World Business

Business
SMEs yet to benefit from BB's refinance scheme
Interest rates range from 20pc to 24pc
Sajjadur Rahman
Bangladesh Bank's move to provide small and medium enterprises with easy access to loans is yet to benefit the SMEs because of high interest charged by financial institutes.

Oil leaders meet amid blame game over price hike
Afp, Madrid
Leading figures in the oil world gathered in Madrid on Monday for one of the industry's biggest events, with the search for a remedy to record crude prices again stymied by division about the causes.

BTCL to offload shares in one year
Submarine cable co launches operation today
Star Business Report
Bangladesh Telecom Company Limited, formerly BTTB, which makes its debut today as a public limited company, announced yesterday that it would offload shares in the next one year.

Private rubber gardeners want subsidised fertilisers
Star Business Report
Private rubber garden owners at a press conference yesterday criticised the government's decision of not providing fertiliser to the rubber sector at a subsidised rate and urged it to review the direction.

New asset management firm to float Tk100cr mutual fund
Star Business Report
A new asset management company plans to float a Tk 100 crore mutual fund by December this year, says a press release.

DSE indices continue falling
Trading to remain closed today
Star Business Report
Price indices on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) continued falling yesterday, led by falling prices of mutual funds' shares.

Thai auto exports jump 30pc in May
Afp, Bangkok
Thai auto exports rose 30 percent in May with strong demand in most markets despite high global oil prices, an industry group said Monday.

Singapore Airlines launches all-business class flight
Singapore Airlines has redefined long-haul air travel with the launch of its new all-business class service to New York.

Over 20 Chinese firms to get listed in London bourse by 2010
Xinhua, Beijing
There will be more than 20 Chinese firms to be listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) by 2010. Alderman David Lewis, the Lord Mayor of the City of London, was quoted as saying.

Wealth
Travel, gems favoured by Asia's rising millionaires
Afp, Singapore
India and China have the world's fastest-growing populations of millionaires, with a penchant for luxury travel, gems and designer clothes, a study released in Asia on Wednesday said.

Column - Mamun Rashid
Corporate social responsibility
There is a great myth or rather a buzzword about 'corporate social responsibility', in short, CSR. We often get confused between charity and CSR, indulging in several activities in the name of CSR. I once heard the CEO of a bank terming their sponsorship of 'Indian Idol' singers in a social club as part of their CSR. Yet another CEO termed their compliance to regulatory norms as CSR. A chamber leader, at a TV talk show, repeatedly urged reducing the SME loan interest rate, as part of the bank's CSR. Of course, the biggest joke ever was when a mid ranking defense personnel wrote to the bank, to allocate a portion of their CSR funds for development of their golf course.

Advisers propound theories behind rice price spirals
Agriculture Adviser Dr CS Karim and Foreign Adviser Dr Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury came up with various theories behind the rising prices of rice despite a bumper Boro harvest as journalists caught them off-guard at the Foreign Ministry yesterday.

Best Air to add two more aircraft to its fleet
Unb, Dhaka
Best Air, the country's third private airliner, is going to add two aircraft to its fleet to operate its flights on Dhaka-Kuala Lumpur, Dhaka-Dubai and Dhaka-Kolkata routes.

Islamic banking shows upward trend
Seminar told
Islamic banking experienced a phenomenal growth in the last decade but a good number of people are still ignorant, a seminar was told on Sunday, says a press release.

G8 leaders to set up task force on food crisis
Afp, Tokyo
Leaders from the Group of Eight industrial powers will agree to establish a task force at their summit next month to tackle the world food crisis, a report said Monday.

Biman awarded by Malaysian airport authorities
Star Business Report
Biman Bangladesh Airlines was awarded the 'foreign carrier of the year (passenger)' award by the Malaysian Airports authorities.

DBBL to help Citibank expand its distribution channel
Citibank NA Bangladesh and Dutch-Bangla Bank Ltd (DBBL) yesterday entered into a correspondent banking agreement, which will enable Citibank to expand its distribution channel in the country, says a press release.

Etihad Airways likely to order up to 100 planes in July