Major changes in fiscal measures unlikely
Wednesday, 27 June 2007
Shakhawat Hossain
The caretaker government will place the proposed 2007-08 budget without bringing any major change in fiscal measures for approval of President Iajuddin Ahmed tomorrow (Thursday), official sources said.
"We will place the budget for President's approval June 28," said acting finance secretary Mohammad Tareque.
The Ministry of Finance (MoF) will seek approval from the advisory council before placing the budget to the President.
The advisory council is likely to approve the budget today (Wednesday).
The sources said there might not be any significant change in the fiscal measures proposed by the finance and planning adviser Mirza Azizul Islam on June 7.
"There is no scope for brining about major changes in the proposed fiscal measures," National Board of Revenue (NBR) chairman Badiur Rahman told the FE.
The NBR chairman briefed the President about the new budget Sunday.
He ruled out the possibility of major changes following the observation that the proposed duty structure is a 'breakthrough' in addressing long-standing demand of the country's businessmen.
"The import cost will remain almost the same after withdrawal of Infrastructure Development Surcharge (ISD) and introduction of 10, 15 and 25 per cent duty structure," he said.
Rather the new fiscal measures will help reduce the discretionary power of both customs officials and taxmen substantially, he added.
The NBR chairman did not, however, rule out minor changes in the new fiscal policies considering the public interests, which have already been ventilated by the general people in the budget reaction study.
According to the Ministry of Finance, some 1700 suggestions and proposals were received on fiscal measures in the Tk 871.37-billion budget that projected a 5.6 per cent deficit against income of Tk 615.56 billion.
The earnings include NBR tax revenue at Tk 438.50 billion, non-NBR tax revenue Tk 19.88 billion, non-tax revenue receipts of Tk 114.63 billion and foreign grants worth Tk 42.55 billion.
Businesses were critical about the proposal on withdrawal of zero tariff facility from many imported raw materials, capital machinery, intermediate goods and computer.
The caretaker government will place the proposed 2007-08 budget without bringing any major change in fiscal measures for approval of President Iajuddin Ahmed tomorrow (Thursday), official sources said.
"We will place the budget for President's approval June 28," said acting finance secretary Mohammad Tareque.
The Ministry of Finance (MoF) will seek approval from the advisory council before placing the budget to the President.
The advisory council is likely to approve the budget today (Wednesday).
The sources said there might not be any significant change in the fiscal measures proposed by the finance and planning adviser Mirza Azizul Islam on June 7.
"There is no scope for brining about major changes in the proposed fiscal measures," National Board of Revenue (NBR) chairman Badiur Rahman told the FE.
The NBR chairman briefed the President about the new budget Sunday.
He ruled out the possibility of major changes following the observation that the proposed duty structure is a 'breakthrough' in addressing long-standing demand of the country's businessmen.
"The import cost will remain almost the same after withdrawal of Infrastructure Development Surcharge (ISD) and introduction of 10, 15 and 25 per cent duty structure," he said.
Rather the new fiscal measures will help reduce the discretionary power of both customs officials and taxmen substantially, he added.
The NBR chairman did not, however, rule out minor changes in the new fiscal policies considering the public interests, which have already been ventilated by the general people in the budget reaction study.
According to the Ministry of Finance, some 1700 suggestions and proposals were received on fiscal measures in the Tk 871.37-billion budget that projected a 5.6 per cent deficit against income of Tk 615.56 billion.
The earnings include NBR tax revenue at Tk 438.50 billion, non-NBR tax revenue Tk 19.88 billion, non-tax revenue receipts of Tk 114.63 billion and foreign grants worth Tk 42.55 billion.
Businesses were critical about the proposal on withdrawal of zero tariff facility from many imported raw materials, capital machinery, intermediate goods and computer.