Noman Group, the first Bangladeshi textile and garment manufacturing company to cross the $1 billion mark in exports, is set for massive expansion to meet the growing demand from Western buyers. “Expansion is in our DNA,” said Md Shahidullah Chowdhury, executive director of Noman Group, which counts retail giants like IKEA, H&M, Kmart, Walmart and […]

Finance minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith on Tuesday told parliament that the number of loan defaulters in the country was now 2,02,623. The defaulters, persons or companies, had borrowed money from 55 state-run and private commercial banks and defaulted on their loans till March this year, Muhith said while replying to an Awami League lawmaker […]

Rough weather and growing traffic congestion during Ramadan are turning out to be a boon for e-commerce players, who are witnessing a surge in the orders for clothes and accessories in the lead-up to Eid-ul-Fitr. Typically, the e-commerce players get about 15,000 orders a day, but from this month it has been in the neighbourhood […]

Ruling Awami League lawmaker Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim in parliament on Monday urged finance minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith to talk less as some of his comments often embarrassed the party. Selim, also a presidium member of the party, claimed that Awami League was doing politics for the betterment of people. ‘But he [finance minister] […]

Consumers’ interest has been sacrificed while framing the various VAT and supplementary duty proposals for the upcoming fiscal year, said the Centre for Policy Dialogue yesterday. “Attempt to collect revenue from all low-hanging fruits is observed,” said Fahmida Khatun, executive director of the CPD, while presenting an analysis on the proposed budget for 2017-18. The […]

South Korean technology giant Samsung is set to inaugurate two factories in Bangladesh today with a view to manufacturing four home appliance products — a move that can be viewed as recognition of the country’s engineering capabilities. The plants, where LED television, refrigerators, air conditioners and microwave oven will be manufactured, have been set up […]

Bangladesh’s cotton import will creep up to 7.1 million bales in 2017-18, further consolidating its position as the world’s largest importer of the fibre, according to the United States Department of Agriculture. In 2016-17, 7 million bales are expected to be imported. One bale equals 480 pounds or 218 kg, and the cotton year begins […]

Vegetable exports dropped 16.81 percent year-on-year to $76.90 million in the first 11 months of fiscal 2016-17 due to a ban on direct cargo flights from Dhaka to Europe. Besides, the partial ‘self-ban’ last month by the Plant Protection Wing of the Department of Agricultural Extension on export of vegetables to avoid return of consignments […]

About 70 percent of credit card-users pay off their loans before incurring any interest, leaving banks to rely on the remainder to make profits, said bankers. The Association of Bankers Bangladesh (ABB), a forum of banks’ chief executives, explained this in a letter to the central bank recently, after Bangladesh Bank’s move to cap credit […]

A file photo shows containers at the Kamalapur Inland Container Depot in Dhaka. No imported goods would be released from the customs houses unless the importers produce new VAT registration numbers from July 1 when the new VAT law will come into force, said the National Board of Revenue. — New Age photo No imported […]