The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide $200 million in loans to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in rural Bangladesh to help them gain access to medium- to long-term credit.  ADB declared this in a press statement yesterday. The credit facility will target in particular firms run…

Bangladesh will receive $100 million additional fund from the World Bank (WB) that will be utilised to scale up its support to strengthen country’s technical and vocational education.  A financing has been signed between Economic Relations Division (ERD) and WB. Additional secretary of ERD…

With stronger security protocols, easier transaction facilities achieved with assistance from banks and trusted logistic companies, the digital consumer class in Bangladesh is on the rise, revealed a recent study. The study “The Rise of Digital Consumer Class in Bangladesh” conducted by…

AFP, SINGAPORE: Oil prices rose in Asia yesterday, giving a much-needed breather to the battered crude market, but traders remain on edge as the supply glut and weak demand that has sent prices to more than 12-year lows shows no sign of letting up. The battered commodity has taken a hammering so far…

AFP, MOSCOW: Russia’s ruble yesterday continued to plummet to new record lows against the dollar, tumbling by over 4 per cent beyond 85 to the greenback on falling oil prices. The ruble—which has already been battered over the past 18 months by low energy prices and Western sanctions over…

Aiming to ensure efficient use of electricity, state-owned Eastern Tubes Limited (ETL) is going to produce energy-efficient LED light in the country, reports BSS. To this end, the ETL would install LED Light (CKD) Assembling Plant at its Tejgaon plant in the capital involving Tk 33.52 crore. “We…

AFP, CAIRO: Chinese President Xi Jinping signed a slew of trade deals with Egypt’s leader yesterday as part of a regional tour aimed at bolstering…

AFP, DAVOS: Humanity must stop burning coal, oil and gas to power the global economy or face an irreversible climate catastrophe, scientists, business…

AFP, AMSTERDAM: In an unprecedented step, Europe’s five largest airline groups including budget carriers EasyJet and Ryanair on Wednesday launched…

Five people have been charged in the US with scheming to steal trade secrets from the drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline with the intention of selling them…

Stocks finished the week yesterday with the market indicators at both Dhaka and Chittagong stock exchanges lower on falling share prices due to profit-booking sale pressure, reports BSS.  Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) began the week in red, but took sharp u-turn on Monday and maintained the upward…

AFP, WASHINGTON: The International Monetary Fund abolished on Wednesday a rule created in 2010 that allowed it to participate in an international bailout of Greece despite doubts about the country's debt sustainability. "Today the executive board of the IMF approved an important reform to the…

AFP, FRANKFURT: The European Central Bank yesterday left its key interest rates unchanged at its first policy meeting of the year, despite current volatility on the world's financial markets owing to concerns about the slowing Chinese economy. As widely expected, the ECB held its main "refi"…

AFP, SAO PAULO: Recession-hit Brazil's central bank left the key interest rate untouched on Wednesday despite rising inflation, opting against an increase that could put a further brake on the world's seventh-biggest economy. Surprising some observers, the bank left the benchmark Selic rate…

AFP, NEW YORK: Goldman Sachs reported a big drop in earnings on Wednesday as hefty legal expenses and lower trading revenues more than offset the gains from strong merger advising activity. Earnings for the fourth quarter dropped about 71.8 per cent to $574 million. Revenues fell 5.4 per cent to $7.3…

AFP, LONDON: Troubled British bank Barclays is to make a new round of job cuts, axing more than 1,000 positions across its New York, London and particularly its Asia divisions, Bloomberg News reported Wednesday. Bloomberg said the job cuts could be announced on Thursday and would "particularly…

AFP, LONDON: British education publisher Pearson yesterday unveiled plans to axe 4,000 jobs, or ten per cent of its global workforce, to combat weak demand, sending its share price surging. Pearson, which last year sold the Financial Times daily business newspaper and a 50-percent stake in The Economist…