BANGLADESH

Protesters shouted slogans outside her hotel in London as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was about to meet her British counterpart David Cameron at 10 Downing Street on Sunday.

Some 200 gathered outside the hotel in central London and denounced the Bangladesh Prime Minister for not letting Rohingya Muslims, allegedly fleeing persecution in neighbouring Myanmar, enter her country.

Hasina was scheduled to meet Cameron, host of the global hunger summit at his official home, at 4pm (9pm BdST).

Senior politicians from Kenya, India and Brazil will be present at the summit. A group of athletes were expected to attend the hour-long summit including British double gold medalist Somali-born Mohammed Farah.

During the summit, the UK will pledge to spend £120 million on researching crops that can survive in droughts and a hunger alert system for Kenya.

Hasina is expected to leave Downing Street at about 5:00pm and will leave Foreign Minister Dipu Moni to make a presentation.

The Prime Minister is meeting the UK International Development Secretary, Andrew Mitchell, at 8:00p Sunday night at her hotel.

Standard Chartered Plc and New York state regulators have discussed a settlement amount to resolve an inquiry into whether the British bank's records improperly hid transactions tied to Iran even as the bank prepares for a hearing to defend its New York license, according to sources familiar with the situation.

The dual tracks highlight the uncertainty of the situation facing Standard Chartered (STAN.L) as it enters a second week at odds with New York's Department of Financial Services, which alleged August 6 the bank hid transactions tied to Iran. The state agency, headed by Benjamin Lawsky, ordered the bank to explain why it shouldn't lose its license at a hearing scheduled for Wednesday.

Standard Chartered vehemently disagrees with the agency's allegation the bank improperly processed $250 billion tied to Iran, which Lawsky cited in his order issued August 6. The heart of his order, however, alleges the bank violated state laws when it concealed records of transactions from bank examiners.

The talks could still collapse, and the hearing also could be postponed to allow more time for negotiations, according to the sources familiar with the matter.

The bank, meanwhile, already was cooperating in a separate probe dating to 2010 that included the US Justice Department and Manhattan district attorney. That investigation is aimed at determining whether Standard Chartered violated US sanctions laws and a settlement discussion has been occurring separately from the state discussions.

A settlement with New York would end a period of turmoil for the bank and law enforcement officials and likely would result in a multimillion-dollar fine for Standard Chartered. A settlement with federal officials also could result in a multimillion-dollar fine.

Officials for the Justice and Treasury departments and the Manhattan district attorney either weren't available for comment or declined to comment.

Lawsky's order cited communications between Standard Chartered officials about the reputational and legal threats to the bank if it kept doing business with Iranian clients.

Spokespersons for Lawsky's department and Standard Chartered declined to comment.

Faced with similar accusations, some banks prefer to quietly settle. Barclays Plc(BARC.L), Credit Suisse Group(CSGN.VX), Lloyds Banking Group(LLOY.L), J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.(JPM.N) and ING Bank NVINGBK.UL had agreed in prior years to settlements totalling nearly $2 billion into how those banks allegedly processed money or assets tied to sanctioned countries.

Standard Chartered, by comparison, said last week that Lawsky's "interpretation" that the bank had improperly handled Iranian transactions was "incorrect as a matter of law."

Lawsky's office alleged the bank had hidden from regulators some $250 billion in improper transactions tied to Iran. The bank said that total amount that didn't adhere to US sanction laws was less than $14 million.

More recently, the bank has gone quiet. Chief executive Peter Sands was scheduled to appear on CNBC on Thursday but that appearance was postponed. The network said at the time the bank had emailed to say Sands couldn't appear because of "logistical reasons."

A domestically financed Padma bridge could slow down economic growth by drying up funds for crucial sectors like health and education, says a monetary economist who has worked for central banks and the UN.

Currently Chairman of the Department of Economics at Marquette University in Milwaukee, US, Abdur Rahim Chowdhury said diverting funds for bridge would also compel stiff austerity measures and hinder social development.

He said that even though Bangladesh had witnessed a steady six percent growth, this growth was yet to be inclusive.

In an email interview with bdnews24.com, the former researcher for the Finnish central bank also warned that high inflation was in the offing due to a likely food price hike triggered by a draught.

"Second, the quick rental plants have increased our import bill for petroleum products. This will gradually pass through to domestic inflation rate," says Chowdhury.

Also a former chief economist for the United Nations Economic Commission in Europe, the international finance specialist does not take well to the central bank's contractionary monetary policy as it "is not helping the economy very much".

The former member of the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank's academic advisory council said, "The contractionary monetary policy would lead to a drop in economic growth and further increase the fiscal mismanagement."

While he acknowledged that this might help 'contain inflation', "Continued government borrowing would result in increased domestic debt which will crowd out private investment. It may also create a liquidity crisis in the banking sector."

The economist said he believed that Bangladesh Bank could have taken a more selective approach as regards 'import demand for raw materials, intermediate goods and capital goods; and also increase the flow of credit to productive sectors such as garments'.

A former visiting professor at Johns Hopkins University, Chowdhury raised a couple more concerns for building the Padma bridge with own funds.

He said this would likely result in a weaker taka against the dollar since most of the investment would have to be in that currency. Furthermore, he said, foreign aid could shrink as donors become cautious fearing corruption in the 6-km mega structure to bridge the Padma.

Asked about Bangladesh's challenges ahead, Abdur Rahim Chowdhury reeled off a number of points.

Referring to Bangladesh's moderately high growth level, he said, "We should emphasize more on the quality of growth rather than the rate of growth. Our economic growth should be inclusive so that a larger proportion of the population could enjoy the fruits of growth. Also growth should be environmentally sustainable."

He noted that Bangladesh government still lived off taxes paid by the entire populace rather than the richer sections. "There should be more emphasis on direct tax collection including avoidance of tax evasion. In Bangladesh, the rate of increase in income tax collection is less than that of the domestic VAT."

Chowdhury cautioned that Bangladesh may not be able to sustain its current economic growth since there has not been enough investment in infrastructure.