Revolutionary reform needed to achieve 'brave' revenue target

A revolutionary reform will be required to achieve the revenue target set in the proposed budget for FY 2023-24, former governor of Bangladesh Bank Dr. Atiur Rahman said on Saturday.

"The quantum jump in the revenue collection target is a brave move by the government as it is happening in an election year," he said, explaining that the target was set amid different types of expectations.

He was presenting a keynote paper at a post-budget press conference, organised by Unnayan Shamannay, a non-profit research organisation at its office in the city.

Dr Atiur, Chairperson of Unnayan Shamannay, Joined the event virtually.

Unnayan Shamannay's Emeritus Fellow Khondoker Shakhawat Ali chaired the session, while its lead economist Robart Shuvro Guda and senior research associate Shahnaz Hira were present as panel discussants.

Hailing the proposed budget, Dr Atiur said that this is the beginning of the journey towards 'Smart Bangladesh' and sustaining the development by addressing the multifarious microeconomic challenges.

"I would attribute the budget as a balance, hopeful, reformative and future-oriented one," he said, adding that both the short-and long-term issues are addressed in the proposed budget for FY '24, yet there are many challenges towards implementation, while the government has also no alternative to adopt the brave paths.

He said that the targets of Tk 5.0 trillion revenue earnings and 6.0 per cent inflation are challenging. Underscoring the need for taking befitting policy measures, he said, "Coordination between the fiscal and monetary policies is of critical importance to ensure macroeconomic stability."

He, however, stressed the need for reviewing proposals such as widened individual's surcharge-free net wealth ceiling from Tk 30 million to TK 40 million, and increased travel tax on migrant workers and students. He said the proposed provision for minimum income tax payment of Tk 2,000 by the non-taxable TIN-holders may contribute to developing a tax culture in Bangladesh. However, he warned that this must not be used as a tool to harass potential taxpayers.

Mr Guda said that no allocations have been made in the proposed budget for new social security programmes and emphasised on the need for initiating new programmes in both rural and urban areas.

Shahnaz Hira pointed out low allocations in the health budget and said it would likely increase people's out-of-pocket health expenditure.

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