Additional allocations, policy support for service sector demanded
Press Release

The International Business Forum of Bangladesh (IBFB) has demanded additional allocations and policy that supports for developing social and service sectors to achieve 7 per cent growth projected in the coming year, which it says achievable.

IBFB suggests the reducing in duties on the import of hospital and medical equipment to help the health services so that improve and reduce the number of well-off people seeking healthcare abroad.

In its reaction to the proposed budget, the forum said that the government needs to have a long-term plan to develop and encourage investment in the tourism sector, which offers tremendous potentials to add millions of dollars to the national economy. ‘As an alternative, the Government can immediately identify the potential tourist spots and outsource those in private sector through BOT agreement,’ IBFB President Mahmudul Islam Chowdhury said.

It appreciated the increased allocation for agriculture research and said the government should take strong measures to directly subsidize the marginal farmers. It also called for steps to promote non-crop sector and add more value to local farm producers like potato and tomato.

The forum described of the proposed measures as challenging, but said the new budget shows elements to safeguard the poor and reflects the needs and desires of the people. While proposed the withdrawal of import duty on rice, lentils, edible oil, wheat and other grain could help control inflation, the government needs to put strong market monitoring mechanism in place to keep prices stable.

It appreciated the provision of special fund for the SME sector, enhanced allocation for power generation, simplification of the self assessment system for tax payment and corporate tax rebate to encourage mobile phone companies and ISPs in the stock market.

It expressed concern over the proposed increases in customs duties on industrial raw materials, saying the duty structure would threaten local industries and encourage imports. Local textile products would risk losing competitiveness in the global local market. The proposed duty on computer and accessories would have a negative impact on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) growth.

It suggested increase in the supplementary duty of CBU motorcycles from the existing 20 per cent to 60 per cent to support the local assembly industries.