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Sheikh Shahariar Zaman

The finance adviser did not make any new proposal to contain inflation in the proposed budget and merely reiterated the measures offered in the current budget.
Giving details of the programme, he said the government has undertaken ‘Dal-Bhat Programme’ through the Bangladesh Rifles and will continue the open market sales of subsidised food essentials to curb inflation. It has also withdrawn customs duty on imports of food grains and edible oil, increased the amount of food grain imports, lowered interest rate for import credit of food grains, undertaken market monitoring on a regular basis and fixed the maximum retail price for edible oil. The package of actions was also proposed in the 2007-08 fiscal year.
Mirza Aziz, the finance adviser, said the interim government had taken a number of measures to keep inflation low during his budget speech on Monday.
The fixed-income group of people is facing hardship due to high inflation arising from the abnormal price-spikes in both international and domestic markets, the adviser admitted.
‘Medium-term measures include increase of production and distribution of food grains through creation of wholesale markets in various places including Dhaka and taking initiatives for introducing Consumers’ Rights Protection Ordinance,’ said Mirza Aziz.
Bangladesh Bank is also pursuing a production-oriented and market-friendly monetary policy to contain inflation.
‘It is hoped that with the current bumper harvest coupled with the forecast of increased global food grain production by the second half of 2008, the average inflation would come down to 9.0 per cent in FY 2008-09,’ he said.
The finance adviser proposed to introduce 20 per cent dearness allowance for the government employees effective from July 1.
He also felt that the existing pay structure of the low-paid government employees is not consistent with the cost of living and proposed to constitute a pay commission to review and recommend a revised pay structure of the government employees at the beginning of the next fiscal year.
‘Global food production has not increased commensurate with the scale of demand. This applies to Bangladesh as well,’ he said adding that the Tk 350 crore endowment fund to strengthen research for increased agricultural productivity had already become operational.
In the budget for 2007-08, the finance adviser had allocated the fund to strengthen agricultural research. The current budget also included the proposals for the Dhal-bhat programme, open market sales, market monitoring and lower import tariffs.
Influx of new investors spurs
bullish trend at CSE
Nurul Alam . Chittagong

Influx of new investors amid shortage in quality shares at the market coupled with speculation spurred a bullish trend at the Chittagong Stock Exchange in the port city, sources in the market and brokerage firms said.
Arrivals of the new investors at the market contributed to a surge in the share prices with all-time high record in CSE turnover, they added.
The sources said some market manipulators were active in manipulating the stocks prices to make windfall profits at the cost of losses by the new comers and small investors, they added.
Even the prices of some ordinary shares started to increase due to buying pressure from the growing number of investors, officials of the brokerage firms informed.
Nasir Uddin Chowdhury, president of the CSE said, ‘The problem of volatile market situation lies with the demand and supply condition of shares at the market.’
‘The demand for securities at the market went up recently as the number of investors was growing day by day. On the other hand, there was a shortage in quality shares at the market. So the pressure on the limited quality securities increased resulting in pushing up their prices,’ he observed.
‘We are expecting fresh quality shares to help stabilise the market. We need more good shares to meet up the growing demand. Otherwise it will be difficult to ensure a stable share market,’ he said.
Nasir added, ‘It is a good sign that some companies are now on the pipeline to offload shares at the market shortly.’
He hoped that the stock market situation would improve with the arrival of the new shares at the market.
Replying to a question, he said that it was difficult to identify any ‘syndicate of gamblers’ or market manipulators.
‘But we are making alert the investors regularly through organising various awareness programmes and seminars not to put money on securities without knowing the fundamentals of their companies, basing on speculations or rumours spread by manipulators,’ he said.
The CSE turnover hit a record high of Tk 88.31 crores on Sunday exceeding its previous record peak of Tk 73.44 crores four days back.
‘The Chittagong bourse witnessed record turnovers for seven times since May, 2007 with arrivals of growing number of investors, said Mohammad Atiquzzaman, general manager (compliance) of the CSE .
‘Now many people are interested to come to the share market to invest their money,’ he said.
He said, ‘Stagnancy in country’s economic and business fronts forced some investors to enter to the share market.’
‘So the market is getting more response from the investors. But they should be careful in their investment decision,’ he observed.
‘If the investors, mainly the new comers, are not aware fully of the market situation, there is every possibility of losing their money,’ he observed.
Govt to offload shares in
21 more entities
Book building system of
IPO to be introduced
Staff Correspondent

The government has taken decision to offload its shares in 21 more entities in the country’s capital market to increase the supply of shares in the stock market.
‘Decision has also been taken to offload government shares in 9 state-owned enterprises in the power sector, 10 SoEs in the industries sector and 2 enterprises of the telecommunication sector,’ finance adviser AB Mirza Md Azizul Islam announced in his budget speech televised Monday afternoon.
Referring to the last year budget speech, he said he had mentioned that the shares in a number of SoEs and government shares in various private companies would be offloaded to increase the supply of shares in the capital market.
‘……… as part of this process, shares of the nationalised Jamuna Oil Company Ltd and Meghna Oil Company Ltd are already in the capital market and the shares of Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Ltd are in the process of being offloaded,’ he said.
He informed that up to January 2007, market capitalisation of all securities listed with the Dhaka Stock Exchange was Tk 31,709 crore (7 per cent of GDP). ‘This increased more than double to Tk 88,195 crore (16.4 per cent of GDP) by May in 2008.’
In January 2007, the share price index at the DSE was 1,582 points, which climbed to 3,168 points by the end of May 2008, he said.
Mirza Aziz, also a former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, regulator of the capital market, announced that the government had also taken steps to introduce book building system in the capital market to attract private companies having strong financial foundation.
Book building – alternative to fixed price system – is a capital issuance process used in initial public offer.
Stock market analysts and operators welcomed the announcements. They, however, said the government should further widen tax rate difference between the listed and non-listed companies.
Abu Ahmed, professor of economics at Dhaka University and a stock market analyst, said, ‘The capital market would become deeper following listing of the SoEs.’
He said the government should offload its shares in the SoEs as soon as possible to sustain the current demand-driven market surge through supplying securities.
Salahuddin Ahmed Khan, chief executive officer of the DSE, welcomed the proposed budget and hoped the government would offload its stakes in the SoEs soon.
Abu Ahmed, however, said the government should further widen tax rate difference between listed and non-listed companies to encourage the companies to be listed with the stock exchanges.
The finance adviser in the proposed budget for 2008-2009 fiscal proposed to revise the tax rate for companies listed for public trading from 30 per cent to 27.5 per cent and to 37.5 per cent from 40 per cent for companies not listed for public trading. The 45 per cent rate for banks, insurance, financial institutions and mobile phone operators will, however, remain unchanged, he proposed.
Industry leaders to weigh
impact of fiscal measures
Staff Correspondent

Industry leaders lauded the budgetary steps for welfare of the poor, but feared proposals for one per cent duty on capital machinery imports and reduction in cash incentives would hurt the export sectors.
Trade bodies, including the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry, will come up with detailed reactions in a day or two after thoroughly examining the fiscal proposals and weighing their impacts on the overall trade and industry, business sources said.
‘Budget incentives proposed for the poor and vulnerable group people in the society are laudable,’ said Anwar Ul Alam Chowdhury Parvez, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association.
He was apparently disappointed to see that the biggest export earning and employment creating sectors — textile and garment industries — failed to receive any fresh incentives in the new budget proposed Monday. Some measures were rather discouraging, he said.
‘One per cent duty proposed for capital machinery import scrapping the duty-free bonded warehouse facility will be too high for export-oriented industries. Reduction in cash incentive fund for exporters is a very unwise proposal,’ he added.
President of Bangladesh Textile Mills Association Abdul Hai Sarker also said the overall budget proposals, especially the social sector and welfare allocations, were appreciable.
He said they had to check out cautiously how the proposed fiscal measures would impact manufacturing sectors, particularly the export-oriented industries.
President of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association Fazlul Hoque lauded the interim government’s plans to support the vulnerable groups of the society, but lamented the reduction in cash incentive fund for export sectors.
He observed that the proposed duty on machinery import for export industries should not be more than 0.25 per cent.
Mir Nasir Hossain, immediate past president of FBCCI pointed out that lowering duty on raw materials and capital machinery and more focus on small and medium enterprises indicated the new budget’s industry-friendly nature.
He however felt that the highest ever budget deficit would remain a challenge for the government throughout the next fiscal year.
Saifuzzaman Chowdhury Javed, president of the Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry thanked the government for ‘placing a set of balanced budget proposals.’
‘Despite facing internal and external inflationary pressures, the government tried to balance incomes and spending,’ Javed pointed.
He found many of the budget proposals encouraging for investments.
Javed praised four-tier customs duty structure proposed in the new budget and reduction in duty on basic raw materials and intermediate goods.
Duty imposed on capital
machinery imports
Nazmul Ahsan

Above 500 capital machinery and hundreds of spare parts used in the export sector now enjoying duty-free import facility will be subject to one per cent duty as proposed in the budget for 2008-09 fiscal year.
The measure, which revenue officials say is intended to discourage the misuse of bonded warehouse facility, will add to the costs of exports and erode their competitiveness in the global market.
‘In the interest of quick clearance and simplification of customs procedures of imported machinery and spares by the export-oriented enterprises, I propose to repeal the indemnity bond system and replace it with a concessionary rate of 1 per cent customs duty,’ finance and planning adviser AB Mirza Azizul Islam said in the budget speech.
Beverage, sewing, woven, textile, reeling, weaving, twisting, cleaning, calculating, soldering and displaying machines, mechanical appliances, assembling electric machine, automatic goods-vending machines, hectograph, transmission shafts, gaskets, electrical transformers, static converters, rotary converters, electric generating sets,electro-megnets, electric motors and accumulators and poultry incubators are among the capital machinery to face the fresh import duty.
Besides, artificial abrasive, steam turbines, pallets and grinding wheels used in heavy export-oriented industries would also see one per cent customs duty in next fiscal year.
It is widely alleged that a section of unscrupulous importers of such capital machine often overvalue the items to siphon off money abroad that prompted the revenue authority to propose fresh duty on the items, sources said.
The customs officials are expecting more than Tk 600 crore earning as duty from capital machinery imports in the coming fiscal year.
Dhaka-Sharjah flights of
Air Arabia opened
Staff correspondent

Air Arabia launched non-stop flights between Dhaka and Sharjah through a simple ceremony at Zia International Airport on Sunday evening.
The airline will initially operate four flights a week.
The inaugural flight took off from Sharjah International Airport Sunday afternoon
and was received upon its arrival by Bangladeshi delegates at ZIA.
‘Dhaka marks our second destination in Bangladesh, after Chittagong, giving the people of the country more options than ever for convenient and low-cost air travel to 40 destinations across the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia and Central Asia,’ said AK Nizar, head of commercial department of the airline, at the function.
UAE ambassador Khalfan Ali Al Mansouri, civil aviation and tourism secretary Syed Mohammad Jobaer, civil aviation authorities chairman Sakeb Iqbal Khan Majlis, and MGH Group chairman M Ghaziul Haque, managing director Anis Ahmed and executive director Abdur Rahim, and Air Arabia director Ghazi Salahuddin and regional manager Shalini were, among others, present at the function.
According to the Air Arabia officials, the airline flies to Dhaka four times per week, with flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, departing Sharjah at 12:35pm and arriving at
Dhaka at 18:55pm. Return flights depart Dhaka at 19:40pm and arrive in Sharjah at 22:45pm.
Air Arabia commenced operations in October 2003 and currently operates a fleet of 15 new Airbus A320 aircraft, they said.
Oil price forces Thai
Airways to retrench
Asia News Network . Bangkok

Skyrocketing oil prices have clipped Thai Airways International’s wings, forcing the flag carrier to retrench on its 10-year business plan, including possibly paring routes and new aircraft procurement.
‘The airline’s revision will also include its revenue projection,’ THAI president Apinan Sumanseni said on June 6.
‘THAI’s revenue this year will fall short of the target of 210 billion baht ($6.34b),’ he said.
The new plan will be finalised by next month, but the airline has already decided to close its long haul Bangkok-New York route in July and cut frequencies to Los Angeles, London, New Zealand and Johannesburg due to higher jet fuel expenses, he said.
On July 1, the New York station will be closed down and flights to Los Angeles will be reduced from seven a week to five.
‘The company has already lost 4 billion baht ($121m) per year for the two long-distance routes to New York and London,’ he said.
The oil price is the key driver of the cost of operations.
The jet fuel price has jumped from $270 per gallon last year to $400, which hits all airlines, he said.
The four A340-500s used to service the Bangkok-New York route will no longer be needed and sold off. The company bought the aircraft for $130 million each.
The long-haul routes are struggling the most because they consume much more fuel.
The Bangkok-New York flight was launched in May 2005. The airline is running an average load factor of 80 per cent on the daily flights, but the return is still poor due to fewer premium seats.
Major rivals including Singapore Airlines still operate the route but have transformed all seating to business class, which gets higher rates.
THAI is studying reducing frequencies to London, Johannesburg and other destinations.
The airline will also revise its route from Bangkok to Oakland, New Zealand, by adding stopovers in Sydney or Melbourne. The plan is set to start in October.
However, traffic to India is picking up so it will increase flights to New Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata.
DCCI opens web portal
Business Desk

The Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry formally launched its community portal at Westin Hotel in the Dhaka city on Sunday.
The DCCI and the Tejari FZ LLC, the largest regional business to business online portal established in 15 countries, organised the launch, said a press release.
DCCI president Hossain Khaled said the portal was important in that it will help expanding trade and business both at home and abroad.
The Dubai-based company, Tejari, has designed the portal of the DCCI and has listed 40 companies from the DCCI as free members.
Omar Hejaji, CEO of Tejari, said, ‘We do have a mission of building a new silk road. This new road an e-silk road for the 21st century connects today’s emerging markets and is one that is paved with fibre optic cables, telecommunications networks and online trading communities.’
‘Bangladesh can play a vital role in the development of this silk-road, due to its emerging manufacturing sectors and promising readymade garments, pharmaceuticals and ICT industry etc,’ he added.
Chairman of the Bangladesh Enterprise Institute Faruk Sobhan who attended the programme as chief guest said the DCCI has taken the opportunity to be a part of e-commerce and e-business organisation. ‘I hope the internet business communication will take Bangladesh forward and business infrastructure development of our country will be faster.’
Representative of Dubal Chamber of Commerce and Industry Howaida Rabee gave a presentation on Dubai chamber.
Managing director of Tejari Bangladesh Rizwan Bin Faruk announced the Tejari packages for the DCCI members.
DCCI directors, former presidents, members of business community, high officials from Tejari, Dubai were present on the occasion.
Urfi Ahmad made regional director for
Asia Pacific of Grey Worldwide
Business Desk

Urfi Ahmad, client services director of Grey Worldwide Bangladesh, has been promoted as regional director for Asia Pacific and will be moving to the Grey’s regional centre based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
This is the first time a Bangladeshi advertising professional has been appointed to such an important overseas role from this country and it is a great honor for Grey Bangladesh as well as for the country, said a press release.
Ahmad began his advertising career at Grey Bangladesh as an account executive in 1998 and began servicing their most important client at that point — British American Tobacco Bangladesh.
In his new role, Ahmad will be responsible for the Asia Pacific region spanning India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh as well as the Middle East.
He will look after the British American Tobacco account with specific responsibility on three brands for now — John Player Gold Leaf, Benson & Hedges and Kent.
Chinese, Indian growth cannot offset
global slowdown: Fitch
Agence France-Presse . Singapore

Emerging economies such as China and India are growing faster than the rest of the world but still lack the firepower to offset weaker growth in the US and European Union, Fitch Ratings said Monday.
The main emerging markets commonly known as BRIC -- Brazil, Russia, India, and China -- remain very dependent on exports to the industrialised economies with a combined trade surplus of 500 billion US dollars, said James McCormack, head of sovereign ratings in Asia for Fitch.
'The trade flows do not support the emerging markets contributing to offset a recession in the US and weakness elsewhere,' McCormack said at a Fitch conference in Singapore.
Many economists say the United States, the world's largest economy, is effectively in recession.
Some analysts have seen the rapid economic expansion in India and China as reasons for optimism even if the US and other advanced economies weaken.
But Fitch Ratings argues otherwise.
'BRIC economies are running very large combined trade surpluses in the order of 500 billion dollars... so if there's weakness in the advanced economies, you are going to see weakness in the emerging markets,' McCormack said.
'The trade flows are going the other way, so the conclusion that we reached is that strong growth in the emerging markets is not really going to help offset weakness in the advanced economies.'
Both India and China still account for a relatively small portion of global imports which means their economies' influence on international growth is limited, the US ratings agency said.
India only accounts for two per cent of the world's gross domestic product, said McCormack.
'So in some sense, it doesn't matter how fast India grows and it's not a very open economy,' he added.
'It's not really going to contribute to stronger growth in other markets. It doesn't import that much. It's just too small.'
Chicago corn hits record
high; wheat up
Reuters/Bdnews24.com . Tokyo

Chicago corn futures rose to an all-time high in Asia on Monday, as US grains and oilseed futures markets extended their rally from late last week on crude oil's surge to a record high above $139.
Corn and soybean prices were also boosted by worries about young US crops, due to torrential rains in the country's heartland.
The lead July 2008 corn futures contract rose as high as $6.72 per bushel, up more than 3 per cent and a record for a spot contract. It closed on Friday at $6.50-3/4.
The new-crop July 2009 corn contract scaled an all-time peak of $7.20 per bushel, after US corn futures soared to a record above $7 on Friday.
Worries about tight fundamentals, such as low stocks and high demand, was likely to continue feeding the rally in corn, market participants said.
Nobuyuki Chino, president of Unipac Grain Ltd in Tokyo, said he was carefully following US corn acreage figures, currently forecasted at about 86 million acres, down 8 per cent from 2007, as well as corn yield projections.
'It is a very fragile market, and we are now standing at a very crucial point in time,' he said.
He noted that the yield projection, which has been lowered by 1 bushel an acre to 153.9, could fall even more because of poor weather conditions, leading to even lower stock levels.
'The key question this year is this. Will enough corn be produced to satisfy demand?'
Others agreed that corn was headed higher.
'There is little, or really no reason, to sell from the point of view of fundamentals,' said Kenji Kobayashi, a grains analyst at Tokyo's Kanetsu Asset Management.
He said corn was only likely to dip on technicals, which was the case last week when grain and soy futures fell after the U.S. regulator of the futures industry said it would tighten its oversight on commodity futures trading.
'I think the widely held view is that (corn) will be rising another notch towards the summer,' Kobayashi said.
Other grain and oilseed futures were also expected to remain strong.
The July 2008 wheat futures contract climbed as high as $8.38 per bushel, up more than 3 per cent from Friday's close at $8.11.
The July 2008 soybean futures contract rose as high as $14.87- per bushel, up about 2 per cent compared with Friday's close of $14.57-1/2.
US rough rice, which initially bucked the trend and dipped, recouped earlier losses.
July rice rose more than 2 per cent to $20.40 per hundredweight, after it ended on Friday at $19.96.
US oil prices fell more than $1 to below $138 in early trade on Monday after rocketing nearly $11 to a record high on Friday -- the biggest ever one-day gain -- on the falling dollar and Middle East jitters.
Shin-Etsu sees no sign of
US housing recovery
Reuters/Bdnews24.com . Tokyo

Japan's Shin-Etsu Chemical Co Ltd sees no signs of recovery in the US housing market and is looking to emerging markets for growth, the president of the chemical maker said on Monday. Shin-Etsu is the world's largest maker of polyvinyl chloride, a resin used in pipes, wires and other construction materials. It was hit hard by the US housing slump.
'I see absolutely no signs of recovery in the US,' president Chihiro Kanagawa told reporters. 'Growth is coming from other parts of the globe, such as the Middle East, southeast Asia and the Caribbean.'
Shin-Etsu unit Shintech Inc, which holds a 30 per cent share of the US PVC market, posted a 19.1 per cent decline in net profit in calendar 2007 to $202 million. About 60 to 70 per cent of Shin-Etsu's PVC business comes from construction materials.
Rival PVC makers, including Georgia Gulf, PolyOne Corp and Westlake Chemical Corp, have also been hit by the housing slump.
Shin-Etsu, which is also the world's largest maker of silicon wafers used in semi-conductors, is aiming for flat earnings from its PVC business this year, even as it plans to bring onstream a new Louisiana plant that could lower PVC prices further.
'The timing of the plant could have been better,' Kanagawa said. 'But demand from abroad will mean full utilization of our plants.'
He added that the Japanese PVC market was even worse than the US market, and that consolidation was unlikely to help.
'The Japanese market is near death,' he said. 'Uniting two loss-making operations does not eliminate losses, nor is reducing the scale of operations likely to help much. Sometimes the best thing to do is hold tight and wait.'
Shares of Shin-Etsu ended down 3.6 per cent at 6,670 yen, against a fall of 2.1 per cent in the benchmark Nikkei average.
German trade surplus posts
surprise jump
Agence France-Presse . Frankfurt

Germany's trade surplus shot up to 18.7 billion euros ($29.5b) in April, official data showed on Monday, coming in well above forecasts but against a backdrop of weaker economic activity.
The surplus surpassed the March figure of 17.5 billion euros, as well as an analyst poll by Dow Jones Newswires which had forecast 15.1 billion in April for the world's leading exporter, which like other eurozone countries must deal with the single currency's strength on foreign exchange markets.
Overall, exports by the biggest European economy increased by 13.9 per cent to 89.8 billion euros on an annual basis, while imports gained 11.7 per cent to 71.0 billion, figures released by the national statistics service showed.
In trade with countries outside the European Union, exports gained 18.4 per cent from April 2007 to 31.8 billion euros, while imports rose by 12.1 per cent to 24.7 billion.
Germany also posted a general current account surplus of 14.5 billion euros, down from 17.5 billion in March. The payments current account is the widest measure of trade and financial transactions with other countries.
The positive trade figures contrasted with German industrial production data released on Friday that showed a surprise decrease in April, and industrial orders numbers a day earlier which fell for the fifth straight month.
Those figures suggested the economy was headed for a slowdown following a surprisingly strong first quarter. At Commerzbank, analyst Matthias Rubish said on Monday: 'The economy is struggling and seems set to shift down a gear.' But he added that even if growth slowed in 2008 to his forecast level of 2.4 per cent, 'this would be a soft landing after the boom of recent years.'
CORPORATE BRIEF
HSBC provides CNG
conversion loan
Business Desk

The HSBC Bangladesh will provide a CNG conversion loan at a discounted interest rate under its Go Green campaign throughout the month of June, marking World Environment Day.
For each CNG conversion loan taken out during the month, HSBC will plant an additional tree.
To mark the day, HSBC Bangladesh also carried out a large scale exercise planting over 1,000 trees at the Osmani Udyan in Dhaka city, said a press release.
All HSBC branches and customer service centers were branded with a green theme and all customer facing staff were invited to wear green to celebrate World Environment Day.
HSBC globally has a strong commitment to environmental causes, and has committed $100 million (BDT700 crore) to a 5 year climate programme.
Argentina's farmers end
crippling strike
Agence France-Presse . Buenos Aires

Leaders of Argentina's troubled farm sector promised to resume grain exports Monday after ending a strike that has dealt a blow to the economy and raised tensions with the government.
'It would be convenient for us to resume grain sales at midnight Sunday,' Eduardo Buzzi, a strike leader, told reporters. 'We have to give dialogue a chance to develop.'
The almost 90-day strike had been called to oppose taxes on soya exports at a time when prices on the international market are soaring.
President Cristina Kirchner has refused to roll back the 13-per cent tariff hike on soybean exports she announced in March. Farmers rejected her offer to cap the sliding tax scale on the product.
But Hugo Biolcati, vice-president at the influential Argentine Rural Union, said international grain sales would resume early Monday just as sales of animal products did on Friday.
He did not divulge terms of any deal.
Some non-union activists, however, warned that they might not stop the strike action because the government still had not committed to opening negotiations.
The strike took a turn for the worse earlier this week when truckers' unions in four provinces, including Buenos Aires, parked their rigs on some 60 roads to protest the tax they say is handing them crippling losses.
The blockade has dealt a heavy blow to the country's tourism sector. The Federation of Food Salesmen and Hotel Owners says it caused losses of 23.5 million dollars in the first 21 days of the labor conflict.
The strike has also affected overall consumer spending. In some small towns in Argentina's heartland, sales dropped 15-20 per cent because of the halt on grain deliveries, the Argentine Chamber of Commerce reported.
The confrontation has deepened divisions between Argentina's upper and middle classes -- including many well-off farmers -- and the poor, swollen by the country's 2001 financial collapse, who overwhelmingly support Kirchner.
The president on Thursday slammed farm owners for ignoring the plight of ordinary citizens.
'Show me the worker, store owner or businessman who can afford to stop working for 90 days,' she said in a speech.
'Only those who have accumulated a great income and a great capital can do it,' she added, referring to many large farm owners who have grown rich with the spiraling price of commodities.
Argentina is one of the biggest food producers in the world, leading with exports of soybean oil. It is also the second biggest corn exporter, after the United States, and the fifth biggest wheat exporter.
Shanghai among Asia’s eight
commercial hubs
Agence France-Presse . Singapore

Shanghai has vaulted into the ranks of the world's leading centres of commerce, becoming one of eight Asian cities among the top 25, a study released Monday by MasterCard said.
Tokyo retained its spot as Asia's top commercial centre -- and number three globally -- while Singapore overtook Hong Kong to move into fourth spot overall, the MasterCard Worldwide Centres of Commerce Index said.
Hong Kong ranks sixth globally, it said.
'Asia's dominance among the top 25 cities globally demonstrates the growing importance of Asian cities to a progressively urbanised global economy,' MasterCard said in a press release.
The study found Shanghai jumped to 24th spot from 32nd in last year's survey, it said.
Indian shares fall 4.66pc
Agence France-Presse . Mumbai

Indian shares fell 4.66 per cent to under 15,000 points in morning trade Monday in the wake of a Wall Street plunge triggered by surging oil prices and a sharp jump in US unemployment, dealers said.
The benchmark Mumbai 30-share Sensex index fell 726 points to 14,846.18, a near-three month low.
'We have been advising investors to stay on the sidelines. Buying opportunities will come later, but this is not the time,' said Apurva Shah, head of research with brokerage Prabhudas Lilladher.
Concerns that India's central bank may hike borrowing costs or take other steps to slow lending in a bid to curb inflation -- running at more than eight per cent -- had also damaged sentiment, dealers said.
'The global scenario looks bleak but we expect the US markets to recover at some stage, considering they are moving into election mode,' said Naresh Garg, a fund manager at the Sahara Mutual fund.
Last week, the government hiked petrol and diesel prices to cut huge losses at state-run oil firms, which sell fuel at below cost to help the poor. India imports 70 per cent of the oil needed for its fast-growing economy.
Rising food and fuel prices threaten to be a key issue at general elections due in India within a year as inflation spirals.
Overseas investors had sold 4.62 billion dollars of Indian shares by last Friday since the start of 2008. They had bought 4.17 billion dollars worth during the same period last year.
Dollar falls against euro,
rises versus yen
Agence France-Presse . London

The dollar fell against the euro but rose versus the yen in European trading on Monday, after the US currency plunged last week on news of a jump in the US unemployment rate, dealers said.
The euro climbed to 1.5807 dollars in early London trading from 1.5777 in New York late on Friday.
Against the Japanese currency, the dollar increased to 105.68 yen from 104.90. ‘The dollar remains under pressure after Friday’s sell-off in light of the disappointing payroll data, although there has been little fresh direction around as European traders return after the weekend break,’ said James Hughes at CMC Markets.
The US jobless rate jumped to 5.5 per cent in May as the world’s largest economy lost 49,000 jobs, official figures showed.
Most economists had expected a sharply lower unemployment rate of 5.1 per cent. The increase was the largest monthly change since February 1986.
European Central Bank chief Jean-Claude Trichet’s warning of a possible rise in eurozone interest rates in July also boosted the euro to the detriment of the dollar, traders said.
Trichet cited projected record high inflation in the eurozone this year, fuelling the likelihood of rate tightening and in turn making the euro more attractive to investors.
Friday’s sharp fall in the dollar meanwhile contributed to a jump in a key New York oil futures contract, which leapt 10.75 dollars a barrel — the biggest one day jump ever — to a record-high 139.12 dollars.
The oil price rally and the bleak job report triggered the worst day on US stock markets in 15 months as the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 394.64 points (3.13 per cent) to end at 12,209.81.
The pound shot higher after official figures showed that the cost of goods leaving British factories surged to record highs in May for the second month running as the cost of raw materials continued to soar.
Analysts said the data meant that the Bank of England would have difficulty in cutting interest rates to boost flagging economic growth, as it seeks to control surging inflation.
In London early on Monday, the euro changed hands at 1.5807 dollars against 1.5777 late on Friday, at 166.99 yen (165.52), 0.8001 pounds (0.8004) and 1.5803 Swiss francs (1.6068).
The dollar stood at 105.68 yen (104.90) and 1.0203 Swiss francs (1.0182).
The pound was at 1.9753 dollars (1.9706). On the London Bullion Market, the price of gold jumped to 904.07 dollars per ounce from 890.50 dollars late on Friday.
Oil prices dip after record run
close to $140 a barrel
Agence France-Presse . London

Oil prices dropped more than a dollar on Monday after rocketing to record heights near 140 dollars per barrel late last week, but some analysts warned of a bubble that could burst soon.
Crude soared beyond 139 dollars on Friday after a shock jump in US unemployment sent the dollar reeling and Wall Street plunging by more than three per cent amid fears of sharply slower economic growth.
New York’s main oil futures contract, light sweet crude for July delivery, gave back 1.27 dollars to 137.27 dollars a barrel on Monday.
The contract had spiked on Friday by 10.75 dollars a barrel — the biggest-ever one-day jump — after soaring to an all-time high of 139.12 dollars.
On Monday, Brent North Sea crude for July delivery slid 1.73 dollars to 135.96. Brent had hit a lifetime pinnacle of 138.12 and gained 10.15 dollars in value on Friday.
‘The extreme price volatility that we are now seeing is characteristic of bubbles that are about to burst,’ said Capital Economics analyst Julian Jessop.
‘The next big move is therefore likely to be down.’
He also argued that the recent jump in oil prices was not related to the fundamentals of supply and demand, but to ongoing weakness in the US currency.
‘Friday’s jump ... provides the clearest evidence yet that the oil market is increasingly detac