Come forward for mass media during Covid-19 pandemic: Inu to govt

Saying that the media was badly affected by the coronavirus situation, former information minister and Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal President Hasanul Haq Inu today in parliament urged the government to come forward to offer help in this regard.

Taking part in the discussion on the proposed national budget for 2020-21 fiscal, Inu said corporate tax should be reduced to 10 percent from 25 percent and VAT on newsprint should be reduced to five percent from the existing 15 percent.

He also said tax at source on advertising income should be two percent instead of four percent. Besides, excise duty on raw materials should be reduced to zero from the current five percent.

For the telecom sector, the JSD MP said the five percent supplementary duty on mobile phones will have to be completely withdrawn and the 15 percent VAT on internet will have to be withdrawn.

Criticising the allocations of money to different sectors, the former minister said though the finance minister has set the priorities correctly, the sector-wise allocations are as usual.

"There is no statement in the budget on the demand for reform in the revenue sector, banking sector and capital market," he also said.

Inu said allocation in the health sector had been reduced in this budget.

Claiming that there was no allocation in the proposed budget to tackle the Covid-19 except for a block allocation of Tk 10,000 crore and the stimulus package announced by the prime minister, Inu said a budget outside the box was needed this time.

"But after going through the proposed budget, it seems that there is nothing like coronavirus in the country. It's just a normal budget during an unusual time. "

He said while there are some good proposals in the tax sector, including the protection of domestic industries, there are no major reforms in this sector.