The high interest rate remains in the banking sector due to the default loan, says Toufic Ahmad Choudhury, former director general of Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management (BIBM).
Parliament passes the Tk 5,23,190 crore national budget for 2019-20 fiscal themed as “Bangladesh on a Pathway to Prosperity: Time is Ours, Time for Bangladesh.”
The parliament passes the Finance Bill 2019 with some changes in value-added tax (VAT) and in the policy of capital market and handloom industry.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina describes the proposed budget for FY 2019-20 as people-friendly, development-oriented and balanced one, saying that everyone will be benefitted by the budget as it will help continue the pace of ongoing development.
Lawmakers from treasury and opposition benches lambaste Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal for keeping insufficient allocation for education, health and culture sectors in the proposed budget for 2019-20 fiscal year.
Senior Awami League leader Matia Chowdhury lambastes Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal for increasing tax on family savings certificate from five per cent to 10 per cent in the proposed budget for 2019-20 fiscal.
The National Board of Revenue expects to collect about Tk 11,000 crore more for imposition of VAT on various goods and services and increasing rates on many others, said its officials.
The continuation of concessionary duties on raw material import for motorcycle manufacturers into fiscal 2019-20 would help the fast-growing sector, said market players.
Many importers are not receiving delivery of their goods after five per cent of advance tax (AT) was imposed on almost all kinds of imported goods including raw materials and machinery under the new VAT law.
A look at the revised budget for the outgoing financial year and its state of implementation up to the month of March reconfirm the main weakness of our financial management, namely, the persistently low revenue mobilisation that routinely misses its target.
Imported smartphones are scheduled to turn much costlier as the government has proposed increasing supplementary duty from 10 percent to 25 percent.
Gani Mia is a farmer with no land of his own. He grows paddy, jute and other crops in others’ fields. His story, though fictitious, is in school textbooks and etched in the minds of many. It stands true for a large number of the country’s farmers, especially the marginal ones.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday presented parts of the national budget as Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal fell sick halfway through his speech.
In a push to widen the social safety net, the government decided to include all registered differently abled people, and more marginalised and vulnerable ones under its protection.
The government has resorted to deficit financing, largely through bank borrowing and sale of high-cost savings certificates, increasing the interest payment burden on its shoulders and fuelling inflation.
Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal yesterday proposed doubling the subsidy for the gas sector to Tk 9,600 crore for 2019-20, from Tk 4,500 crore in the previous year.
The proposed budget is an ambitious one. We expect clear guidelines and plans from the government how this budget is going to be implemented, given the fact that weak implementation of budget has become a norm in recent years. It is important to highlight how the performance of different ministries will be improved to implement this proposed budget.
The government has significantly raised the price of tobacco products, including cigarette and bidi, which is a major public health concern in Bangladesh, in a bid to restraint tobacco consumption and surge revenue collection.
It has become a tradition for the budget to be increased every year by 17-18 percent so this year, there was no reason to expect this to change. Generally, Bangladesh’s budget has maintained a sectoral balance in its stance, giving priority to education, agriculture, infrastructure and social sector expenditures.
