\\\'Gold duty hike was overdue\\\'

Finance Minister on AMA Muhith has said the government should have increased import duties on gold long ago. He said gold was no more a good savings instrument. ‘Banking sector is now better than gold,’ he observed. In the budget for upcoming 2014-2015 fiscal year (FY) placed in Parliament on Thursday, Muhith proposed a cut in the amount of gold an inbound international passenger can carry duty-free to 100 grams from 200 grams. He also proposed that one can now bring home another 200 grams of gold by paying Tk 3,000 in tax for every bhori (11.664 grams). For the current FY, the duty was only Tk 150 per bhori. The finance minister said Tk 3,000–5,000 was collected for carrying home per bhori of gold in the neighbouring countries. He made the remarks in the city on Friday, according to a news agency.