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STOCKS | PSI
Govt bonds boost DSE market cap-to-GDP ratio by 47%
Treasury bonds contributed Tk3.14 lakh crore to the market valuation
BSEC allows struggling Ring Shine's conditional takeover
Appollo Ispat’s debt crosses Tk1,000cr amid no operations
Brac Bank's half-yearly profit jumps 75%
Stocks up after BSEC’s meeting with stakeholders
Dutch-Bangla Bank to start merchant banking and brokerage businesses
Shahjalal Islami Bank sues Regent Textile to recover Tk140cr loan
BSEC to meet bankers, asset managers as stocks nosedive
Economy
Taka slightly undervalued for first time
Aug 20, 2023
· Bangladesh taka experienced slight undervaluation for the first time this July compared to other trading partners due to the local currency's faster devaluation against the US dollar.
· According to the internationally recognized benchmark, the Real Effective Exchange Rate (REER), which compares the value of the taka to currencies of 15 trading partners, indicates a 0.36% undervaluation of the Taka on 26 July, data from the Bangladesh Bank show.
Import bill payments in July hit 8-month high
Aug 20, 2023
· Bangladesh in July recorded the highest import bill payments over the past eight months, while letters of credit (LC) opening was also on an upward trend compared to the previous month.
· The import bill payments, as per data from the central bank, amounted to USD 5.77bn in July. The payments in November last year was USD 6.5bn, which is 25% lower than the same month in the previous year.
· A policymaking-level central bank official said the bank is currently monitoring import LCs exceeding USD 3mn. It has led to a decrease in incidents of over-invoicing, which has contributed to the reduction in the LC opening.
From: https://www.tbsnews.net/economy/banking/import-bill-payments-july-hit-8-month-high-684214
Govt weighs WB-proposed single-currency IDA credit
Aug 20, 2023
· A World Bank (WB) proposal for Bangladesh to receive single-currency loans, alongside the usual credits taken through special drawing rights (SDR), a basket of five currencies, is under government consideration.
· The IDA-fund recipients borrow through SDR whose value is linked to the currency basket of US dollar, euro, pound sterling, Japanese yen, and Chinese yuan. Bangladesh denominates the SDR in US dollar as it receives loans from the World Bank's soft-lending window.
Food grains import up 1.5pc in FY '23 due to higher prices
Aug 20, 2023
· Amid the ongoing import tightening, purchases of food grains from international markets increased slightly in the fiscal year (FY) 2022-23 mainly due to higher prices.
· All other categories of imports, however, experienced negative growth in the FY, according to Bangladesh Bank (BB) statistics.
· Early last FY, the central bank restricted imports as a strategy to stabilize the volatile foreign exchange market and maintain a healthy forex reserves in the country.
· The imports of food grains, mainly rice and wheat, in FY '23 stood at around USD 2.6bn, up 1.5% from that of the previous FY, data showed
Banking
Banks now inclined to invest in short-term securities
Aug 20, 2023
· Quick-gain 91-day treasury bills become hotcakes now as banks seem inclined to invest in short-term securities under a cautious banking approach as they do pre-election risk calculations.
· Sources say the switch is also prompted by a discovery that these shorter-duration government securities possessed the lowest volume of 'high-powered money' or print money circulated in the economy by way of government borrowing from the central bank.
· Officials and market players have said the primary dealer banks through which the banks purchase risk-free investment instruments through auctions arranged by the Bangladesh Bank (BB) are less interested to invest in mid-term and long-term government securities mainly to avoid the macroeconomic stress in this election year.
Above BDT 2.0tn in defaulted loans stuck in cases
Aug 20, 2023
· The volume of outstanding defaulted loans of banks stuck in litigations crossed BDT 2.1tn by the end of March 2023.
· According to Bangladesh Bank data, the total amount of defaulted loans stuck in cases escalated to BDT 2.1tn in March from BDT 1.7tn at the close of December 2022.
From: https://www.newagebd.net/article/209837/above-tk-2-lakh-cr-in-defaulted-loans-stuck-in-cases
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