Bangladesh badly needs economic reforms at this moment, said Finance Adviser Salehuddin Ahmed today.

"We are talking about reforms in areas like political reforms, economic reforms, and the electoral process. All are important. But at this moment, we badly need economic reforms," he said.

He made the remarks while speaking at an event marking International Customs Day at the National Board of Revenue (NBR) headquarters in the capital's Agargaon.

Acknowledging the "complexity" of implementing economic reforms, Salehuddin said that while the task is difficult due to the presence of numerous procedural laws and regulations, their proper and transparent application is critical for progress.

"We have some updated systems, but we can't use them properly," he said, pointing to inefficiencies in governance.

The adviser also expressed dissatisfaction over the delayed implementation of the National Single Window, a project initiated in 2017 but only partially launched last month.

Also, he urged businesses to actively cooperate in revenue collection.

"We don't expect any illogical or illegal demands from you [businesses]. You just need to pay your arrears. We never engage in such activities officially or unofficially, or through underhand dealings," he said.

Salehuddin also called on NBR officials to strengthen their efforts to meet revenue targets.

"This year is a challenging one, so we want to move forward."

NBR Chairman Md Abdur Rahman Khan highlighted the agency's use of customs as a trade facilitation tool.

"While rural people and RMG workers have swiftly adopted mobile financial services, businesses are avoiding automation to evade VAT and tax by not keeping transaction records," he said, criticising businesses for their reluctance to adopt automation.