The Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) operations-comprising approvals of loans and grants, technical assistance, and co-financing reached an all-time high $27.15 billion in 2015, an increase of about 19 per cent over the $22.89 billion in 2014, according to provisional figure released yesterday,…

Finance Minister AMA Muhith yesterday called for developing human resources for harnessing and utilisation of marine resources for the welfare of the people, reports BSS. "Maritime boundary has now been fixed and scope has also been created to utilise the marine resources but what is our limitation…

AFP, TAIPEI: Taiwan's exports in 2015 fell by a tenth compared to a year ago, the largest annual decline since 2009, largely on weak international demand, the government said Friday. Shipments last year totalled $280.5 billion, down 10.6 percent from 2014 -- the steepest fall since 2009 when the…

AFP, LONDON: World oil prices crept higher yesterday at the end of an exceptionally volatile week that saw 12-year lows on the back of oversupply and China-driven markets turmoil. Traders were awaiting publication of a crucial employment report in the United States for a steer on oil demand in the world's…

Bangladesh Bank has asked the country’s banks to provide agricultural loans to farmers for rearing buffalo on priority basis, reports UNB. In a circular, issued on January 5 by its Department of Agriculture Loan (DAL), the central bank said the bank authorities concerned can decide the amount…

AFP, ZURICH: The Swiss central bank said yesterday it expected to post a loss of 23 billion Swiss francs ($23 billion, 21 billion euros) for 2015, hit mainly by the hefty depreciation of its foreign currency holdings. The Swiss National Bank said it had lost a full 20 billion francs on its foreign currency…

AFP, HONG KONG: Chinese equities bounced on another day of volatility across Asia yesterday as investors were panicked by Beijing's attempts to stabilise…

AFP, MANILA: The US-backed Asian Development Bank will cooperate with a major new Chinese-led multilateral lending institution and they plan to co-finance…

AFP, SAN FRANCISCO: Facebook announced Thursday that the number of people using its Messenger application monthly has shot past 800 million, with more features on the way to win even more fans. "The Messenger team's mission is to make Messenger the best place to communicate with all the people…

AFP, RIYADH: Saudi Arabia is considering issuing shares in state-owned oil giant Saudi Aramco, the kingdom's powerful deputy crown prince told The…

AFP, SEOUL: Samsung Electro-nics  yesterday  flagged a 15 per cent increase in 2015 Q4 operating profit, rounding off a year in which the world's largest smartphone producer struggled with fierce competition from arch-rival Apple and cut-price Chinese competitors. In an earnings estimate,…