The government is contemplating introducing sector-specific gas pricing to make energy prices more "predictable" for businesses, a Prime Minister's aide has said.
"In India, they have specific gas price for the specific sector. We would like to experiment with such things in Bangladesh," said Private Industry and Investment Advisor to the Prime Minister Salman F Rahman.
He was speaking at a function of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) on Sunday.
Salman's observation came when President of the FBCCI Md. Shafiul Islam (Mohiuddin) warned that the planned gas price hike would be detrimental to the businesses in the country.
"A move is currently underway to increase the price of gas. But this would be detrimental to business and investment in the country," he said.
"If we could get a 10 to 15 years' projection about gas prices, that would give us much-needed predictability,", said Mr Mohiuddin.
Responding to this, Mr Rahman said that it is "actually not possible to provide such a forward-looking projection".
"Rather, we can experiment with the Indian example and see how it works here," he said.
Meanwhile, focusing on the rising amount of non-performing loan in the banking sector, the FBCCI President said that it would be difficult to maintain the growth momentum until and unless this issue of bulging troubled loans is adequately addressed.
"We need to distinguish between willful and non-willful defaulters and we should bring willful defaulters to justice," Mr Mohiuddin said.
In response, Mr Rahman said the government has already taken action against a number of willful defaulters.
"The chairman and vice chairman of the Hallmark Group are already serving the prison terms while actions have also been taken about the relevant high ups of BASIC Bank," he said.
The Prime Minister's advisor also emphasised speedy reforms for improving the country's position in the 'Ease of Doing Business' ranking of the World Bank.
"We need to bring some reforms by next month. If we can do that, we will be able to elevate ourselves to the 115th place in the next ranking from the current 176th position we have," he said.
"And if we can bring some major legal reforms within the next one year, we will be able to upgrade ourselves to the double-digit rank by next year," he added.
Mr Rahman sought cooperation from the business circle to help the government increase the country's tax net.
"We want to increase the tax net while decreasing the tax rate. But we need your cooperation for doing so," he said.
"We want to increase our dependence on income tax and VAT for revenue generation while decreasing our dependence on things like customs duty," Mr Rahman said.
Mayor of Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) and former president of the BGMEA Atiqul Islam, former FBCCI presidents Mahbubur Rahman, MA Sattar, MA Kashem, Yusuf Abdullah Harun, Abdul Awal Mintoo, Nasir Hossain, AK Azad, Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed and Abdul Matlub Ahmed were also present.
Earlier, members of the panel called 'Shommilito Babosayee Parishad', led by Sheikh Fazle Fahim, for the forthcoming biennial FBCCI Elections were also announced.
Among the panel members from the Chamber's Group are Hasina Newaaz, Md. Masudur Rahman Milon, Dilip Kumar Agarwala, Masud Parvez Khan (Imran) and Mohammad Anwar Sadat Sarker.
The panel members from Association Group include Md. Muntakim Ashraf, Khandaker Ruhul Amin, Abu Motaleb, Mir Nizam Uddin Ahmed, Md. Shafiqul Islam Vorosha, and Shomi Kaiser.
Speaking on the occasion, Mahbubur Rahman, also the president of ICC-Bangladesh, expressed his hope that the apex trade would move forward to a brighter future under the leadership of younger generation.
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