Govt plans to cut tax rate: Mustafa Kamal

Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal on Monday said that the government is planning to cut tax rate in future with a view to increasing revenue, reports UNB.

He said there was no reason why tax rate can't be reduced if government can earn more revenues than now.

The minister came up with these remarks while he met with the Board of Directors of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI), led by its President Abul Kasem Khan, at the Planning Ministry on Monday.

Expressing his optimism about attaining Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), the minister said that to attain SDGs government and private sector need to work together and about $1.31 trillion is needed for achieving the goals.

Bangladesh is placed at the bottom, ranking 177 in the World Bank's "Doing Business 2018" report, said DCCI President Abul Kasem Khan adding that Bangladesh needs to raise infrastructure to GDP ratio to 5.0 per cent and "we estimate that Bangladesh will require $320 billion by the year 2030 for developing reliable, sustainable and affordable infrastructure."

He also said that the private investment needs to be scaled up to 29 per cent from current 23.1 per cent.

In order to accelerate the implementation of large infrastructure projects, he proposed to form a high-performing authority "National Infrastructure Development and Monitoring Advisory Authority" (NIDMAA).

He also suggested strengthening the BAPEX to explore new offshore and onshore gas fields.

DCCI Senior Vice President Kamrul Islam, FCA, Vice President Riyadh Hossain, directors Andaleeb Hasan, Kh. Rashedul Ahsan, K M N Manjurul Islam, Engr. Md Al Amin, Mohammad Bashiruddin, S M Zillur Rahman and Secretary General AHM Rezaul Kabir were also present.