The Securities and Exchange Commission at a meeting on Thursday decided that it would not allow merchant banks and brokerage firms to give their clients margin loan on purchasing ‘Z’ category shares, an SEC official said.
   ‘Investors will not get the facility on purchasing ‘Z’ category securities,’ SEC executive director Anwarul Kabir Bhuiyan told reporters. ‘Clients will also not be able to enjoy the facility for buying shares of the companies which will fail to submit audited reports in due time.’
   The ‘Z’ category groups low profile securities.
   Anwarul said investors would not get margin loan on buying shares of a company for the first 30 days from its debut trading day on the bourses.
   The SEC official said the stock market regulatory body was working to introduce a separate margin rules for merchant banks.
   He said, ‘From now on IPO applicants will get their refund warrants through their bank accounts.’ ‘The new system will be effective from the initial public offering of the Grameenphone Ltd.’
   The official said, ‘The SEC has formed a three-member committee to investigate into suspected unusual trading of shares of Marico Bangladesh on the stock exchanges in recent times.’
   Marico Bangladesh made its debut on the stock exchanges on September 16.
   ‘The probe committee has been asked to submit its report within 15 working days,’ the official added.

A new network of growing, crisis-resistant, sustainable banks has announced an ambitious commitment to support the expansion of $2 billion in lending to disadvantaged communities and green projects around the world.
   The Global Alliance for Banking on Values made the announcement at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York this month, according to a news release.
   The independent network of eleven of the world’s leading sustainable banks — who serve over 7 million customers in 20 countries with a combined balance sheet of over $10 billion — was launched earlier this year in the Netherlands.
   ‘We commit, over three years, to assist our members and other sustainable finance institutions to secure $250 million in additional capital,’ says Peter Blom, CEO of Dutch ethical bank, Triodos, and Chair of the Global Alliance for Banking on Values.
   ‘This capital will lead to $2 billion in new lending. At a time when the global financial system is struggling to lend, our members and other genuinely sustainable banks will benefit millions of borrowers — from individual entrepreneurs in Asia, Africa and South America, to pioneering new green projects in North America and Europe.’
   ‘Sustainable banks will need to raise capital to continue to build on their considerable achievements and deliver on their huge potential,’ says Mary Houghton, president of the ShoreBank Corporation. ‘The commitment we are announcing today demonstrates just how powerful this opportunity is. We are determined to take it.’
   The banks in the Alliance range from ShoreBank, ShoreBank, the first community development and environmental bank in the US, based in Chicago, to BRAC Bank of Bangladesh.
    ‘If we are to tackle the global problems we face, we are going to need international action to do it.
   We believe these banks have the potential to change the architecture of the financial world, and start delivering lasting solutions for unserved and underserved communities and sectors’, said Fazle Hasan Abed, founder and chairperson of BRAC.

Speakers at a discussion in the capital on Thursday emphasised for legislative and administrative reforms in the revenue board for the improvement in the atmosphere of the country’s business sector.
   They observed that the existing tax rules were outdated and were creating problem for the taxpayers.
   The speakers at a discussion on ‘Excessive Regulations on doing business in Bangladesh: A Study on Tax Administration’ also viewed that administrative reform in the board was essential although such reform was critical and should be done carefully.
   Regulatory Reforms Commission chairmen Akbar Ali Khan, former National Board of Revenue chairman Abdul Mazid, former secretary Safar Raj Hossain, Bangladesh Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Selima Ahmed attended the discussion, organised by the International Business Forum of Bangladesh.
   IBFB president Mahmudul Islam Chowdhury chaired the session.
   Akbar Ali Khan said that the NBR administration was plagued with problems. He called upon the government to carry out the administrative reform in a careful manner and recruit skilled taxmen.
   Abdul Mazid said the existing income tax ordinance is almost similar to 1922 Tax Law. He stressed the need for a simplified tax rules, which are congenial for the taxpayers.
   Mahmudul Islam Chowdhury observed that business establishments faced problems because of inefficiencies of the taxmen. He hoped that the government would take measures to address the issues and brought desired changes.

Bangladesh should divert its concentration to organic cultivation of shrimps both in sea and sweet water, suggests the World Aquaculture Alliance.
   Chairman of the alliance, George Chamberlain, points out that not only the demand of organic shrimps is growing globally; it pays more, opens scopes for small farming and deters diseases in shrimps.
   ‘Bangladesh should put much concentration on cultivating organic shrimps as it [Bangladesh] has all potentials there,’ Chamberlain told New Age
   He was attending the two-day seminar on ‘Export from Bangladesh: Prospects and Challenges on prospects of shrimp exports,’ that ended at Dhaka Sheraton Hotel on Thursday.
   Fishery Products and Business Promotion Council, Bangladesh Shrimp and Fish Foundation and Bangladesh Frozen Food Exporters Association organised the event in collaboration with the commerce and fisheries and livestock ministries.
   Fisheries minister Abdul Latif Biswas addressed the seminar’s concluding ceremony, presided over by the ministry’s secretary Shah Alam.
   George Chamberlain said demand of organic shrimps, which are grown by feeding no artificial ingredients chemicals and antibiotics, was growing fast in global markets and it pays more to exporters.
   He points out that small holding shrimp cultivations could also be effectively inspired by taking a national programme on organic shrimp farming.
   ‘Poor farmers having small ponds and coastal low lands here can be employed in organic farming-small farming also favorable here,’ Chamberlain added.
   Addressing the concluding ceremony the fisheries minister Abdul Latif Biswas admitted that earlier there had been a lack of seriousness in maintaining right monitoring and standardisation of shrimp processing.
   He categorically pointed out findings of hazardous nitrofuran in processed shrimps, which caused deportation of many Bangladeshi shrimp consignments from Europe.
   Due to frequent finding of nitrofurun mainly in Bangladeshi sweet-eater shrimps the Bangladeshi government in 19th May of this year had put a six months’ voluntary ban on exports.
   The fisheries minister said advancement had been achieved in preventing nitrofuran thus exports would be restarted after ending the ban tenure on 19th of November this year.
   Biswas disclosed that investigators found that imported bone meal, which is an ingredient of fish-feeds, was source of nitrofurn.
   ‘From now on strict investigations will be done at ports as nitrofurn-carrying fish-feed ingredients can not enter into the country,’ he said.

Bangladesh’s largest mobile phone provider Grameenphone will launch the country’s biggest public sale of shares on Sunday, a move seen as a key test for the national stock exchange.
   Analysts expect the Initial Public Offering (IPO) to raise 141 million dollars and be several hundred times oversubscribed.
   ‘It’s the biggest IPO in the capital market since our independence in 1971,’ Dhaka Stock Exchange president Rakibur Rahman told AFP.
   ‘Almost everyone in the country who has an account number is vying for a slice of the pie,’ he added. ‘Many have already disposed of shares of other companies while some have even sold gold jewellery to join the bonanza.’
   Grameenphone, 62 per cent owned by Telenor of Norway, is selling a 10 per cent stake to institutional and private investors, with 69.44 million shares up for grabs. Subscriptions for the shares will continue until October 18.
   The face value of the shares has been fixed at 10 taka (seven cents) with a 60 taka premium on each share. A private investor can buy a maximum of 200 shares.
   Officials said some 150,000 new share accounts—a tenth of the total number in the country—had been opened in the past three months as potential investors readied to qualify to take part in the IPO.
   Grameenphone is 38-per cent-owned by Grameen Telecom, a subsidiary of micro-finance giant Grameen Bank, which was set up by 2006 Nobel peace prize winner Muhammad Yunus.
   It has around 21 million of Bangladesh’s fast growing 46 million cellular subscriber base.
   Securities and Exchange Commission chief Ziaul Haq Khandekar hailed the IPO as a ‘watershed event,’ saying it would bring ‘depth and maturity’ to the country’s share market.
   ‘The GP IPO will bring qualitative change to the market. I think the move will instil confidence in other major companies to follow suit. It will make the stock market more stable and the centre of our economic activity,’ he said.
   The Dhaka Stock Exchange, which hosts companies with a market capitalisation of around 15 billion dollars, is tiny compared to other bourses in Asia.

Dhaka Stock Exchange has suggested that the stock market regulator should increase the size of the quota reserved in initial public offering for mutual funds.
   ‘An increase in the IPO quota size will boost the participation of mutual funds in the market,’ DSE president Rakibur Rahman told reporters at a meeting at the bourse’s conference room on Thursday.
   He said the quota reserved in IPO for mutual funds should be raised to 20 per cent of an IPO from the existing 10 per cent.
   The DSE president said, ‘The market has showed stability in recent times and it is capable to absorb a big issue like Grameenphone.’
   ‘If the government raises funds from the capital market for power projects, the depth of the market will increased,’ he said.
   The DSE president said, ‘I think the book building system of IPO pricing is the appropriate process for the entrepreneurs for issuing IPOs of their companies.’
   ‘We will install software required for IPO book building method by November,’ he added.

Dhaka stocks closed the week higher with DSE general index gained 39.35 points on Thursday, the last trading day of the week.
   The key index advanced by 1.28 per cent to close at 3,123.24. The index crossed 3100 points after 15 months.
   The DSE20 index of blue chips gained 26.68 points, or 1.23 per cent, to finish at 2,200.18. Market operators said institutional buying pulled the share prices across the board.
   Of the total 242 issues traded, 178 advanced, 61 declined, and three remained unchanged. Turnover at the DSE increased to Tk 798.55 crore from the Wednesday’s Tk 735.21 crore.

A group of major US entrepreneurs have expressed their interest about the Public Private Partnership programme and observed that the initiative would transform Bangladesh into an emerging economy from a developing economy.
   The entrepreneurs made this observation when they were participating in the Bangladesh Investment Summit ended in New York last week, according to a message received in Dhaka on Thursday.
   Representatives of major corporate including Microsoft, Boeing, Marriott, Siemens, Citibank, HSBC, Red Apple Group, UBS Financial Services and Federal Reserve Group attended the summit.
   Savio Chan, president of Pan Asian Chamber of Commerce, told Bangladesh delegation to the summit that the PPP programme was a serious commitment of the government on collaboration of PPP, which would make Bangladesh an emerging economy.

Asian markets fell Thursday as a confidence survey in Japan heightened worries over the nation’s recovery prospects, while more weak US jobs data also darkened the mood.
   The Tokyo Nikkei dropped 1.53 per cent. Investor caution set in despite the key Tankan survey showing improved sentiment among major manufacturers who nevertheless plan to slash spending on plants and equipment by 25.6 per cent in the year to March 2010.
   Sydney eased 0.90 per cent, while Seoul was 1.70 per cent lower as the won strengthened against the US dollar.
   Regional trading was quiet Thursday with Chinese and Hong Kong markets closed for the National Day holiday.
   Dealers were also downbeat on Wall Street’s 0.31 per cent fall.
   That came after payrolls firm ADP said Wednesday that the US private sector shed 254,000 jobs in September, higher than the 200,000 expected by most analysts.
   Investors were also unmoved by a report showing the world’s biggest economy shrank at a revised 0.7 per cent pace—better than the previous figure of a 1.0 per cent decline—in the second quarter.
   Hong Kong and Shanghai were closed for China’s National Day public holiday.
   In Tokyo, the Nikkei-225 dropped 154.59 points to 9,978.64, down 1.53 per cent..
   The index is at its lowest since July 24.
   The Tankan also showed the outlook for earnings remains bleak as major manufacturers are assuming the dollar will average 94.50 yen during this fiscal year, suggesting they might have to downgrade their earnings forecasts unless the Japanese currency weakens. The yen is currently hovering around 90 to the dollar.
   Bank shares lost ground as worries about the health of the sector resurfaced. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial dropped 5.4 per cent to 456 yen.
   Exporters continued to be pressured by the yen.
   Toyota shed 1.7 per cent to 3,510 yen and Sanyo Electric slid 7.5 per cent to 197 yen.
   In Seoul, the KOSPI ended down 28.51 points at 1,644.63, down 1.70 per cent.
   Major exporters lost ground due to the won’s rise against the dollar.
   Investors were also wary that South Korea’s industrial output, a leading indicator for the economy, may peak soon, he said.
   Among major exporters, auto-related and technology stocks declined sharply on fears the strong won may weaken their competitiveness.
   Hyundai Motor tumbled 8.1 per cent to 102,500 won and Kia Motors slid 6.7 per cent to 17,350.
   Samsung Electronics lost 2.8 per cent to 792,000 won.
   Shipbuilders sank amid lingering concerns about possible order cancellations by French shipping line CMA CGM. The company reportedly plans to renegotiate and cancel orders awarded to South Korean shipbuilders.
   Hyundai Heavy Industries lost 2.5 per cent to 175,500 won and Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering dropped 4.7 per cent to 16,400.
   Financial markets will be closed Friday for the Chuseok holiday.
   In Taipei, the weighted index rose 36.12 points to 7,545.29, up 0.48 per cent.
   ‘The appreciation of the Taiwan dollar was the major factor to push up the market’ led by assets plays and financials, said Young Wang of Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting.
   Far Eastern Textile, considered an asset play, rose 3.05 per cent to 38.85 while the textile sector was 1.93 per cent firmer.
   Fubon Financial gained 2.48 per cent to 37.2.
   Financials finished 2.32 per cent higher, cement rose 1.87 per cent but construction was 0.30 per cent lower.
   Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co edged up 0.78 per cent to 65.0.
   In Singapore, the Straits Times Index fell 15.13 points to 2,657.44, down 0.57 per cent.
   The market has priced in strong economic recovery and any data that disappoint is going to punctuate the uptrend, analysts said.
   Telecom operator StarHub was 14 cents lower at 2.03 dollars after losing the rights to host the highly popular English Premier League football matches in Singapore to rival Singapore Telecommunications.
   Singapore Telecommunications rose three cents to 3.28 while Singapore Airlines fell 24 cents to 13.54 dollars.
   DBS Group Holdings sank 26 cents to 13.02.
   Up 1.37 per cent, the Stock Exchange of Thailand rose 9.84 points to close at 726.91.
   Up 0.52 per cent, the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index gained 6.27 points to 1,208.35.
   Telecommunications company Axiata rose 1.6 per cent to 3.15 ringgit while gaming giant Genting Malaysia climbed 1.1 per cent to 2.77 ringgit.
   Budget carrier AirAsia was down 0.7 per cent at 1.39 ringgit.
   Up 0.4 per cent, the Jakarta Composite Index rose 10.38 points to 2,477.97.
   In Manila, the composite index added 28.20 points to close at 2,829.02, up 1.0 per cent.
   ‘Investors are starting to accumulate stocks, but very selectively. They’re still awaiting signs of the impact on the economy of the floods,’ Chelsea Dipasupil of RCBC Securities said.
   Storm Ketsana triggered the heaviest flooding in Manila in decades last Saturday, leaving 277 dead and affecting over 2.5 million people. Manila said it may also set back growth this year.
   Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. added 1.7 per cent to 2,450 pesos while Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. rose 1.3 per cent to 39 pesos.
   In Mumbai, the 30-share Sensex edged up 7.71 points, or 0.05 per cent, to 17,134.55, a 16-month high.

The yen weakened in Asian trade Thursday after a Japanese business confidence survey fuelled concerns that the currency’s recent advances may hamper economic recovery.
   The dollar edged up to 89.87 yen in Tokyo noon trade from 89.66 in New York late Wednesday. The euro firmed to 131.49 yen from 131.28, and to 1.4633 dollars from 1.4627.
   The central bank showed in its Tankan survey Thursday that sentiment among major manufacturers improved for a second straight quarter, underlining the view that the economy is on the mend.
   The index, which measures the percentage of firms that think business conditions are good minus those that believe they are bad, said sentiment improved to minus 33 in September from minus 48 in June.
   But investors were cautious of the result as manufacturers responded to the survey based on the assumption that the dollar-yen rate was around 94.50 yen, which is roughly five per cent higher than current levels, they said.
   They added that the yen’s recent advances, with the currency hitting an eight-month high earlier this week, may thwart a nascent recovery as a strong currency hurts exporters when they repatriate overseas earnings.
   The survey ‘confirms concerns that the yen’s advances may get in the way of recovery for exporters,’ Nikko Cordial senior strategist Tsuyoshi Kawata told Dow Jones Newswires.
   Meanwhile investors looked ahead to a key monthly US employment report on Friday after preliminary figures from private sector payrolls firm ADP showed that the economy shed 254,000 jobs in September.
   The figure was the smallest number of job losses in more than a year for nonfarm private employment but higher than the 200,000 expected by most analysts.
   For Friday’s figure, analysts expect job losses to range between 150,000 and 188,000 after August’s 216,000 fall but the unemployment rate is expected to tick up to 9.9 per cent from 9.7.
   That came after revised data showed gross domestic product fell at an annual rate of 0.7 per cent in the three months to June, better last month’s forecast of a 1.0 per cent drop and a 6.4 per cent tumble in the first quarter of 2009.

Bank of America chief executive Kenneth Lewis, at the centre of a storm over a government-backed deal to buy Merrill Lynch last year, announced plans to retire December 31.
   Lewis, who had lost the post of chairman earlier this year at an angry shareholder meeting, ‘notified the board of directors of his decision to retire, effective December 31, 2009,’ the company said in a statement Wednesday.
   ‘The board will continue ongoing planning to ensure his successor is selected by that date. Lewis will retire as CEO and as a director.’
   Lewis, who heads the largest US banking group by assets, said ‘Bank of America is well positioned to meet the continuing challenges of the economy and markets.
   ‘I am particularly heartened by the results that are emerging from the decisions and initiatives of the difficult past year-and-a-half,’ he added.
   Lewis had provoked shareholders’ anger by acquiring Merrill Lynch without informing them of the investment bank’s massive losses.

India’s top mobile company Bharti Airtel on Wednesday called off merger talks with South Africa’s MTN Group aimed at creating an emerging market powerhouse, blaming South Africa’s political leaders.
   The South African government ‘has expressed its inability to accept it (the proposed deal) in the current form’ and ‘in view of this, both companies have taken the decision to disengage from discussion,’ Bharti said in a statement.
   The collapse of the politically sensitive talks marked the second time the two companies had failed to forge an alliance. They called off similar talks in May 2008.
   A merger would have created the world’s third-largest mobile operator by subscribers that would have dominated two of the globe’s fastest-growing emerging markets—India and Africa.
   Bharti’s statement came hours before the expiry of the deadline for conclusion of the exclusive merger discussions, which had already been extended twice.
   The South African government rejected Bharti’s allegation it had scuppered the estimated 24-billion-dollar deal, saying the move to scrap the talks had been a joint decision by MTN and Bharti.
   MTN said separately both firms had been unable to strike a deal ‘within the economic, legal and regulatory framework within which both companies operate.’
   It hailed the ‘positive and constructive’ nature of the talks and the ‘co-operation and supportive approach’ of the South African and Indian governments.
   Bharti, which wants to be a global telecoms giant, hung up on talks with MTN in May 2008 after the South African firm proposed an ownership structure that the Indian company said would have made it ‘a subsidiary of MTN.’
   This time, however, Bharti said, the proposed deal recognised both companies as ‘national champions’ and its structure took into account ‘their leadership in their respective geographies to ensure continuity of business.’
   Bharti, in which Singapore Telecommunications has a minority stake, said it hoped the talks might be revived if the South African government changed its mind.
   ‘We hope the South African government will review its position in the future and allow both companies an opportunity to re-engage,’ it said.
   The statement led some Indian commentators to suggest the decision to call off talks might be a pressure tactic to get the South African government to agree to a deal.
   Bharti chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal, who calls himself a business ‘junkie’—always hungering for bigger deals—had nothing further to add to the company statement, a spokesman said.
   The tie-up with MTN, seen as one of South Africa’s crown jewels, would have marked the largest coup yet for Mittal, who transformed a bicycle parts company into India’s leading mobile firm by subscribers.
   ‘Bharti did a great job, it is a sad day for Indian industry (that the deal did not go through),’ said Amit Mitra, head of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
   In August, MTN described the transaction as ‘compelling,’ saying it would address ‘the objective of (MTN) becoming one of the pre-eminent emerging-market telecommunications companies.’
   But earlier this month, the South African government, which indirectly holds over 21 per cent of MTN, said it was unwilling to sacrifice the company’s ‘South African character.’

Oil prices rose sharply on Wednesday on data showing more signs of recovery in the United States, the world’s largest energy consumer.
   New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for November delivery, rallied $3.90 dollars to end at $70.61 a barrel.
   London’s Brent North Sea crude for November delivery advanced $3.58 dollars to $69.07 a barrel.
   The US economy moved close to emerging from recession in the second quarter, according to revised data Wednesday showing a smaller-than-expected 0.7 per cent pace of output decline.
   The figure for gross domestic product was better than last month’s estimate of a 1.0 per cent drop, and stronger than the average estimate of private economists calling for a 1.2 per cent annualized rate of decline.
   The report appeared to confirm that the world’s biggest economy was emerging from its long recession and rebounding from a hefty 6.4 per cent tumble in the first quarter of 2009.
   Also on Wednesday, US government petroleum stockpile data showed an unexpected and large slide in gasoline inventories in the previous week, implying increasing demand and boosting prices.

The Board of Directors has recommended 10 per cent stock dividend (1 Bonus share for every 10 shares) for the financial year ended on June 30, 2009. Date of AGM: 15.11.09. Time: 11:00am, Venue: Fu-Wang Bowling & Services Ltd, 411, Gulshan-Tejgaon Link Road, Tejgaon I/A, Dhaka. Book Closure: 18.10.09 to 15.11.09. The company has also informed that the board in principle agreed to Demat the paper shares of the company subject to the approval of the SEC.
   
   Alltex Ind Ltd
   In response to a DSE query dated 29.09.09, the company has informed that there is no undisclosed price sensitive information of the company for recent unusual price hike.
   
   Progressive Life Insurance Co Ltd
   The company will be placed in ‘A’ category from existing ‘Z’ category with effect from 04.10.09 as the company reported disbursement of stock dividend @ 10% for the year 2008.
   
   Progressive Life Insurance Co Ltd
   The company will be placed in ‘A’ category from existing ‘Z’ category with effect from 04.10.09 as the company reported disbursement of stock dividend 10 per cent for the year 2008.
   
   Gemini Sea Food
   In response to a DSE query dated 30.09.09, the company has informed that there is no undisclosed price sensitive information of the company for recent unusual price hike.
   
   Safko Spinnings
   In response to a DSE query dated 29.09.09, the company has informed that there is no undisclosed price sensitive information of the company for recent unusual price hike.
   
   Keya Cosmetics
   As per Regulation 30 of the DSE Listing Regulations, the company has informed that a meeting of the board of directors of the company is scheduled to be held on October 12, 2009 at 11:00am for consideration of audited financial statements and fixing the date of annual general meeting, time & venue, rate of dividend for the financial year 2008-09 and other matters relating to the forthcoming 13th AGM.
   Source: DSE

The global economy is recovering from recession more strongly than expected, the IMF said on Thursday but warned that the crisis is not over and severe risks lie ahead.
   The IMF projected the global economy would grow 3.1 percent in 2010, after shrinking at an annualised 1.1 percent this year.
   The estimates were upwardly revised from July forecasts of 2.5 percent expansion next year and a 1.4 contraction in 2009.
   “The good news... is that in our view the recovery really has started. That does not mean, and I want to be crystal clear on this, that the crisis is over,” the IMF managing director, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, told students in a speech in Istanbul.
   Strauss-Kahn spoke as the IMF released its semiannual World Economic Outlook (WEO), ahead of the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank in Istanbul next week.
   “The delay between growth resuming and the peak of unemployment can be... as much as 14 months. Until unemployment will decrease, it’s difficult to say that the crisis is over. It’s too early to crow victory,” he said.
   A protester threw a shoe at Strauss-Kahn, shouting “IMF, get out of Turkey!” The shoe fell short of the IMF chief and the protester was escorted out of the hall by security guards.
   The incident recalled the shoe-throwing tactic used in Iraq last year against then-US president George W. Bush. It came ahead of protests planned in Istanbul against the IMF and the World Bank in the run-up to the annual meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday.
   Chief IMF economist Olivier Blanchard warned that global imbalances need to be fixed to achieve a solid recovery.
   “It’s very hard to see how this could happen at the current exchange rates. In general, it is very hard to see how global rebalancing doesn’t come without the appreciation of Asian currencies of various degrees according to the country,” he said at a news conference.
   The IMF credited strong public policies across advanced and many emerging economies that supported demand and reduced fears of a global depression for triggering the recovery from the steepest global drop in output and trade since World War II.
   “After a deep global recession, economic growth has turned positive, as wide-ranging public intervention has supported demand and lowered uncertainty and systemic risk in financial markets,” the fund said in the WEO report.
   Nevertheless, the IMF cautioned that the data shows the rebound will be sluggish and “for quite some time, jobless,” and credit will remain tight.
   The US economy, the world’s largest, was projected to grow 1.5 percent in 2010, following a sharp 2.7 decline this year.
   In Europe, the pace of decline was moderating, with the 16-nation eurozone seen returning to growth of 0.3 percent in 2010, instead of the 0.3 percent fall projected in the July WEO update.
   And emerging and developing economies were ahead of the pack, forecast to clock growth of 5.1 percent in 2010, led by China and India, at 9.0 percent and 6.4 percent, respectively.
   Driving the pick-up in global growth was the robust performance of Asian economies, underpinned by stabilisation or modest recovery elsewhere, the IMF said.
   Other stimulative factors were a rebound in manufacturing, replenishment of inventories, returning consumer confidence and firmer housing markets.
   Global growth of around 3.0 percent in 2010 would be “far below” the pace before the financial crisis struck in 2007 and accelerated in September 2008 after the bankruptcy of Wall Street investment bank Lehman Brothers.
   “Downside risks remain a concern. The main risk is that private demand in advanced economies remains very weak,” the IMF economists wrote.
   “Premature exit from accommodative monetary and fiscal policies is a particular concern because the policy-induced rebound might be mistaken for the beginning of a strong recovery,” the 186-nation institution said.
   Credit constraints remain a significant barrier to growth, despite the hundreds of billions of public dollars pumped into the financial system to unblock the gridlock.
   Banks lack the capital to restore lending to levels that would support a sustained recovery.
   The IMF estimates that global bank writedowns could reach 2.8 trillion dollars for the period between mid-2007 through end-2010, with 1.5 trillion dollars in losses yet to be recognised. The bulk of the losses occurred to US, British and eurozone banks.

India’s exports fell at their lowest pace in months, government data showed Thursday, signalling global trade could be picking up ahead of Christmas, officials said.
   Exports slid in August by 19.4 percent from a year earlier to 14.3 billion dollars after tumbling by 28.4 percent in July, the Commerce Ministry said in a statement.
   The rate of decline in India’s exports has been easing ever since merchandise shipments slumped a hefty 33 percent last March.
   “From a high of over 30 percent, the (rate of) decline has come below 20 percent and in the months to come we’ll see it in single digits,” said A. Sakthivel, president of the Federation of Indian Exports Organisation (FIEO).
   Christmas sales in the United States and Europe are expected to gain momentum, creating more demand for goods from countries like India, he said.
   “However at this stage, it would be premature to conclude that we are on way to recovery,” he added.
   Unlike China, where overseas sales have been a main growth driver over the past three decades, exports account for just 15 percent of gross domestic product in India’s still relatively inward-looking economy.
   Economists say this, along with its vast domestic market of nearly 1.2 billion people, has helped shield India’s economy from the impact of the worst global slump since the 1930s.
   But the decline in exports has caused heavy job losses in labour-intensive sectors such as garments and jewellery.
   Earlier this year, India announced plans to boost trade with emerging markets in Africa and South America to offset the slide in exports to recession-hit developed nations. India’s biggest exports include textiles, handicrafts and leather goods.
   Commerce Minister Anand Sharma said he hopes to support exports through such steps as cheaper finance, better export-related infrastructure, tax relief and lowering of transaction costs.
   The country is aiming for export growth of 15 percent over two years to achieve exports of 200 billion dollars by March 2011, up from 168 billion dollars in March 2009.
   India has said two new free trade treaties it has signed—one with South Korea and another with the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN—will open up new markets.
   “Whether the nascent recovery in exports is sustainable will be critical for the region’s growth outlook,” said Matt Robinson, an economist at Moody’s Economy.com, in a recent report.

Louie Santa Maria has barely slept since deadly floods swept through Manila on Saturday. But the auto dealer has no complaints with business booming as car owners seek help for their water-logged vehicles.
   ‘I don’t see us clearing the backlog before Christmas,’ said Santa Maria, manager of a chain of Honda dealerships and repair shops in the eastern part of the Philippine capital where floodwaters reached as high as six metres (20 feet).
   ‘People are still calling up to get their vehicles scheduled for repairs, but we are just putting them on the wait list now. This has been overwhelming.’
   Outside, 37 sedans and sport utility vehicles, all drenched in a uniform coating of tan mud, were awaiting their turn to be repaired.
   On the street, private towing trucks were unloading two more Hondas as their owners argued with traffic police, who wanted to cite them for traffic obstruction.
   Accountant Mary Jo Meneses visited another auto repair shop in Metro Manila’s Pasig city—some areas of which remained flooded five days after the disaster—to canvass repair costs for her family’s van, jeep and sedan.
   ‘It all happened so fast,’ she told AFP. ‘We managed to drive them out of the garage (to higher ground), but the waters still reached them.’
   Shop manager Alexander Gonzales told Meneses that an engine and cabin cleanup for each vehicle would cost at least 10,000 pesos (210 dollars), on top of 1,500 pesos each for towing.
   But if water had clogged the engine and an onboard computer which controls many functions of modern vehicles, it would cause a lot more grief—and money.
   ‘There is a 50-50 chance that we will be able to start the engine as long as the electronic control unit was not damaged. We advise car owners to disconnect the battery cables,’ Gonzales said.
   His open-air shop was crammed with mud-coated vehicles. Soiled carpets, seats, and steamed up headlamps were being left to dry under the sun.
   Gonzales said he was overwhelmed by the number of drivers in need of help.
   ‘Those that do not live nearby we just turn away,’ Gonzales said.
   One major headache facing distressed vehicle owners has been the shock of learning that their insurance policies do not cover ‘acts of God’, such as natural disasters.
   ‘The provision for ‘acts of God’ is not automatic unless you ask for it,’ auto executive Santa Maria said.
   For Meneses, the quest to get her cash-strapped family’s cars repaired would be put on hold until they could secure a loan.
   However, Santa Maria was making no apologies for cashing in on other people’s misfortune, even though he understood their plight.
   ‘This is not plain and simple business. This is business that touches on the misery of the people. But we are giving them the best that we can do,’ Santa Maria said.
   Other industries are also profiting from the floods, which claimed at least 277 lives and affected more than 2.5 million people in Manila and neighbouring areas.
   Home appliance shops, for example, have reported a rise in sales as people replace fridges, televisions, fans and other household items destroyed in the floods.

Stronger Asian currencies are needed to rebalance global demand, key to a solid recovery from the economic recession, the chief International Monetary Fund economist said on Thursday.
   ‘A sustained recovery will require rebalancing of demand,’ Olivier Blanchard, research director at the Washington-based IMF, said at a news conference in Istanbul unveiling the fund’s semiannual World Economic Outlook (WEO) report.
   ‘It’s very hard to see how this could happen at the current exchange rates. In general, it is very hard to see how global rebalancing doesn’t come without the appreciation of Asian currencies of various degrees according to the country,’ he said.
   The world economy is projected to grow 3.1 per cent in 2010, following a 1.4 per cent contraction in 2009, according to the WEO, but a sustained recovery faces stiff challenges, among them global imbalances.
   Blanchard said demand needed to be adjusted at two margins: from public to private demand and from current account surplus countries to current account deficit countries.
   He recalled that the IMF had called for a shift in demand in 2007, urging Americans to save more and Asian countries to save less, a clear reference to China’s massive trade surplus with the United States.
   Blanchard said the worst global financial crisis since the Great Depression and the worst recession since World War II had helped fix attention on the need to fix demand imbalances.
   ‘Now what has happened, not exactly in the way we dreamed of,’ he said, is that the US savings rate has increased sharply in the face of recession.
   But he suggested that Asia, and obliquely China, has yet to do its part.

Dutch-Bangla Bank opened its 75th branch at Gobinaganj in Gaibandha on Tuesday. Like the other DBBL branch network, this branch also provides online banking facilities to the clients from the opening day of the branch, a news release said.
   Managing director of the bank Md Yeasin Ali inaugurated the branch.
   While exchanging views in a discussion meeting, the managing director mentioned that the DBBL has the largest online banking network in the country and the bank had invested huge amount of money to expand the banking network all over the country.
   The bank is giving emphasise for financing to the small and medium sectors of the rural economy, he said, adding the DBBL gives priority to deliver the remittance to its beneficiaries very carefully and efficiently.

Shahjalal Islami Bank signed an agreement with Bangla Phone Ltd at the bank’s head office in Dhaka recently.
   The agreement was signed for implementation of Bangladesh Automated Cheque Processing System and Bangladesh Electronic Fund Transfer Network Processing System Solution using MICR encoded cheques and electronic data to be used by the clients of Dhaka based branches of the bank, outlets and booths, a news release said.
   Shahjalal Islami Bank managing director Muhammad Ali and Bangla Phone managing director Amjad H Khan signed the agreement on behalf of their respective companies.
   Among others, SJIBL deputy managing director Md Mukhter Hossain, head of IT Md Ziaullah Khan and Bangla Phone director Lutfunnisa Saudia Khan were present on the occasion.