‘Ambitious’ budget focused on VAT

Finance Minister AMA Muhith today unveiled a mega Tk 4,00,226 crore budget, the highest till date, with an ambitious 7.4 percent growth under steady inflation.

“The budget for fiscal year 2017-18 is indeed an ambitious one,” Muhith, a veteran who placed his 11th budget at a full House, said during his speech.

Focal point of his budget this year was the stress on a flat VAT rate of 15 percent, a key revenue source he is banking on in the follow through of slump remittance.

The revenue target has been set at Tk 2,87,991 crore leaving a deficit of Tk 1,12,275 crore. A total of Tk. 32,149 crore will be sourced from savings certificates and non-banking sources and Tk. 28,203 crore from the banking system.

READ MORE: Budget in pie charts

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) would generate Tk.2,48,190 crore of the targeted amount. The target of Non-NBR tax revenue collection has been fixed at Tk.8,662 crore.

A key focus of the public was on the excise duty placed on bank accounts, which has not been doubled, but increased to Tk 800 from Tk 500, for a balance of Tk 1 lakh to Tk 10 lakh.

He has placed importance in education, power and energy sector, ICT sector, haor regions recently affected by flood, and domestic industrialisation within Bangladesh.

This budget will be accommodating the government’s plan to walk down the line of election campaign, two years ahead of a scheduled parliamentary poll.