Ban on day-old chicks import to go
Asif Showkat
The government is likely to allow the local poultry farmers to import day-old chickens lifting a ban imposed 17 years ago stabilize the local chicken market, official sources said.
The government had imposed the ban on importing day-old chickens in 1992 to protect the local poultry firms.
‘The commerce ministry has already decided to prepare a circular to allow import of one-day-old chickens as the prices of chicken kept increasing over the past few months,’ said a senior official of the commerce ministry.
He said withdrawal of restrictions on the import of day-old chicken is expected to reduce prices of chicken in the local markets.
The commerce ministry would take a decision in this regard at an inter-ministerial meeting on Sunday, to be presided over by commerce secretary Feroz Ahmed.
Secretaries of finance, home, foreign and livestock and fisheries will also attended the meeting. President of FBCCI Annisul Haq and president of Bangladesh Poultry Industry Association Syed Abu Siddique will also attend the meeting.
At present, per kg chicken meat is being sold at Tk 120 in the local market. One year ago, the price was Tk 105 per kg.
Poultry farmers have to spend Tk 55 to Tk 65 on a day-old broiler chicken, while they have to count Tk 75 for the same aged layer chickens. The farmers alleged that the price of each broiler chicken was Tk 25 and each layer chicken was less than Tk 35 a month ago.
Earlier, commerce minister Faruk Khan told the poultry businessmen that the government would allow import of a day-old chicken from abroad if they would fail to reduce the price of chicken meat substantially.
More than one lakh poultry farms are now producing 1.25 million eggs a day while per week it is 1.20 crore, The farmers also supply about 1,000 tonnes of chicken a day.
Aftab Bahumukhi, Kazi Farms and Paragon are now producing more than 30 lakh one-day-old chicks per day.
‘The decision of withdrawing the ban will cause an irreparable damage to the country’s poultry industry,’ Syed Abu Siddique of Bangladesh Poultry Industry Association said on Saturday.
He also said that the government would not give time to the poultry industries and farmers to improve their financial situation as the bird flu in 2007-08 fiscal had already driven out tens of thousands of smaller players from the market.
Import of Indian bird-flu-affected day-old chickend would render many people jobless in the poultry industry, he added.
India to import rice
Agence France-Presse . New Delhi
India’s government plans to import 30,000 tonnes of rice to offset an expected production shortfall following the worst monsoon in nearly four decades, a report said Saturday.
The move comes as the US Department of Agriculture has forecast India’s rice output will fall between 15 million and 17 million tonnes in the crop year from October 2009 to September 2010 following two years of bumper harvests.
India is the world’s second-largest rice producer. The country of nearly 1.2 billion people produced a record 99.15 million tonnes of rice last year.
The government has asked three state-owned trading firms, MMTC, STC and PEC, to import 10,000 tonnes of rice each and sell it in the market, the Press Trust of India said.
‘The tender to import rice is under the government instruction,’ Sanjiv Batra, chairman of MMTC, told the news agency.
An official of another publicly owned trading company STC said the rice shipments were likely to arrive in the country in November and December.
As of now, the three state-run trading firms have been advised to import only 10,000 tonnes each, added the STC official, who was not identified.
Earlier this week, the Press Trust of India reported private traders had already imported 400,000 tonnes of rice and the figure was expected to rise.
Some experts have said India could buy up to three million tonnes of rice on world markets.
The government has waived customs duty on rice imports of 70 per cent until September 2010.
The forecast rice shortfall comes after India’s driest monsoon since 1972, which affected most of the rice-sowing areas of the country and was followed by devastating floods.
This year, the government says the rice-sowing area has fallen by six million hectares (15 million acres) to 32.9 million hectares and the rice crop is expected to be reduced.
Analysts say India could become a net purchaser of rice for the first time in two decades as a result of the bad weather.
Rice prices in the domestic market have soared by 25 per cent in the last four months on supply worries.
India still has comfortable buffer stocks of 14.5 million tonnes, far above its buffer target of 5.2 million tonnes, according to local media reports.
5th knitwear Expo to see
record buyers
Staff Correspondent
Country’s knitwear manufacturers will see record number of foreign buyers in Dhaka to attend their fifth annual event Bangladesh Knitwear Exhibition.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the three-day expo at Hotel Sheraton tomorrow.
Finance minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith, employment minister Khandaker Mosharref Hossain, commerce minister Faruque Khan will be the special guests with BKMEA president Fazlul Haq in the chair.
This was disclosed at a press conference at BKMEA office here on Saturday.
This year the slogan of the fair is ‘Discover the Elegance of Bangladesh Knitwear’.
Some 110 buyers and prospective investors from the USA, Japan, Hong Kong, South Africa and European countries will take part in the fair. A seminar titled ‘Bangladesh Knitwear Industry, Recession and Beyond: Challenges and Strategies’ will also be held on the second day of the exhibition. With around 2000 factories, employing more than one million workers, who mainly stitch T-shirts and pullover, knitwear industry, is the major contributor to country’s apparel export proceeds.
More than 50 per cent of Bangladesh $12.7 billion worth garment exports came from knitwear sector.
Three companies offer
IPOs in November
Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha . Dhaka
Three companies are offering IPOs [initial public offerings] in November to raise taka 59 crore from the capital market.
The companies are Golden Son Limited, Provati Insurance Limited and RN Spinning Mills Limited.
Golden Son Limited is involved in producing and exporting non-electrical and sports items to Taiwan, UK, Canada, South Africa, Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore.
The company is offering 1 core shares to public to raise taka 20 crore for building construction, loan payment, plant and machinery acquisition and for meeting other costs.
The offering price is taka 20 for a share with taka 10 face value and a market lot of 500 shares.
Subscriptions for the local public will begin on November 8 and will remain open until November 12. Non-resident Bangladeshis, however, can apply from November 8 to November 21.
To strengthen the capital base and business expansion, Provati Insurance is offering nine lakh shares to raise taka nine crore.
The offering price of the share is taka 100 each with a market lot of 50 shares.
Subscription of the shares will open on November 15 and will continue till November 19 when the last submission date for NRBs is November 28.
RN Spinning Mills produces 100 percent synthetic yarn as a backward linking industry to the garment sector.
The company is offering 30 lakh shares to raise taka 30 crore from public for loan payment and business expansion.
Local people can apply for a market of 50 shares, will be offered between November 22-26 for taka 100 each. The last date for NRBs is December 5.
Pre-paid mobile connections
banned in Kashmir
Reuters/Bdnews24.com . New Delhi
The government on Friday banned pre-paid mobile phone connections in Jammu and Kashmir over security concerns.
Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said new pre-paid mobile connections would not be issued nor existing SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) cards renewed in the disputed region starting November.
The ban follows reports that neither vendors nor service providers carry out thorough identity checks on buyers when issuing a connection.
India has launched an overhaul of its security systems after Islamist militants killed 166 people in Mumbai in November 2008.
German cos eying more ships
from Bangladesh
Bdnews24.com . Dhaka
A German business delegation, which left Dhaka Friday, has shown keen interests in buying more ships from Bangladesh.
Peter Clasen, head of the 21-strong group that visited the country from Oct 25-30, said Bangladesh offered skilled but cheaper ship building compared with China, India and Vietnam.
Local ship builders have said Bangladesh could fetch up to $1 billion in ship orders if the country could increase the number of ship building yards to six from the present two.
‘Bangladesh has huge potential in its ship building industry. Its labourers are skilled and cheaper than those in China, India and Vietnam,’ Clasen told bdnews24.com before leaving Bangladesh.
‘We are very much interested in buying ships from Bangladesh, which could turn into a production base in South Asia,’ he said.
Clasen also termed Bangladeshi carpenters ‘world class’.
GP sponsors train service
Business Desk
A special coach of the Bangladesh Railway, sponsored by Grameenphone to enhance the passenger service on the Subarna Express, was inaugurated at Kamalapur Railway Station on Saturday.
The communication minister, Syed Abul Hossain, inaugurated the special coach. Kazi Monirul Kabir, chief communications officer of Grameenphone, M Belayat Hossain, director general of Bangladesh Railway, and senior officials of the communication ministry and Grameenphone were also present on the occasion.
The special air-conditioned coach on the intercity Subarna Express has a capacity of 55 passengers and has been designed to enhance passenger comfort and convenience on the journey. The coach features two LCD television sets for the entertainment of passengers while traveling. The entertainment will feature movies, dramas, music videos, etc. There will also be mobile charging points in the coach.
Among the other additional features are safety measures, such as a fire extinguisher and first aid box for the safety of the passengers in the cabin and electronic displays for general information and awareness messages for the passengers.
GP will manage and maintain the coach for one year.
SABINCO gets new MD
Business Desk
Quazi Shairul Hassan has been appointed the managing director of Saudi Bangladesh Industrial and Agricultural Investment Company Limited, an entity owned equally by the governments of Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh.
He is a management professional with more than three decades of experience both at home and abroad.
US credit card rates up
before new law
Associated Press . New York
Have you checked the interest rates on your credit cards lately? Odds are they’re going way up.
That’s because credit-card companies are rushing to raise rates and tack on extra fees ahead of a law slated to take effect Feb. 22 that is supposed to limit such moves in the future. In some cases, rates are doubling to as high as 30 per cent or more, even for people who pay their bills on time.
The current maneuvering by the card companies is serving up another blow to American consumers who are already struggling with their finances. U.S. lawmakers let that happen by giving the card companies nine months to prepare for the rules.
‘The delay allowed them to restock their arsenal with weapons,’ said Lloyd Constantine, an attorney who has spent 22 years litigating cases tied to the credit-card industry and is the author of the new book ‘Priceless: The Case that Brought Down The Visa/Mastercard Bank Cartel.’
It’s hardly surprising that banks and other credit-card issuers would use a grace period afforded to them by Congress to their advantage.
The changes required under the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act, or CARD Act, could go a long way to stop deceptive practices in the card industry. But before that happens, card issuers are grabbing what they can from the millions of Americans who are their customers.
Constantine is one of them. The interest rate on his Chase Visa card doubled to 17 per cent earlier this month. He got a notice announcing the change and couldn’t figure out why. Constantine, who has a high net worth, rarely uses the card, and when he does he pays his bill on time.
Come late February, the CARD Act will prohibit lenders from raising rates on outstanding card balances. In other words, if you have a balance of $1,000 and the company wants to change your rate, it only applies to new purchases. It wouldn’t be retroactive on old debt.
Card issuers also won’t be able to change the terms of a contract so long as the cardholder makes a minimum payment on time.
The rules ban a practice known as ‘universal default.’ That’s where lenders raise a cardholder’s interest rates when that person misses payments to other creditors or takes on new debt like a mortgage or a car loan.
The card companies lobbied Congress hard for the delay. They argued they needed the time to overhaul their computer systems, craft new sales’ pitches and rewrite disclosure documents to be sent to customers.
Dollar surges on risk fears
Agence France Presse . New York
The US dollar surged Friday against the euro and several other key currencies amid concerns over the pace of US economic recovery and potential eurozone economic troubles.
The euro fell to 1.4715 dollars at 2200 GMT from 1.4833 dollars late Thursday in New York.
The dollar dipped to 90.08 yen from 91.42 yen a day earlier.
A day after official data showed the United States exited recession, the market became concerned whether recovery will be sustained, analysts said.
The US government said Thursday that the economy posted a stunning 3.5 per cent third-quarter growth after a year of contractions, the most rapid expansion in two years powered by government stimulus-led consumer spending.
‘Yesterday’s surprising GDP report may have indicated that a more substantial recovery is underway, but a series of economic indicators from today showed that consumers will not be leading the rise,’ said Kathy Lien, director of currency research of Global Forex Trading.
‘The idea that a consumer-led recovery may not be the case this time around is very troubling because it is unclear if there is any another sector that would be able to recharge growth like the consumers have in the past,’ she said.
Among several high-profile economic indicators that foreshadowed troubles ahead for the eurozone was German retail sales which fell for the second time in a row, Lien said.
US consumer spending, a critical growth driver, fell for the first time in five months in September, official data showed Friday amid fears the economy may slow just after exiting recession.
Household spending decreased 47.2 billion dollars or 0.5 per cent last month, as expected by most economists, following a revised 1.4 per cent jump in August, the Commerce Department said. It was the biggest drop since December 2008.
Nine US banks seized in
largest one-day haul
Reuters/BDnews24.com . Los Angeles
US authorities seized nine failed banks on Friday, the most in a single day since the financial crisis began and the latest stark sign that substantial parts of the nation’s banking industry are being crippled by bad loans.
The move brought the total number of failed banks in 2009 to 115 — their highest annual level since 1992 — with analysts expecting more to come. Among the lenders seized Friday was Los Angeles-based California National Bank, in what was the fourth-largest US bank failure this year.
The largest institution to fail in the current financial crisis was Washington Mutual, which boasted $307 billion in assets when it was shuttered in September 2008.
US Bancorp on Friday acquired the nine banks that had been held by FBOP Corp, picking up $18.4 billion in assets and $15.4 billion of deposits.
Visibly worried employees lined up to file into Cal National’s head offices in the heart of a deserted downtown Los Angeles on a chilly Friday evening, where they had their employers’ fate explained to them, regulators said.
‘We’re getting ready to turn everything over to US Bank,’ said Roberta Valdez, a spokeswoman for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, which helped supervise the transfer of FBOP’s assets. ‘They will continue to operate as normal in the interim,’ she added, referring to lenders acquired from FBOP.
US Bancorp—which has been buying up distressed assets this year—is picking up the lenders once owned by FBOP, a private Illinois group with over $18 billion in assets that owned banks in Texas, Illinois, Arizona and California.
Cal National is FBOP’s largest bank by branches. Others that will now go under the US Bancorp umbrella included BankUSA, Citizens National Bank, Madisonville State Bank, North Houston Bank, Pacific National Bank, Park National Bank, San Diego National Bank, and the Community Bank of Lemont.
‘This transaction is consistent with the growth strategy that we have outlined many times in the past, which includes enhancing our existing franchise through low-risk, in-market acquisitions,’ said Rick Hartnack, vice chairman of consumer banking for US Bancorp.
‘This transaction adds scale to our current California, Illinois and Arizona footprints.’
In the ‘near future,’ all nine lenders’ branches will be re-branded US Bank, which is the California-focused unit of US Bancorp’s that operates a network of more than 770 branches across Illinois, Arizona and California.
US Bancorp did not specify what would happen to the new employees it inherits.
Cal National operates 68 branches across Southern California with more than $7 billion in assets. As of June 30, the lender maintained five times as much foreclosed property on its books and twice as many non-current loans as it had a year earlier, according to the Los Angeles Times, which first reported news of its evening takeover on Friday.
According to FDIC data, Cal National was the fourth biggest bank failure this year in terms of assets, just edging out Corus Bank, seized Sept 11 with a flat $7 billion of assets.
A bank official who answered the main number at Cal National’s headquarters said they could not talk at the time.
Obama assures economy moving
in right direction
Agence France-Presse . Washington
US President Barack Obama said Saturday the United States was recovering from deep recession and that ‘hundreds of thousands of jobs’ had been created through massive investments.
The president cited this week’s report on gross domestic product, pointing out that in the third quarter, GDP grew for the first time in over a year—and faster than it had in the previous two years.
‘Today, I am pleased to offer some better news that - while not cause for celebration - is certainly reason to believe that we are moving in the right direction,’ the president said in his weekly radio address.
Obama said the 787-billion-dollar Recovery Act stimulus package passed earlier this year had helped create or save over one million jobs.
Data posted on Recovery.gov, the website of the independent panel overseeing the stimulus measure, showed 640,329 jobs directly saved or created up until September 30.
Since the survey data only accounts for half the spending during that time, officials say the true number of jobs created is over a million.
Republicans, however, accused the administration of making up job creation numbers ‘out of thin air’ to disguise the failure of Obama’s economic policies.
Unemployment remains a key hurdle to sustained recovery, with the latest monthly figures in September pushing the jobless rate to a new 26-year high of 9.8 per cent, with job losses accelerating to 263,000.
US consumer spending, a critical growth driver, fell for the first time in five months in September, official data showed amid fears the economy may slow just after exiting recession.
Household spending decreased 47.2 billion dollars or 0.5 per cent last month, as expected by most economists, following a revised 1.4 per cent jump in August, the Commerce Department said Friday. It was the biggest drop since December 2008.
However, Obama said there was reason for optimism.
‘We’ve saved jobs by closing state budget shortfalls to prevent the layoffs of hundreds of thousands of police officers, firefighters, and teachers who are today on the beat, on call, and in the classroom because of the Recovery Act,’ Obama said.
‘And we’ve also created hundreds of thousands of jobs through the largest investment in our roads since the building of the interstate highways, and through the largest investments in education, medical research, and clean energy in history.’
The president however warned that a lot of work still lay ahead and said that he wanted to create an economy where jobs were readily available and incomes were rising again.
‘The economy we seek is one that’s no longer based on maxed out credits cards, wild speculation, and the old cycles of boom or bust - but rather one that’s built on a solid foundation, supporting growth that is strong, sustained, and broadly shared by middle class families across America,’ Obama said.
Polluter returns award amid protests
Agence France-Presse . Hanoi
A Vietnamese condiments maker with a ten-year pollution record has been forced to return a community health award amid public outrage, reports said Friday.
Vedan, which manufactures a variety of products including monosodium glutamate, received three ‘Top 100 safe products for community health in 2009’ certificates on Vietnam’s Entrepreneur Day, on October 13.
But organisers rescinded the award following a public protest and the company returned it on Thursday, the country’s Tien Phong newspaper said. Last year, Vedan was found to have been discharging large-scale sewage into the Thi Vai river in Dong Nai province for more than 10 years.
The certificates, awarded by a department under the ministry of science and technology, shocked the public in the communist nation.
‘Vedan’s receiving of this award is unfair, after it had caused a... disaster for Vietnam’s environment,’ wrote reader Tran Huu Tuan on the popular VNExpress news website, while Ng Linh considered the honour ‘a slap on Vietnamese consumers’.
The ministry has set up a team to investigate the award while a senior ministry of health official was suspended for having signed the certificates, Thanh Nien Weekly said.
A co-organiser of the award said it was ‘a mistake’ to honour Vedan, Thanh Nien said.
Reports said at least 11,500 farmer families affected by Vedan’s sewage discharge have claimed compensation but negotiations are in deadlock.
Authorities have admitted that Vietnam’s environment has been seriously polluted by more than a decade of rapid industrialisation.
Japan to fund Afghan infrastructure
Agence France-Presse . Tokyo
Japan will fund a programme costing up to five billion dollars to help build roads and boost
agriculture in conflict-torn Afghanistan, a newspaper reported on Saturday.
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has outlined the proposal, which would include water control and irrigation technology, the Nikkei business daily reported.
The five-year programme, starting next year, would also help provide job training for former Taliban with stipends of 100-200 dollars a month, while giving time
with Japanese companies in Japan, the newspaper said.
Hatoyama plans to announce the initiative, which would be on top of existing financial support for Afghanistan, when US President Barack Obama visits Japan in mid-November, it said.
Hatoyama’s centre-left government, which won a general election on August 30, has already told the United States it will end a naval refuelling mission that supports the war in Afghanistan.
Hatoyama has repeatedly said he planned for new, non-military support for Afghanistan such as job training for former
Taliban as a possible alternative to the refuelling mission.
The Indian Ocean mission—which began in December 2001 and was periodically renewed by Japan’s previous, conservative government—provides the US-led coalition with fuel and other logistical support.
Obama has invested much political capital in the promise to root out Islamic extremists from Afghanistan and is weighing a request from his own military to send more US troops there.
CORPORATE NEWS
Pubali signs deal with Uttara Finance
Business Desk
A term loan agreement for Tk. 10 crore has recently been signed between Pubali Bank Limited and Uttara Finance and Investments Limited.
M Mosharraf Hossain, general manager, principal branch of Pubali Bank and SM Shamsul Arefin, managing director of Uttara Finance and Investments, signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organisations in a simple ceremony.
Helal Ahmed Chowdhury, the managing director of Pubali Bank, was present during the signing of the agreement under which Pubali Bank sanctioned the term loan for 5 years.
Speaking at the signing ceremony at Pubali Bank head office, Helal informed that his bank is extending bulk loan to non-banking financial institutions at a competitive interest rate.
FSIBL’s opens Savar branch
Business Desk
First Security Islami Bank Limited has recently opened its 49th branch at savar, Dhaka.
AAM Jakaria, the managing director of the bank, has inaugurated the branch in presence of Abdul Quddus, deputy managing director, branch managers, divisional heads and elites of the locality.
Bank Asia awards students scholarship
Business Desk
As part of corporate social responsibility, Bank Asia on Friday awarded scholarship for higher studies to 17 meritorious students of Sirajdikhan upazila, Munshigonj.
A Rouf Chowdhury, director of the bank, handed over the scholarship money to the students.
Among others, M Mohiuddin Ahmed, the upazila chairman, M Daudul Islam, upazila nirbahi officer, and senior officials of the bank were present on the occasion.
Bank Asia awards scholarship to the meritorious students for higher studies in the rural areas, where the bank has branches. Some 42 students were selected for the current year.
Under the programme introduced in 2005, so far 122 students have been awarded scholarship for the period of 4-5 years.
IBBL awarded as best Islamic
financial institution
Business Desk
Global Finance, a US-based financial magazine, awarded Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited as the best Islamic financial institution in Bangladesh for 2009.
Joseph D. Giarraputo, president and publisher of Global Finance, handed over the award to Yousif Abdullah Al-Rajhi, vice chairman of board of directors of the bank, in a function held in the Turkish city of Istanbul.
Deputy managing director and head of investment wing, Mohammad Abdul Mannan, was also present on the occasion.
The bank was given the award for contributing to the growth of Islamic financing and successfully meeting the customers’ needs Shari’ah-compliant products and creating foundation for continued fast growth in the future.
Earlier, Global Finance awarded IBBL as the best bank in Bangladesh in 1999, 2000, 2004 & 2005 and best Islamic financial institution in 2008.
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