Rejaul Karim Byron

The pace of implementation of development schemes of the government hit a three-year high in May of the outgoing fiscal year with Jatiya Sangsad secretariat topping the list while the Finance Division sits at the bottom.

The profits of state-owned enterprises in Bangladesh fell to their lowest in nine years, owing to higher commodity prices in the global market and selling of essentials among the poor and low-income groups at subsidised rates.

Women spend eightfold more time than men in domestic and care work, said a new survey of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.

Abdur Rouf Talukder, the finance secretary, was yesterday announced as the new governor of the central bank, replacing Fazle Kabir, whose six-year tenure ends next month.

Money laundered out of the country can be legalised in exchange of seven to fifteen percent tax under a new proposal aimed to boost revenue as well as mobilise foreign currency. 

The need for expanding the coverage of social protection schemes with new approaches has never been felt so badly than now as people are struggling to keep their heads above water amid one crisis on top of another.

AHM Mustafa Kamal, whose life has been full of struggles, had dreamt of becoming the finance minister, so he consciously entered politics.

The government is preparing the budget in a cautious way, refraining from increasing expenditure by too much of an extent, keeping in mind the ongoing global economic crisis stemming from the pandemic and Russia-Ukraine war, State Minister for Planning Shamsul Alam said.

The government plans to boost exports by promoting large industries and send a record number of migrant workers abroad to raise foreign currency reserves.

Taking into account the Ukraine war, the World Bank reduced Bangladesh’s economic growth projection to 6.7 percent for the next fiscal year from its January forecast of 6.9 percent.

The government is likely to hike value-added tax (VAT) on broadband internet and impose a 5 per cent VAT on handsets manufacturing in the upcoming budget, which will increase handset and internet prices from next fiscal year. 

The government is going to discard its plan to bring all elderly poor under its social safety net programmes in 100 more upazilas in a bid to prevent the non-poor from misusing the support.

The government has set an inflation target of 5.5 per cent for the next fiscal year although the prices of basic commodities are sitting at elevated levels for higher commodities prices globally amid lingering supply chain disruptions and the Russia-Ukraine war.

The government is not keeping a separate allocation for vaccines in the next fiscal year’s budget as it pulls back from vaccine procurement given the high inoculation rate and low infection rates.

Foreign assistance disbursement jumped 58 per cent in the current fiscal year’s July-April period thanks to spending for vaccination, one-time budget support and implementation of mega projects, including that of the Russia-funded Rooppur nuclear power plant. 

Bank accounts with upwards of Tk 1 crore in balance are set to face a higher excise duty next fiscal year as the government looks to collect more taxes from the relatively well-off to get close to the lofty revenue collection target.

Wishful thinking -- is what best describes the maiden tax amnesty campaign the government is planning to lure money back home next fiscal year.

There is bad news for consumers of imported luxury items: they will get dearer thanks to the tax measures the National Board of Revenue is preparing for the new fiscal year that begins on July 1.

Work for the Dhaka-Ashulia Elevated Expressway project is yet to formally start but the deadline for the mega project is to expire in just over a month.

The government is committed to using the long-overdue National Household Database (NHD) from the next fiscal year to better target the social safety net programmes, in a development that can infuse dynamism in the flat scheme.