July forex reserves slip from record high

    

Bangladesh’s foreign exchange reserves dropped to $32.91 billion at the end of July from a record high of $33.49 billion the previous month, but were up 9.5 percent from a year earlier, the central bank said on Tuesday.
The monthly drop was fuelled by a rise in imports, a senior central bank official said, adding that the reserves were sufficient to cover about 10 months’ worth of imports.
Garment exports and remittances from Bangladeshis working overseas, the key drivers of the country’s more than $200 billion economy, have helped foreign exchange reserves grow steadily in recent years
Bangladesh’s foreign exchange reserves dropped to $32.91 billion at the end of July from a record high of $33.49 billion the previous month, but were up 9.5 percent from a year earlier, the central bank said on Tuesday.
The monthly drop was fuelled by a rise in imports, a senior central bank official said, adding that the reserves were sufficient to cover about 10 months’ worth of imports.
Garment exports and remittances from Bangladeshis working overseas, the key drivers of the country’s more than $200 billion economy, have helped foreign exchange reserves grow steadily in recent years

Abbasi elected Pakistan PM

    

Pakistan’s parliament elected ex-oil minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi as prime minister on Tuesday, days after three-times premier Nawaz Sharif was ousted by the Supreme Court.
Abbasi is seen by the ruling party as a placeholder for Sharif’s designated successor, his younger brother Shahbaz, who must first secure election to the 342-member National Assembly.
Abbasi, nominated by Sharif’s ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), secured 221 votes, Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq announced on live television. He will be sworn in later Tuesday.
“I give the floor to the new prime minister of Pakistan,” Sadiq said as Abbasi took his place in the premier’s seat.
“I am thankful to all those who took part in this democratic process,” Abbasi said. “Those who were in favour, those who opposed me. This is the procedure in democracy. And I am also thankful to PML-N who nominated me for this post. Of all these, I am most thankful to Nawaz Sharif.”
Shabhaz Sharif, currently chief minister of Punjab province, plans to enter parliament by contesting the seat left vacant by his elder sibling before eventually taking over the premiership.
The constitution requires a candidate for prime minister to win a majority from the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament.
Three opposition candidates also submitted nomination papers to take part in the vote.
But Abbasi, a long-time Sharif loyalist, won easily as the PML-N commands a majority in parliament.
Nawaz Sharif was the 15th prime minister in Pakistan’s 70-year history—roughly half of which was spent under military rule—to be ousted before completing a full term.
The top court sacked him Friday after an investigation into corruption allegations against him and his family, bringing his historic third term in power to an unceremonious end and briefly plunging the nuclear-armed nation into political instability.
Abbasi is the former federal minister for petroleum and natural resources, and a businessman who launched the country’s most successful private airline, Air Blue.
Educated in the US at George Washington University, he worked in the US and Saudi Arabia as an electrical engineer before joining politics and being elected to the National Assembly six times.
He was arrested after the 1999 military coup led by General Pervez Musharraf which ended Nawaz Sharif’s second term as PM, and imprisoned for two years before being released.
Shahbaz Sharif went into exile in Saudi Arabia along with Nawaz after Musharraf’s coup.
He returned to Pakistan in 2007 and was elected chief minister in the family’s power base of Punjab in 2008, becoming the longest serving top official in the province.
A tough administrator with a reputation for passionate outbursts, he is known for using revolutionary poetry in speeches and public meetings and considered by some to be a workaholic.
His scandalous relationships fuelled headlines in the past, but his marriage to the author Tehmina Durrani, who is his fifth wife, in 2003 has since dampened the media frenzy.
Shahbaz Sharif has been so far largely unscathed by the claims about the lavish lifestyles and luxury London property portfolio of the Sharif dynasty which have played out for months in the raucous news media.
It was an investigation into the claims, which first erupted with the Panama Papers leak last year, that eventually saw the Supreme Court oust Nawaz Sharif. He and his family have denied the accusations.

Europe battles Google News

    

A major battle is brewing in Brussels over an EU reform plan that would force internet aggregators such as Google News to pay newspapers for displaying snippets of their articles online.

Google is furious at the reform idea, but powerful publishers, including Axel Springer in Germany or Rupert Murdoch's Newscorp in the UK, affirm that a tax is the only hope to save a news industry starving for revenue.

The fight, which will play out for the rest of the year, is the latest row straining ties between Google and the European Union, which slapped the Silicon Valley giant with a 2.4 billion euro ($2.8 billion) fine over unfair competition in June.
The proliferation of free news on the internet has brought the newspaper industry to its knees, with many consumers unwilling to pay for online service, preferring zero-cost platforms such as Google News or Facebook.

"Unauthorised internet use of media content" by aggregators and search engines "is threatening citizens' sustainable access to quality news content," said the European Alliance of News Agencies, of which AFP is a member.
"It is therefore crucial that neighbouring rights be created for news agencies and other publishers, covering all activity" on the web, the agency said.

Neighbouring rights is EU-speak for the obligation for online platforms such as Google or Facebook to pay for showing short quotes from copyrighted content, such as news articles.

The so-called "snippet tax" proposal is only one of several components of a major EU draft law intended to update European copyright law in the digital age.

The "snippet tax" is largely based on a tax introduced in Spain that critics say actually harmed publishers when Google decided to close down its news aggregator in response.

A similar law in Germany saw publishers swiftly give Google open access to their content following a steep drop in online traffic.
- 'Very sensitive topic' -
Based on these examples, the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA), whose members include Google and Yahoo, called the idea "ill-founded, controversial and detrimental to all players."

In a blog post published last year, Google said: "It would hurt anyone who writes, reads or shares the news -- including the many European startups working with the news sector to build sustainable business models online."
The two camps on the issue are now battling it out at the European Parliament and the EU council, the institution that gathers the national governments of the 28 member states.

Diplomats said the snippet tax has divided member states, with no compromise in sight for this year. Approval will require a special EU majority that must account for 65 percent of the bloc's population and not solely a majority of member states.
For now, France, Spain and Germany have declared their support for the tax while Ireland, UK and the Nordic countries are against.

In the European Parliament, three committees have approved a version of the tax proposal, but the key Legal Affairs Committee has still to decide, with lobbyists working hard to influence its decision.
French MEP Marc Joulaud said the committee is expected to approve the law on October 10 with an eventual vote on the overall copyright reforms at a plenary session in December or January.

Then the hard work begins. EU member states, MEPs and the commission must negotiate a compromise of their separate texts.

"This is a very sensitive topic in parliament but also for journalists, some for, some against," said Andrus Ansip, Commission vice-president in charge of the Digital Single Market.
"I didnt promote this idea, but publishers are very keen for neighbouring rights," he added.

Clooney couple to help 3,000 Syrian children

    

George and Amal Clooney plan to help nearly 3,000 Syrian refugee children go to school this year in Lebanon, where the United Nations says around 200,000 Syrian refugee children are out of education.
More than one million Syrians -- including over 500,000 children -- are registered as refugees in Lebanon after fleeing the devastating war that has lasted more than six years in neighboring Syria.
UNICEF said Monday that close to 200,000 Syrian refugee children in Lebanon are out of school. Human Rights Watch estimates the number at more than 250,000.
The nearly 3,000 Syrian children's education will be funded through a $2.25 million partnership announced by The Clooney Foundation for Justice with Google, in addition to a $1 million technology grant from HP.
The partnership with UNICEF will help seven public schools educate the students, who are not currently in school, and will support a pilot of technology tools in these schools for refugee and Lebanese children, the Clooneys said.
"Thousands of young Syrian refugees are at risk -- the risk of never being a productive part of society. Formal education can help change that," the couple said in a statement.
"We don't want to lose an entire generation because they had the bad luck of being born in the wrong place at the wrong time," they added.
More than 330,000 people have been killed in Syria since war broke out in March 2011 with anti-government protests that have evolved into a complex proxy war.
The Clooneys welcomed their first children -- a twin boy and girl -- in Britain last month. Amal Clooney, a prominent British-Lebanese human rights lawyer, married her Hollywood movie star husband in 2014.

BB chief warns bankers against loan default culture

    

Bangladesh Bank governor Fazle Kabir has warned the bankers against the bad impact of the ‘corporate default culture’ in the banking sector.
“Bankers have to be very cautious about the corporate default culture in the banking sector,” he said while unveiling the central bank’s “Financial Stability Report 2016” at a function at Bangladesh Bank.
The Financial Stability Report reveals that about 10 per cent of the total bank loans were rescheduled in 2016.
Of the default loans, commercial credit tops the list where it shares 23 per cent and it was followed by garment sector’s credit representing 12 per cent. The large credits share 10 per cent of the total default loans.
As per the report, some Tk 100,217 crore was disbursed as commercial credit in 2015, of which Tk 8,500 crore became default while Tk 28,021 crore was distributed as agriculture credit, of which Tk 4,006 crore became default.
The garment sector received Tk 73,753 crore as credit with Tk 6,103 crore being defaulted.
Fazle Kabir said banking sector has to come out of the default loan culture for the sake of maintaining stability in the financial sector.
He directed the bankers to prefer the small and medium entrepreneurs (SME) to provide loans and reduce the ratio of large loan in the total credit disbursement.
With BB deputy governor SK Sur Chowdhury in the chair, the function was also addressed by deputy governors Abu Hena Razee Hasan and Moniruzzaman and chairman of Association of Bankers, Bangladesh (ABB) Anis A Khan.
Top officials of different public and private banks were also present here.

'Intense' Real tie awaits MLS stars

    

Veteran goalkeeper Tim Howard says top North American club players should expect "cut-throat" competition from Spanish giants Real Madrid in Wednesday's Major League Soccer All-Star Game.
The All-Star match at Soldier Field, home of the NFL's Chicago Bears, marks the end of a four-match, 11-day pre-season US tour for Real Madrid that included a 3-2 loss to rival Barcelona in a Clasico matchup at Miami.
But Howard expects Real Madrid to bring their best as they prepare for the upcoming La Liga campaign.
"When you get to play for a team like Real Madrid, there's no days off," Howard said. "There are no easy games. They have a world-class coach that they are trying to impress.
"They have got to play well to earn a spot coming up for the La Liga season. World football is intense and it's cut-throat. There aren't any days when guys just take it easy. When you put your jersey on and cross the line -- whether it's a tournament, a regular-season game, a pre-season game, an All-Star Game -- these guys are going to be up for it."
Colorado Rapids goalkeeper Howard will start in goal for Chicago Fire coach Veljiko Paunovic in the mid-season exhibition.
In 2001, Howard represented the East in a conference versus conference All-Star Game and in the following year he was part of an MLS All-Star squad that took on US national team.
He played against the MLS All-Stars when he returned with English Premiership side Everton in 2009 in the current format that pits the All-Stars against top-flight European competition.
"I'm not sure which one's better," he said of the various permutations of the All-Star Game he has experienced. "But it will be certainly exciting to play Real Madrid -- there's no question about that."
The All-Stars feature plenty of heavyweights with marquee match experience, including World Cup winners Bastian Schweinsteiger, David Villa and Kaka.
"It's an honor to play for the MLS All-Star team, especially here in Chicago," said the Fire's German import Schweinsteiger, who launched his MLS career this season and will captain the All-Stars by popular vote.
"We will look to have a good game, to be competitive against Real Madrid and if we can win, we will go for the match," Schweinsteiger told the Chicago Tribune.
"We know that it is a very strong team and that we are playing together for the first time. It is not going to be easy at all, but we will try and have a good game and enjoy it a little."
Orlando City's Brazilian star Kaka, who helped Real Madrid to the 2011-12 La Liga title, said facing his former team will be "a very emotional experience."
"I do not know how the game will go, but we have a great team to play a very even game with Real Madrid," he said.

US hits ‘dictator’ Maduro with sanctions

    

The United States hit Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro with direct sanctions on Monday over a disputed and deadly weekend vote that, while consolidating his power, has largely isolated him as the “dictator” of a failing petro-state.
The US measures were unusual in that they targeted a sitting head of state, but their reach was mostly symbolic, freezing any US assets Maduro might have and banning people under US jurisdiction from dealing with him.
“Yesterday’s illegitimate elections confirm that Maduro is a dictator who disregards the will of the Venezuelan people,” US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told reporters.
Maduro lashed out at the move, saying it smacked of American “imperialism.”
“I will not obey imperial orders. I do not obey foreign governments. I’m a free president,” he said.
Colombia, Mexico, Peru and other nations joined the US in saying they did not recognize the results of Sunday’s election, which appointed a new “Constituent Assembly” superseding Venezuela’s legislative body, the opposition-controlled National Assembly.
Maduro’s own attorney general, Luisa Ortega—who broke with him months ago over his policies—also said she would not acknowledge the body, calling it part of the president’s “dictatorial ambition.”
The European Union expressed “preoccupation for the fate of democracy in Venezuela” and said it, too, doubted it could accept the results.
And Britain’s Foreign Minister Boris Johnson warned that Venezuela “stands on the brink of disaster.”
“Nicolas Maduro’s government must stop before it is too late,” he said.
However, old allies Bolivia, Cuba, Nicaragua and Russia stood by Maduro, who shrugged off mass protests and a previous round of US sanctions on some of his officials to see through the election.
Cuba, Venezuela’s closest ally, charged that “a well-organized international operation was under way, led from Washington, with the support of the OAS chief, aimed at silencing the voice of the Venezuelan people, and forcing them into submission with attacks and economic sanctions.”
More protests
The National Electoral Council claimed more than 40 percent of Venezuela’s 20 million voters had cast ballots Sunday.
According to the opposition, voter turnout was closer to 12 percent, a figure more aligned with the lack of lines at many polling stations.
Surveys by polling firm Datanalisis showed more than 70 percent of Venezuelans opposed the new assembly.
Further protests were called for Monday and beyond, stoking fears that the death toll of 120 people killed in four months of protests against Maduro could rise further.
“I feel awful, frustrated with this fraud,” said Caracas resident Giancarlo Fernandez, 35.
Demonstrators defied a ban on protests set by Maduro that threatened up to 10 years in prison for violators.
Ten people died in violence surrounding Sunday’s election, which saw security forces fire tear gas and, in some cases, live ammunition to put down protests. Among those killed were two teens and a Venezuelan soldier.
Boycotted by the opposition, and voted for largely by state employees fearful for their jobs, the Constituent Assembly was made up solely of members of Maduro’s ruling Socialist Party.
Tasked with writing a new constitution, it has far-reaching powers—including the right to dissolve the National Assembly and change laws.
It is due to be installed on Wednesday.
More sanctions?
The European Union condemned the “excessive and disproportionate use of force” by Venezuelan police and troops on Sunday.
A spokeswoman for the European Commission said: “A Constituent Assembly, elected under doubtful and often violent circumstances, cannot be part of the solution.”
Russia, however, threw its weight behind Maduro and the election, backing the government turnout figure.
The foreign ministry in Moscow said in a statement it hopes countries “who apparently want to increase economic pressure on Caracas will display restraint and abandon their destructive plans.”
Yet analysts agreed that Maduro’s move had swept away any vestige of democracy in Venezuela.
“Maduro’s blatant power grab removes any ambiguity about whether Venezuela is a democracy,” said Michael Shifter, head of the Inter-American Dialogue research center.
Eduardo Rios Ludena, a Venezuela specialist at the Paris Institute of Political Studies, said Maduro had “sacrificed democracy.”
“In the short term, the Constituent Assembly gives a bit of breathing space to the government,” he conceded, though adding that grave economic consequences would follow.
Venezuela’s 30 million citizens are suffering through shortages of basic goods.
Sanctions against the all-important oil sector would worsen their situation, but could also destabilize the government, which is frenziedly printing money and running out of foreign currency reserves.

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