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Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) – The BBN (Bangladesh Business News) has prepared the morning business round up compiling reports, published by different newspapers and news portals in Bangladesh.

20 RMG units shut at Mirpur, Gazipur
Worker unrest in protest against the new wage structure continues to flare up at different readymade garment factories in Dhaka and its adjoining districts ahead of the December 30 national polls as initiatives so far taken by the government and factory owners to address the workers’ demand have failed to satisfy the workers. On Tuesday, authorities of more than 20 factories at Mirpur in Dhaka and in Gazipur were forced to shut their factories for the day as workers took to the streets demanding better wages.

Banks face liquidity pressure before polls
The country’s money market is now facing liquidity pressure following higher withdrawal of cash from the banks ahead of the national polls, bankers said. Some cash-hungry banks have also availed liquidity facilities from the central bank in the form of repo and special repo to meet their growing demand for money, they added.

Digital services hit by election nerves
Digital service business has shrunk unexpectedly ahead of the 11th general election on December 30, in a puzzling development for the industry that was anticipating a spike amid the growing tendency towards digital campaigns.

India okays guideline: BD can now import power from neighbours
Bangladesh will now be able to import power from the neighbouring countries via India as the Indian government has approved the “Guidelines for Import/Export (Cross Border) of Electricity- 2018” which was published on December 18. According to section 3.1 of the guideline of “Cross-border Trade of Electricity,” the cross-border transaction between India and the neighbouring countries will be approved by the Indian entity through an agreement.

H2 MPS to focus on job creation
The central bank has started taking preparations to formulate its next monetary policy, giving top priority on creating employment opportunities through boosting financing in the productive sectors. The priority was suggested at an internal preparatory meeting on the monetary policy statement (MPS) at Bangladesh Bank (BB) headquarters in Dhaka on Monday, with Governor Fazle Kabir in the chair. All general managers (GMs) and senior officials attended the meeting.

No contract jobs in banks beyond 65yrs
Bangladesh Bank has asked banks not to hire people over the age of 65 on a contractual basis amid a rising trend of such appointments. As per existing rules, chief executive officers of banks will have to go into retirement at the age of 65 but there is no specific rule for other contractual posts, creating disparity among employees in the banking sector.

17 banks raise Tk 9,600cr thru bonds in 2018
Seventeen listed banks have issued subordinated bonds worth Tk 9,600 crore in total in the outgoing year of 2018 to raise their capital base in line with the Basel III requirements as the banks have found the debt instrument cost-effective than issuing more shares or rights shares on the stock market. Issuance of subordinated debt by banks has been rising as 13 listed banks floated bonds worth Tk 5,500 crore in total in 2017, seven banks Tk 3,100 crore in 2016 and six banks Tk 2,350 crore in 2015.

2200MW rise in power generation in one year
The country’s available power generation increased by about 2,200MW since last year, while installed production capacity saw a rise by around 4,000MW, according to statistics of state-owned Power Development Board (PDB). The PDB data placed in its website’s generation archive show that the country’s installed capacity reached 17,685MW in December 2018 from 13,846MW in the corresponding period in 2017.

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