Next budget to earmark Tk 1.0b for women entrepreneurs: NBR

CHATTOGRAM, Apr 22: A net amount of Tk one billion (Tk 100 crore) will be earmarked for women entrepreneurs in the upcoming budget as in the current fiscal year.

At the same time, the government will further ease the rules of using this money for their business expansion.

Chairman of the National Board of Revenue Md Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan disclosed this at a pre-budget meeting with the Chittagong Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry at Hotel Agrabad in the city on Saturday.

He said that women entrepreneurs are more serious in paying back their bank loans than their male counterparts.

In the beginning of the meeting, CWCCI president Monowara Hakim Ali placed a number of proposals which, she said, would ensure greater participation of women investors, especially in the SME (small and medium enterprises) sector.

She said that women entrepreneurs often face capital shortage for which they cannot go ahead with their projects and the banks also do not come forward with financial support.

The CWCCI president demanded exemption from VAT on the rent of houses and flats used commercially and 10 years' tax holiday for women entrepreneurs.

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