The proposed budget’s tax exemptions and corporate tax reduction are welcome moves for job creation but regulatory environment improvements and ease of doing business are also important to attract investment in manufacturing, said a webinar’s discussants.

June 3 marked a remarkable date for Bangladesh as the finance minister presented the country’s 50th budget in parliament on the occasion of the 50th year of independence. As expected, the Tk 603,681 crore budget is the largest that has ever been proposed.

Bureaucrats, despite being well trained and educated, are not smart enough to implement the budget in a timely manner, for which this perennial difficulty may persist, Planning Minister MA Mannan said yesterday.

Bangladesh Bank has instructed banks to keep their doors open for customers from 10:00am to 3:00pm until June 16.

The Real Estate and Housing Association of Bangladesh (REHAB) has demanded the provision of a long-term low interest fund in the proposed national budget for fiscal 2021-22 so that the country’s people can purchase their own homes on instalments equivalent to rent.

Textile millers yesterday demanded the withdrawal of value-added tax (VAT) and import duty on all kinds of manmade fibre for the potential growth of the non-cotton fashion industry to meet the global demand.

The government should ensure that stimulus funds for the cottage, micro, small and medium enterprises (CMSMEs) are quickly disbursed in order to facilitate sustainable recovery from the Covid-19 fallouts, according to speakers at a webinar yesterday.

Bangladesh Bank has instructed banks to keep their doors open from 10am to 3pm for customers until June 16.

The government needs to ensure vaccination for 70 percent of Bangladeshis as soon as possible but it has not prioritised vaccination in the proposed budget, said former Bangladesh Bank governor Atiur Rahman.

Turnover at the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) hit a decade high today, which was the first trading day after the announcement of the national budget for 2021-22 fiscal year.

A lack of funds is not the problem when it comes to implementing the proposed budget, but rather ensuring vaccination of the population, which can bring back business confidence, said Atiur Rahman, chairman of Unnayan Shamannay, yesterday.

Despite a 2.5 percentage point corporate tax reduction, listed and non-listed companies might end up paying more tax than that last year because of a new plan to increase the tax deducted at source (TDS), said the ICAB yesterday.

Garment exporters yesterday demanded the continuation of the existing 0.5 per cent source tax for the next five years.

The issues of poverty, the job market, small and medium enterprises, and coronavirus vaccinations have been underestimated in the budget proposed for the next fiscal year, said the South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (Sanem) yesterday.

Malaysia has showcased keenness on investing in Bangladesh for being one of the fastest growing economies amidst the pandemic, said discussants at an online event jointly organised by Standard Chartered and Bangladesh Investment Development Authority yesterday.

City Bank has been named “Best bank in Bangladesh 2021” by Hong Kong-based international publication FinanceAsia recently.

Pubali Bank recently witnessed the unanimous reelection of the chairman of its Board of Directors.

Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) has welcomed the new national budget, but it expressed its worries as the fiscal plan did not include the proposals placed by the association.

Although the government said that it would reduce the taxes levied on the import of raw materials used to make cement, this initiative will not have a satisfactory impact as prices would remain the same at the consumer level, according to market players.

The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) yesterday said the opportunity to legalise undisclosed money could be offered in the productive sector for a specific period, not for indefinitely.