Positive progress witnessed now in economy: PM
BSS, Sangsad Bhaban

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday categorically said that the country achieved positive progress in many areas of the national economy after the present government came to power.
"When the economy of developed countries experienced negative trend due to global recession, we scored success in our growth level through our own efforts," she said while replying to a question from treasury bench lawmaker AKM Rahmatullah (Dhaka 10) during her weekly question-answer session in the House.
The overall global economic growth in 2009 was minus 1.3 percent while that in the developed countries was minus 3.8 percent, she said adding that the countries with high economic growth rate achieved only 1.6 percent growth. The forecast of progress in the Asian developing countries was 4.8 percent, she also said.
But, Sheikh Hasina said, Bangladesh has achieved 5.9 percent economic growth in 2008-2009, proving untrue the international estimation of achieving 4.8 to 5.5 percent growth in the country. Listing the government steps taken for invigorating the country's economy side by side with providing subsidy in agriculture, agriculture loans for farmers and policy reformation, the Prime Minister said the steps would help achieving 6 percent growth rate in 2009-2010.
"Bangladesh's inherent power and government's quick decision enabled the country to face the adverse impact of global recession", she said adding that the country's inflation rate fell to 5.9 percent in July-December, 2009 from 8.4 percent during the same period of the previous year. Disbursement of the agriculture loan during the first six months of the current fiscal year increased by 32.4 percent while industrial loan enhanced by 41.1 percent during the same period, the Prime Minister said. She said import of capital machinery and raw materials has been increased by 38.58 percent and 5.5 percent respectively while at individual level credit flow has been enhanced by 19.2 percent, which reflects expansion of investment at private level.
Referring to the government's incentive packages for the export sector, the Prime Minister said export growth, despite minus 6.2 percent negative growth in the export sector till December lat year, would improve in the coming months and reach the two digit level at the end of the current fiscal year. The Prime Minister said the revenue income till January this year was expanded by 16 percent and implementation rate of Annual Development Programme (ADP) till January was 35 percent, which was 31 percent last year.
She said due to proper management of external resources, country's foreign reserve for the first time surpassed the US$ 10 billion mark and as on February 23, 2010, the reserve was US$ 10.5 billion.

 Businesses suggested to restore image
BSS, Dhaka

Commerce Minister Lt Col (retd) Faruk Khan on Wednesday held some traders responsible for "tarnishing the image" of entire business community and said they would have to restore their image on their own.
"Your (businessmen) bright face sometime looks 'dark' as few of you misuse opportunity by hoarding of daily essential goods and that is a bar to build up your image," said the minister while handing over employment materials among poor in the city.
Employment Generation, a venture of President of Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI), the country's apex trade body, distributed employment materials including swing machines and irrigation pumps.
President of FBCCI Annisul Huq presided over the function while Adviser to the Prime Minister HT Imam spoke as special guest. FBCCI leaders, among others, were also present.
Faruk Khan described the businessmen as most powerful intelligent and said it is unfortunate that when some of them make exorbitant profit, sending a note of woe to commoners.
Such unhealthy practice unequivocally leads businessmen to tarnish their hard-earn image in the country, said commerce minister.
On Wednesday's initiative taken by the businessmen is a testimony that they also stand by the poor people, said the commerce minister.
"Country's people do not want to see ugly faces of businessmen who used to hoard everyday essentials including rice, oil, and pulses," he said and hoped that other businessmen would follow the step.
HT Imam cautioned the business people about making hefty profit without considering the suffering of consumers.
"Days would come when you should be accountable to the people for making abnormal profit and then the government would not help you to face the situation," said HT Imam. He sought the businessmen's support to cooperate with the government to keep the prices of essentials within the reach of the common people.
A total of 487 poor people were given the employment materials.

  US, Europe eye free-trade pacts with rising Asia
AFP, Singapore

The United States, fearful of being sidelined as China and other fast-growing Asian economies speed up their integration, is banking on a new trade pact to shore up its Pacific influence.
Talks opening Monday in Melbourne will focus on a proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement linking the US market with Australia, Brunei, Chile, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.
Officials hope the TPP will form the nucleus of a wider Asia-Pacific trade zone that would eventually rope in China, Japan and South Korea as well as key Southeast Asian nations.
The talks will follow the launch of negotiations on a free-trade agreement between Singapore and the European Union, which is also keen on expanding trade ties with Southeast Asia. The United States and Europe have been shut out of a growing web of Asia-centric trade pacts spurred by the region's 1997 financial crisis and by a lack of progress in the Doha round of global trade talks, analysts said.
While the United States is "unquestionably" a Pacific power, it "lacks a comprehensive Asia strategy", said Ernest Bower, a Southeast Asia expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington. "The lack of consistent US focus in the region has enabled the ascendance of Chinese power," Bower said, adding that it could slowly undermine US business interests and eventually degrade US security capabilities.
The new trade attention from the West comes as Asian countries lead the rest of the world in recovering from the global economic downturn. "That the US and the EU are knocking on Asia's doors is a recognition that the centre of economic power is shifting, or has shifted, to our region," an Asian diplomat closely involved in trade issues told AFP.
"They know very well that ignoring Asia will be at their own peril. China is already a major trade partner for many Asian countries and is leading efforts toward regional economic integration," he said on condition of anonymity. Deputy US Trade Representative Demetrios Marantis warned that Washington "faces the daunting prospect of getting locked out" by Asia-specific trade pacts.
A study by the US-based Peterson Institute for International Economics showed that discriminatory policies under an East Asia free trade zone could cost the US economy at least 25 billion dollars of annual exports and lead to the loss of "about 200,000 high-paying jobs".

  Proposed ‘IMF’ for Europe a distracting sideshow
AFP, Frankfurt

Talk of a European version of the International Monetary Fund to rescue errant EU states is little more than a distracting sideshow, analysts and a key central banker say. Rather than creating new institutions, the European Union (EU) should make the present framework of its currency union more credible, German central bank chief Axel Weber said Tuesday.
"Any other discussion is a sideshow which will distract from the necessary [fiscal] consolidation," Weber told the central bank's annual press conference. UniCredit chief economist Marco Annunziata was equally skeptical about the idea of a European Monetary Fund (EMF). "An EMF would be nothing else than an admission of failure, an explicit recognition that not only the SGP (EU Stability and Growth Pact) cannot enforce fiscal discipline but also that the eurozone would be unable to design any new mechanism able to enforce fiscal discipline," he told AFP. As the global economic slump deepened in 2008, Brussels temporarily eased fiscal rules to allow governments to spend more on support for their struggling economies.
The result was swollen public deficits, increased debt and countries including Greece in such dire straits that financial markets turned on them. That in turn threatened the cohesion and credibility of the entire eurozone.

  IMF boss praises S Africa’s economic policies
AFP, Johannesburg

The IMF chief on Wednesday praised South Africa's economic policies for shielding the nation from the worst of the global recession but said reforms were still needed to create jobs.
"The South African economy has weathered the immediate effects of the global crisis, mainly due to sound macro-economic policies, its flexible monetary and exchange rate regime and a well-supervised financial system," Dominique Strauss-Kahn told reporters at the end of a two-day visit.
"Economic activity has also rebounded and we expect growth of around 2.5 percent in 2010," he said, a forecast slightly higher than the government's prediction of 2.3 percent.
"However, South Africa continues to face challenges in facing high levels of unemployment and income inequality," he said.
"Higher spending and public investment should also boost growth over the medium term but additional reforms are also needed to accelerate growth and job creation and reduce inequality." Strauss-Kahn also urged South Africa to promote competition in areas like banking and the food industry, where a handful of companies dominate.

  China lends Sri Lanka cash for new airport, railways
AFP, Colombo

China has loaned 290 million dollars to the Sri Lankan government to build an airport and expand the island's railway network, the foreign ministry in Colombo said on Wednesday.
The Export-Import Bank of China loaned 190 million dollars to construct a second international airport in Sri Lanka's south and 100 million dollars to develop the island's railways. China, which is a key military and political ally of Sri Lanka, loaned the island 1.2 billion dollars in 2009 to build roads and a coal-fired power station.

  Number of US millionaires up 16pc in 2009
AFP, Washington

The number of millionaires in the United States jumped by 16 percent last year after slumping by 27 percent in 2008, a report released Tuesday shows.
Last year, some 7.8 million US households had a million dollars or more in investable assets-not counting capital invested in their primary residence, the report by the Spectrem Group shows.
That was up by 1.1 million from the year before, when the number of US millionaires fell to its lowest point since 2003, hitting 6.7 million as the US economy stumbled.
"While still well short of its all-time high of 9.2 million in 2007, this year's growth in the millionaire population is nevertheless welcome news for an economy still working to recover," said George Walper, president of Spectrem Group.
The number of quintuple-millionaire households-with assets worth more that five million dollars-was also up last year, climbing by 17 percent to 980,000 from 840,000 in 2008.
And what the report calls "the broader affluent population," made up of households with a net worth of half a million dollars or more, grew by 12 percent last year to 12.7 million.

  Cathay Pacific returns to profit in 2009
AFP, Hong Kong

Cathay Pacific said Wednesday it returned to profit in 2009 even as the Hong Kong-based carrier's sales dropped amid turbulence in the global economy. The airline said the bulk of its 4.7 billion Hong Kong dollar (606 million US dollar) profit came from cost cutting and gains on fuel hedging bets, which had sparked Cathay's massive 8.7 billion Hong Kong dollar loss in 2008.
Cathay said it posted a modest 285 million Hong Kong dollar operating profit last year as it wrestled with weak demand. Revenues in 2009 were down 23 percent year-on-year to 67 billion Hong Kong dollars, it said.
"The global economic slump last year resulted in extremely challenging business conditions for the Cathay Pacific Group and commercial aviation in general," it said in a statement.