The budget has cut the source tax on the supply of packaging materials needed for industrial goods from 5 percent to 4 percent. This will bring some relief to firms like ours. But entrepreneurs who import raw materials from abroad are all victims of customs harassment. If goods worth $1,000 are imported, customs officials are assessing duty by valuing them at $1,400. All entrepreneurs want relief from this harassment. If they are freed from this at the budget-implementation stage, business costs will fall somewhat.
Otherwise, the budget seems well written and well presented. It contains much of what is needed for employment, education and health for the good of the country’s economy. But where the funds to implement these will come from has not been made clear. Tax breaks have been given on many goods to make prices bearable, so where the financing will come from will be a big challenge — because if revenue collection does not rise, budget implementation will be at risk.
The elected government has said many good things in the budget to satisfy the people. A huge budget of Tk 9,38,000 crore has been announced to meet people’s needs. But we businesspeople are alarmed whenever we hear of a big budget, because, in the end, the pressure to collect a huge amount of tax to implement a big budget falls on the shoulders of businesspeople. Since the previous government’s time, the decision to present a big budget has been taken as a political one — yet whether a big budget is achievable is not being considered. The budget for the current 2025-26 financial year was not fully implemented. Because of various domestic and international challenges, the revenue-collection target was also not met. Even so, a big revenue-collection target has been set.
The finance minister has spoken of several steps to make doing business easier. If they are implemented properly, trade and commerce will become easier. But there is doubt over how effective these ease-of-business steps can be without reforming the bureaucracy.
The big budget that has been announced has a deficit of Tk 2,43,000 crore. To meet that deficit, the finance minister has planned to borrow Tk 1,12,000 crore from the country’s banks. If the government borrows a huge amount from the banks, it will be hard to bring momentum back to trade and commerce, and the private sector will not get the credit it needs. When the government borrows at 11-12 percent interest, banks consider it safe, and then see lending to industry as risky instead. So the government must refrain from borrowing heavily from the banking sector. Otherwise there will be no growth in the private sector, and lending rates will not come down.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report