Whitehall Jewellers.

With barely two weeks left for the crucial G-20 meet, India on Monday said it would seek reform of international financial institutions to prevent global financial crisis, which is sending shock waves around the world.
   ‘We will seek reform of the international financial institutions, and improved regulation and supervision to prevent recurrence of such crises,’ prime minister Manmohan Singh said at a meeting with captains of Indian industry here.
   Singh said his government was working closely with other countries to ensure coordinated policy action and increased development cooperation for the containment of this crisis.
   The United States has called a meeting of the G-20 on Financial Markets and the World Economy in Washington on November 15 to discuss the global financial crisis and work out a joint strategy to deal with the emerging situation.
   Among other things, the Summit will discuss the effects of the current crisis on emerging economies and developed nations.
   After attending a meeting with Finance minister P Chidambaram to devise a strategy for India’s position on G-20 meeting last week, former RBI Governor C Rangarajan had said the summit was a high-level meeting that will discuss possible changes in the international financial architecture.
   Besides the US, the members of the G-20 include India, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, and the UK.

Measures to be rolled out Wednesday to help Germany weather the global economic crisis will create or guarantee nearly one million jobs, Economy minister Michael Glos was quoted as saying.
   ‘With this catalogue of measures that we will adopt this week in cabinet, we are for certain going to be able to mobilise more than 30 billion euros in extra investment,’ Glos told Sunday’s Bild am Sonntag newspaper.
   ‘In addition, nearly one million jobs will be guaranteed or created,’ he added.
   Chancellor Angela Merkel, who presides over Europe’s biggest economy, has promised ‘targeted’ and ‘courageous’ steps in the face of the most serious economic downturn in years.
   In a video message on her website, Merkel on Saturday called on German banks struggling to cope with the fallout from the global financial crisis to take advantage of a state rescue package.
   Economic think tanks in Germany doubt the government’s initiatives will have much impact. They include the German Institute for Economic Research, which regards the effort as an attempt to sway public opinion.
   ZDF television reported that Merkel is to meet business and labour representatives Wednesday after a cabinet meeting to promote her economic support programme.
   Measures expected include lower taxes for greener automobiles, help to renovate houses that use too much energy, and tax incentives to encourage business to invest more.
   Small business would meanwhile be eligible for state loan guarantees.
   An Emnid opinion poll in Bild am Sonntag suggested that 70 per cent of Germans feel that such measures would prove futile in holding back an economic downturn — and that 25 per cent thought otherwise.
   The German government has already adopted measures to help the banking sector that includes loan guarantees worth 400 billion euros plus capital infusions totalling 80 billion euros.

The giants of the aerospace industry will jet in to China’s only international airshow starting Tuesday hoping the country’s aviation sector can provide shelter from the global financial crisis.
   But there are early signs China has not escaped the drop-off that has hit the global industry, with analysts and airlines warning of a ‘cold winter’ of slowing passenger demand.
   Boeing of the United States and Europe’s Airbus will head the line-up of 600 civil and military manufacturers and parts suppliers from 35 countries at the 2008 China Airshow, an annual event in the southern city of Zhuhai.
   And as airlines across the world report a drop-off in first and business class travel due to the economic turbulence, the firms insist China can provide crucial growth in the next few years.
   ‘China is going to be the fastest-growing market in the world,’ Wang Yukui, the spokesman for Boeing in China, told AFP.
   Research released last week by the US giant found China will need 3,710 new commercial planes worth 390 billion dollars over the next 20 years.
   The demand will represent 41 per cent of the entire Asia-Pacific market, and only the United States will be a bigger buyer, Boeing said.
   In addition, Chinese carriers will add about 370 freight-carrying planes by 2027, quadrupling their total freighter fleet, the Boeing research found.
   Airbus chief executive officer Tom Enders also said recently it was expecting a ‘large order’ from Chinese airlines by early 2009, on top of existing memorandums of understanding with Chinese carriers for 280 aircraft.
   The company’s giant superjumbo, the A380, will be on display at the China Airshow, as the company tries to take a bigger slice of the thriving market.
   In 2007, China’s air traffic soared 16.8 per cent to 387.6 million passenger trips, on the back of 16.7 per cent growth in 2006, state media reported.
   The demand has sparked a similar boom in airport construction, with around 100 new airports planned by 2020, previous reports said.
   Nevertheless, China’s aviation sector is starting to feel the impact of the global economic turmoil, according to Tom Ballantyne, chief correspondent of industry magazine Orient Aviation.
   ‘Although we are not talking about a cessation of growth, we are talking about a slowdown in growth,’ he told AFP.
   ‘The industry in China has been growing at 10-15 per cent (per year). It is likely to be more like 5-6 per cent growth going forward.’
   He Li, vice president of state-owned flagship carrier Air China, said Monday the industry must be prepared for a ‘cold winter’ of slowing passenger demand and should be prudent about buying new aircraft.
   ‘Airlines need to get prepared for passing the cold winter,’ he told a conference in Zhuhai ahead of the Airshow.
   ‘In 2008, the domestic aviation market has experienced fluctuations, even a slowdown, but aircraft numbers kept growing,’ he said. Both Air China and another major player, China Eastern, last week reported heavy losses in the third quarter, normally peak season for air travel.
   Air China said the losses were due to both the fluctuating oil price and a decrease in demand. China Eastern said the poor showing meant it expected to make a loss in 2008.
   While international manufacturers are hoping they can continue to fill up their order books, China’s nascent manufacturing industry may use the 2008 airshow to announce a major step forward.

Samsung and Electra International ltd organised the annual dealers’ meet of Samsung consumer electronics products in Bangladesh recently at Sonargaon Hotel in Dhaka.
   SH Oh, managing director of Samsung Electronics, was present at the event as special guest. YY Kim, director of marketing of Samsung Electronics, Sanaullah Shahid, chairman and SA Junaid, general manager of Electra International Ltd, were present at the event. Top 10 dealers of Samsung in Bangladesh were honoured at the function.
   A game was also arranged, where the winners get Samsung ultra slim colour television, Samsung washing machine and Samsung microwave oven.

The British America Tobacco Bangladesh on Monday held the final round of ‘Battle of Minds’, a competition of business proposal presentation, at Hotel Radisson in Dhaka city.
   BRAC University won the final of the competition, said a press release. East West University became first runner up while Dhaka University marketing department emerged as second runner up.
   Faruk Sobhan, president of Bangladesh Enterprise Institute, presided over the final as chief guest.
   Golam Moinuddin, chairman of BATB, distributed prizes among the winners.

China’s central bank will lift limits on commercial bank loans to support stable and fast economic growth amid the global financial crisis, state media reported.
   Beijing is adjusting its monetary policy along with other measures to minimise the impact of the worldwide slowdown, People’s Bank of China spokesman Li Chao told the Xinhua news agency at the weekend.
   ‘In order to tackle the impact of the spreading international financial crisis flexibly and effectively, and maintain the stable and rapid growth in China’s economy, the central bank is no longer imposing hard restrictions on bank lending,’ Li said.
   The PBoC imposed strict loan controls last year and the first half of 2008 to
   rein in credit growth and prevent the economy from overheating.
   But it has since eased its limits in order to help growth as China’s economic expansion slowed to 9.9 per cent in the first three quarters of the year from 11.9 per cent in the whole of 2007.
   The central bank cut key interest rates on Wednesday to spur economic growth, the third such move in six weeks.
   The reduction, which came hours before similar moves by other central banks including the US Federal Reserve, was aimed at maintaining vitality in the economy, Li said.
   ‘In the current global crisis, central banks need coordination in policies,’ he added.
   Li also said the reserve requirement ratio, or the amount of money banks need to set aside, was left unchanged because there is ample liquidity in the country’s banking system.
   PBoC deputy governor Su Ning said it would implement a flexible and prudent monetary policy, according to remarks published in Monday’s China Securities Journal, an official business newspaper.

President Hugo Chavez on Sunday said he would ‘expropriate’ Venezuela’s banks if they are hit by a finance crisis like the one that has rocked the world economic system.
   ‘If something similar comes to pass in Venezuela, you should not have the slightest doubt that I won’t give a penny to the banks — I’ll expropriate them,’ said Chavez, speaking Sunday in the southeastern state of Barinas.
   The Venezuelan leader said he found it ‘strange’ that rich countries which have said ‘that they have no money to fight poverty, on one day come up with billions of dollars to bail out the banks.
   They remain unable, he chided, to finance ‘the production of food and medicine or to support education, but can help out the bankrupt bankers.’

The dollar fell against the euro on Monday, the eve of US presidential elections and ahead of a rate decision from the European Central Bank later in the week.
   In London morning trading, the euro rose to 1.2854 dollars from 1.2750 late in New York on Friday. Against the Japanese currency, the dollar climbed to 99.31 yen from 98.44 on Friday.
   ‘Not that it has ever been dull recently, but the coming week could prove especially interesting for markets,’ said Calyon economist Sebastien Barbe.
   ‘Much of the fixation will be on the central bank meetings later in the week, with both the Bank of England and the ECB expected to cut rates by 50 basis points.’
   Ahead of the rate meetings on Thursday, investors were awaiting the outcome of Tuesday’s US presidential elections with a decisive victory for Democrat Barack Obama seen by some analysts as positive for the dollar in the immediate term.
   ‘In the short-term... an Obama victory could be seen as dollar positive as it will enable Washington to respond more proactively on crisis management,’ David Forrester, a currency strategist with Barclays Capital, told Dow Jones Newswires. US polls show Obama well in front of Republican rival John McCain.
   Following the elections, the European Central Bank is widely expected to cut its main lending rate sharply this week to boost the eurozone economy.
   ‘We look for the ECB to reduce rates by 50 basis points at its November meeting, and to follow up with a further 50 basis-point cut no later than January,’ said Bank of America senior economist Holger Schmieding.
   A half-point reduction Thursday would take the ECB’s main lending rate to 3.25 per cent.
   The 15-nation eurozone economy is slumping heavily, with a key purchasing manager’s index falling to a record low in October and business confidence hitting its weakest level since November 1993.
   The economy contracted by 0.2 per cent in the second quarter. If it shrinks in the third quarter the eurozone will be in a technical recession — classified as two straight quarters of contraction.
   In morning trading here on Monday, the euro changed hands at 1.2854 dollars against 1.2750 late Friday, at 127.44 yen (125.37), 0.7923 pounds (0.7933) and 1.4861 Swiss francs (1.4745). The dollar stood at 99.31 yen (98.44) and 1.1583 Swiss francs (1.1595). The pound was at 1.6201 dollars (1.6069).

Transaction
   Pragati Life Insurance
   M Shefaque Ahmed, one of the sponsors as well as managing director of the company, has reported his intention to buy 1,000 shares of the company at prevailing market price through the stock exchange within next 30 working days.
   
   Peoples Insurance
   AN Md Nasimuddin Mollah, one of the directors of the company, has reported his intention to sell 3,000 shares out of his total holdings of 12,994 shares of the company at prevailing market price through the stock exchange within next 30 working days.
   
   Islami Bank
   Md Shamsul Huda, one of the directors of the bank, has reported his intention to sell 99 shares out of his total holdings of 478 shares of the bank at prevailing market price through the stock exchange within next 30 working days.
   
   Dividend
   Berger Paints Bangladesh
   The board of directors of the company has declared 50 per cent interim dividend (i.e. Tk 5 for every ordinary share of Tk 10) based on the company’s performance from January 1 to September 30 and retained earnings as on December 31, 2007. Record date for entitlement of interim dividend will be on November 17.
   
   Bangladesh Plantation
   The board of directors has recommended 12 per cent cash dividend for the year 2007- 2008. The AGM of the company will be held on December 15. Book closure will be from December 2 to 15.
   
   Hill Plantation
   The board of directors has recommended 10 per cent cash dividend for the year 2007- 2008. The AGM of the company will be December 15. Book closure will be from December 2 to 15.
   
   Profit
   BDCOM Online
   As per audited accounts as on June 30, 2008, the company has reported profit after tax of Tk 1.03 crore with earning per share of Tk 0.92 as against Tk 0.67 crore and Tk 0.60 (restated) respectively as on June 30, 2007.
   Takaful Insurance
   As per un-audited half yearly accounts as on June 30, 2008, the company has reported profit after tax of Tk 0.76 crore with EPS of Tk 5.09 (considering post IPO paid-up capital) as against last year’s half yearly of Tk 1.51 crore and Tk 10.04 respectively.
   
   Net Asset Value
   First BSRS
   On the close of operation on October 31, 2008, the fund has reported net asset value of Tk 597.30 per unit on current market price basis and Tk 140.60 on cost price basis against face value of Tk 100 whereas net assets of the fund stood at Tk 7,02,97,571.41.
   
   Spot trade
   BDCOM Online
   Trading of the shares of the company will be allowed only in the spot market and block/odd lot transactions will also be settled as per spot settlement cycle with cum benefit from November 4 to 6. Trading of the shares of the company will remain suspended on record date on November 9.
   Source: DSE

Southeast Asian countries need 5,000 pilots by 2013
The Southeast Asian countries need 5,000 new pilots for the next five years to fulfil the demands from airline companies in the region, an Indonesian official was quoted as saying by the Indonesian Business Daily on Monday. ‘It shows a growing demand of around 1,000 new pilots every year, which is based on the numbers of airplanes ordered by these companies,’ said Yurlis Hasibuan, director for airplanes operation under the Indonesian Transport Ministry. 300 new pilots graduate from the local flying school currently every year, while commercial and non commercial airlines need 400 new pilots. Therefore, the ministry plans to open the market and introduce in a Malaysia-based school to train more pilots.
— Xinhua

Merger to create South America’s biggest bank
Brazil’s Itau and Unibanco banks announced Monday they were merging ‘to create the biggest financial group in South America.’ The new bank, to be called Itau Unibanco, will be among the 20 biggest in the world, they added in the public notification given to stockmarket authorities. Itau is currently the second largest private-sector bank in Brazil, and Unibanco is ranked fourth. Together, they have assets of 575 billion reais ($263b) and account for around 20 per cent of Brazil’s savings accounts and credit. According to Fortune magazine, Itau made two billion dollars in profits last year from 29 billion dollars in revenues and 168.6 billion dollars in assets. Their union will have ‘the economic capacity to transform itself into a vital partner for the development of Brazilian companies here and abroad,’ the banks’ joint statement announcing the news said.
— AFP