SoEs mark a turnaround

LOOKING at the recent performance of the State-owned Enterprises (SoEs), it appears they are finally getting to grips with their past negative image and are rolling back a constant drain on the national exchequer. The finance ministry says, out of a total of 48 SoEs, 34 have made profits in the outgoing fiscal, while 14 are still in the red.  This is undoubtedly a welcome piece of news after a long time.
Among the best performers in the list is the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), which earned Tk. 93.98 billion in the last fiscal. This whopping 76 percent surge in its income year-on-year basis has, however, come from the BTRC's issuing 3G licences to mobile telephone operators. The other major income earner has been Petrobangla, which compared to last fiscal has quadrupled its earnings at around Tk. 35 billion.    
With the good news, we have also the not-so-happy report of further dip in the performance of the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPD), which, thanks to its purchase of power at higher prices from the quick rental power plants, has cost the national exchequer over TK.70 billion in the outgoing fiscal. The losses notwithstanding, there is still a brighter side to it, since, benefited by enhanced electricity supply in the power grid, industry and commerce have started to contribute positively to the country's GDP.
With the exception of PDB, some loss-making industries, such as Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC), have been able to cut their losses significantly. This is no mean achievement. Overall, this marks a turn-around auguring well for the SoEs.