Sohel Parvez

Once the Boro harvest is completed across the country, the nation is unlikely to face cereal shortage in the next six months.

The ongoing pandemic stands to leave a lasting legacy of bankruptcies and redundancies. Which is why, government all over the world are scrambling to prop up their businesses as much and as fast as they can.

Farmers’ combined efforts help the nation get a steady supply of vegetables throughout the year.

Collection of value-added tax, the biggest source of revenue for the government, dropped 1 per cent in the first 10 months of the fiscal year to Tk 67,760 crore as the countrywide shutdown since March 26 that have brought almost all economic activities to a standstill is starting to show its effect.

It is about time that the health sector takes centre stage in a national budget -- is the overarching missive of the Centre for Policy Dialogue as the finance division gets down to thrashing the budget for fiscal 2020-21.

The cabinet yesterday decided to bring in changes in direct and indirect tax laws with the view to thwarting taxpayers from getting slapped with a penalty for their failure to comply with deadlines owing to the shutdown.

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) yesterday exempted value-added tax on domestic manufacturing on personal protective equipment (PPE) and surgical face mask to reduce the cost and encourage increased production for the fight against coronavirus.

The searing devastation of coronavirus all over the globe has called for extraordinary measures from governments worldwide. And Bangladesh is no exception.

The National Board of Revenue yesterday asked field offices dealing value-added taxes to monitor sales at restaurants and shops at malls and markets to ensure collection of the actual indirect tax.

The government is likely to give relief to taxpayers from penalties for their inability to comply with deadlines during the shutdown, said finance ministry officials.

An early harvest of maize has come as a stroke of luck for farmers as they are getting better prices amid low imports as the coronavirus pandemic has fractured the supply chain, according to farmers.

Perhaps Bangladesh has the highest number of people out of jobs thanks to the protracted shutdown that has taken away income opportunities for tens of thousands of people, particularly in the informal sector. Or, perhaps not.

People employed in the informal sector get little attention from the policymakers although they account for 85 per cent of the country’s total employed population of 6.08 crore and keep the wheel of the economy humming.

Farmers are expected to bag a higher amount of boro paddy this harvesting season thanks to favourable weather and low pest infestation, a development that may offer some breathing room to the nation now reeling under coronavirus-induced uncertainty.

Revenue collection soared 8 per cent in the first nine months of the fiscal year, paced by the increased collection of advance corporate tax and higher receipts of indirect tax value-added tax (VAT).

The government is working to develop a database of nearly 1.25 crore beneficiary families to ensure proper distribution of food aid and plug the loopholes in the current distribution system, said officials at two ministries.

Shop owners yesterday urged the commerce ministry to allow the opening of retail and wholesale stores from the first of May seeing that several garments factories were given the go-ahead to reopen.

In a moment of crisis, many reach out for comfort foods.

There has been a stunning slump in demand for meat and eggs since coronavirus arrived on these shores. And the dizzying speed at which the lethal pathogen went about upending life in the country prompted many farms, slapped by unprecedented losses, to cut back on production by more than half.

Sea fishermen have urged the government to relax the restriction on trawling in the deep waters of the Bay of Bengal to help them recoup losses in sales inflicted by the ongoing shutdown caused by the global coronavirus pandemic.