Business
VAT compliance, widening tax net must for easing tax burden: NBR Chairman
Chairman of National Board of Revenue (NBR) Abu Hena Md Rahmatul Muneem said compliance of corporations is essential for better operations of businesses and VAT collection.
He also called for widening tax net for easing burden on a limited number of tax payers.
The government has taken initiative to bring the entire VAT system under automation to prevent VAT evasion and ensure greater transparency and accountability, he said.
He was addressing the closing ceremony of a two-day workshop on VAT Compliances: Role of CMAs' held at ICMAB Ruhul Quddus Auditorium last (Saturday) night.
Also read: NBR goes all-out to boost tax revenue for better economic growth
FBCCI president Md Jashim Uddin said at the event the government pay attention to businesses so that they can cooperate with the tax collectors.
The workshop was organized by Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Bangladesh (ICMAB), a concern, ministry of commerce.
Speakers in the workshop said an effective VAT audit system based on integrated audited accounts can play a vital role as a catalyst to the taxman.
A comprehensive reform of the value-added tax (VAT) regime and automation can facilitate it for both taxpayers and businesses, they said.
ICMAB president Md Mamunur Rashid, and seminar and conference committee chairman AKM Delwer Hussain, among others, spoke there.
ICMAB council member and past president Abu Sayed Md Shaykhul Islam presented a theme paper of the event.
ICMAB President said that CMA professionals can create a great impact by putting their expertise to ensure clarity in various economic aspects.
He requested to create more scope for the CMA professionals in relevant fields so that they can give their effort for the development of this country.
Also read: ICMAB wants VAT system reform to make it business friendly
He emphasized adding the Cost of Goods Sold statement with company return after getting certification from Cost and Management Accountants. As a result the revenue of the NBR will be increased.
He mentioned that Bangladesh is now an emerging country to invest in South Asia. In that case, the VAT law and regulations should be business friendly.
Three technical papers were presented at the workshop. ICMAB treasurer Md Ali Haider Chowdhury and Mallik Intaqab Ahsan presented a paper on 'VAT and VAT Accounting' in the first technical session. Faruque Sikder presented a paper on 'VAT and Accounts Automation' while customs additional commissioner Kazi Muhammad Ziauddin on 'VAT Reforms' in the second and third technical sessions respectively.
Dr. Md. Hamid Ullah Bhuiyan, Chairman, Financial Reporting Council (FRC); Syed Musfequr Rahman, Commissioner, Customs, Excise and VAT, NBR; Dr. Md. Abdur Rouf, DG, Customs Intelligence and Investigation, National Board of Revenue chaired different sessions.
Md. Mashiur Rahaman ACMA, Joint Commissioner, NBR; Mr. Fahmid Wasik Ali FCMA, Md. Shafiqul Alam FCMA attended the technical sessions.
Brand Bangladesh in a new way, FBCCI president urges entrepreneurs
FBCCI President Md. Jashim Uddin on Saturday called upon the entrepreneurs of garments and textile industries to diversify their investments and brand Bangladesh in a new way.
The president made the call at the first meeting of the standing committee on RMG, knitwear and sweaters at the FBCCI office.
He said that most entrepreneurs are interested in investing in cotton-based garment and spinning sector.
“However, now the demand for manmade fiber clothing is increasing in the world market, and the price is also higher,” he said.
The President urged the entrepreneurs in the readymade garments and textile sectors to invest in the man-made fiber sector.
Read: Strict monitoring to check price hike of commodities during Ramadan: Munshi
He mentioned that exporters are gradually losing the advantage of cheap power, energy and labour.
Despite being the second largest exporter of readymade garments, he said, Bangladesh mainly exports relatively cheap garments.
Jashim Uddin said that the prices of raw materials are constantly rising. Therefore, in order to continue to growth of the industry, exporters must now focus on exporting high value garments, he said.
Speaking as the chief guest at the meeting, the president said a safety council has been set up at the FBCCI to ensure the safety of non-export-oriented factories.
The Safety Council is working with BIDA to secure all the industries in the country, he added.
Faruque Hassan, chairman of the committee and president of BGMEA, said a study is going on to explore the new items which the producers might be good at, and also to identify the new opportunities to expand their investments.
“Exporters are often reducing the prices of their products by competing with each other,” he said.
The BGMEA president called for an end to the competition.
Meanwhile, BKMEA executive president Mohammad Hatem proposed to form different sub-committees on the banking and financial sector, power and energy, finance ministry and labor ministry to solve problems of the garment industry.
Read: Remittance inflow down by $ 3.25 billion in 8 months of FY 22
The members of the committee present at the meeting said that harassment of the Customs and Bond Commissionerate is now the biggest problem for them.
Businessmen are also facing hurdles in importing various raw materials due to HS code complications.
Entrepreneurs also think that the law needs to be amended for wastage recycling.
FBCCI Director and Director-in-Charge of the Standing Committee on Land Ports, Bijoy Kumar Kejriwal said the committee would do its utmost to help resolve any issues regarding land port.
FBCCI Director Harun Or Rashid, Secretary General Mohammad Mahfuzul Hoque, Standing Committee Co-Chairman Abdullah-al-Mahmud Mahin, Enthekhabul Hamid Apu, Shams Mahmud, Fazle Shamim Ehsan, Mohammed Kamal Uddin, Anjan Shekhar Das, Humayun Kabir Selim were also present among others.
IBBL Dhaka North Zone, South Zone hold business development conference
Dhaka North and Dhaka South Zone of Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited (IBBL) organised a business development conference in the capital Wednesday.
Mohammed Monirul Moula, managing director and CEO of the bank, addressed the conference virtually as the chief guest.
Md Omar Faruk Khan, additional managing director, spoke as a special guest.
Read IBBL relocates its Rampura Branch
IBBL deputy managing directors Md Mostafizur Rahman Siddiquee and Md Altaf Hossain; senior executive vice-presidents Mohammed Shabbir and Md Maksudur Rahman; executive vice-presidents ASM Rezaul Karim and Md Mizanur Rahman Bhuiyan, also addressed the programme.
Muhammad Saeed Ullah, head of Dhaka North Zone, presided over the function; Mir Rahmat Ullah, head of Dhaka South Zone, delivered the welcome speech.
Read IBBL Khulna holds agent banking conference
Inflation rate is double than the BBS data, says SANEM in a report
The South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (SANEM) has claimed that the overall inflation rate in the country is more than double from the calculation provided by Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).
The SANEM claimed that the overall inflation rate in urban areas is now 12.47 per cent, which is 12.10 per cent in rural areas in Bangladesh.
However, the report released by BBS on February 16 said that in the first month of January this year, the inflation rate in the country was 5.86 per cent.
The rate was above 6 per cent to 6.5 per cent in December last, which was 5.98 per cent in November.
Read: Speakers in webinar urge to promote EV business in Bangladesh
Economists have earlier expressed doubt about the credibility of the BBS figures regarding inflation in the wake of the upward trend of commodities prices. This time in a study of SANEM found more information that shows the weakness of BBS reports.
The SANEM released an online report on Thursday entitled "Inflation: Government Statistics vs. the Reality of Marginal People".
Selim Raihan, executive director of SANEM, said the BBS provides information on inflation rate that does not reflect reality of economics, if the correct information is not brought out, the recovery process will not be sustainable.
IBBL Dhaka North Zone, South Zone hold agent banking conference
Dhaka North and Dhaka South Zone of Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited (IBBL) organised the "Agent Banking Business Development Conference" and "Workshop on Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing" in the capital Wednesday.
Md Omar Faruk Khan, additional managing director of the bank, addressed the conference as chief guest.
JQM Habibullah, deputy managing director of IBBL, addressed it as a special guest.
Read: Pandemic impact: Banks’ bad loans rise by 8 per cent to Tk 1.3 trillion
Md Maksudur Rahman, senior executive vice-president, presided over the function. ASM Rezaul Karim, executive vice-president, delivered the welcome speech.
Taher Ahmed Chowdhury, chief anti-money laundering compliance officer; senior executive vice presidents Md Jamal Uddin Majumder and Md Mahboob Alam, Muhammad Saeed Ullah, head of Dhaka North Zone, Md Shamsuddoha, executive vice-president, and Mir Rahmat Ullah, head of Dhaka South Zone, also spoke.
Read IBBL, JPMorgan Chase Bank hold meeting
Asian stocks rise after Fed chair supports smaller rate hike
Asian stock markets rebounded Thursday and oil prices climbed higher after the head of the Federal Reserve said he supports a smaller rise in interest rates than some expected.
Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Sydney advanced even as Russian forces whose attack on Ukraine has roiled financial markets bombarded the country's second-largest city and besieged two ports.
Wall Street's benchmark S&P 500 index rose 1.9% on Wednesday, recovering this week's losses after Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the U.S. central bank is set to raise its key interest rate for the first time since 2018. He said he supports a traditional rate hike of 0.25 percentage points instead of the bigger rise recommended by some policymakers.
Read: Ruble dives, stocks sink as West tightens Russia sanctions
Powell said the impact on the U.S. economy of Russia's attack is “highly uncertain.”
“Markets have reacted positively to the remarks, which is a debatable interpretation of Powell’s nuanced comments,” ING economists said in a report. “Volatility is the key here, and uncertainty. This isn’t going to go away any time soon.”
The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo rose 0.8% to 26,608.21 and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong gained 0.6% to 22,469.66. The Shanghai Composite Index advanced 0.1% to 3,487.78.
The Kospi in Seoul added 1.6% to 2,745.45 and Sydney's S&P-ASX 200 was 0.8% higher at 7,171.10. New Zealand and Southeast Asian markets also advanced.
Share prices have swung widely as investors try to figure out how the Russian attack will affect supplies of oil, wheat and other commodities and the global recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.
Traders already were uneasy about plans by the Fed and other central banks to fight inflation by withdrawing ultra-low interest rates that boosted stock markets.
The S&P 500 rose to 4,386.54. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.8% to 33,891.35. The Nasdaq composite advanced 1.6% to 13,752.02.
More than 90% of stocks in the S&P 500 rose. Tech, finance and health care companies accounted for a big share of the rally. Energy stocks also helped lift the index as they rode higher oil prices.
Ford Motor Co. jumped 8.4% after it said it was accelerating its transformation into an electric-vehicle company and separated its EV and internal combustion operations.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury bond, or the difference between its market price and the payout at maturity, rose to 1.89% from Tuesday's 1.72%. However, yields still were below where they were before Russia's invasion.
In energy markets, benchmark U.S. crude rose another $2.68 to $113.28 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the price basis for international oils, added $3.61 to $116.54 per barrel in London.
Both gains were smaller than Wednesday's surge of more than $7 per barrel but still unusually wide margins for a daily change.
Leaders of OPEC and other major oil exporters decided Wednesday to stick to plans to gradually increase production. The coalition, made up of OPEC members led by Saudi Arabia and non-cartel members led by Russia, chose to increase production by 400,000 barrels per day in April.
Read:Stocks slump, oil surges over Ukraine conflict
Also this week, the United States and other major oil consumers in the International Energy Agency agreed to release 60 million barrels from strategic reserves to boost supplies. But that has had little impact on market prices.
In currency markets, Russia's ruble gained 3.4% against the U.S. dollar but still was near a record low value of less than 1 cent. It has fallen nearly 25% since the attack after Western governments imposed sanctions that cut off much of Russia's access to the global financial system.
The dollar gained to 115.63 yen from Wednesday's 115.58 yen. The euro declined to $1.1097 from $1.1126.
Pandemic impact: Banks’ bad loans rise by 8 per cent to Tk 1.3 trillion
The Covid-19 pandemic pushed up default bank loans to 8 per cent to Tk1.3 trillion ( 1 trillion is equal to Tk 1 lakh crore) in last December.
Bangladesh Bank (BB) failed to curb the loans default despite providing a number of facilities including moratorium (a loan moratorium is a legally authorized period that delays the payment of money due on account of specific loan instalments) of instalment payments.
According to BB’s latest data, the default loans amount stood in December 2021 at over Tk1.3 trillion (8 per cent of total loans), that was Tk 88734 crore (7.66 per cent) in December 2020.
Read: BB asks NBFIs comply with Banker's Book Evidence Act-2021 to avoid imprisonment
According to the latest data from the central bank, at the end of December last year, the total debt of the banking sector stood at Tk13.18 trillion.
At the end of September, the total debt balance was Tk12. 45 trillion. Of this, the defaulted loans shot to Tk1.15 trillion, which was 8.12 per cent of the total debt.
Till June last year, the total amount of loans disbursed in the banking sector was Tk12.13 trillion. The defaulted loans stood at Tk 99205 crore. In the three months from March to June, defaulted loans increased by Tk 3,899 crore, the BB sources said.
Read: Economy resilient, no liquidity shortages in banks: BB governor
Of the new defaulted loans, more than Tk 11,000 crore has been raised in private banks and more than Tk 2,000 crore in state owned banks. Due to this increase, the private banks overtook the unrealised loans in the government banks.
However, the default rate in the state banks is more than three times that of private banks. About 20 per cent of the loans disbursed in the state-owned banks have been defaulted.
Even if it increases a lot in one year, the default rate among the disbursed loans is a little more than 5 per cent.
Read Remittance to exceed $25 billion by end of current fiscal : Finance Minister
Although the situation of public, private and foreign banks has deteriorated in the last one year, the situation of three specialized banks has improved. These banks have been able to reduce defaulted loans.
Strict monitoring to check price hike of commodities during Ramadan: Munshi
Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi has said the government will strengthen monitoring to prevent price hike of commodities during the holy month of Ramadan.
“There is enough stock of essentials in the country. So, there is no reason to increase price of essentials in the name of short supply,” he said.
Tipu Munshi came up with the remarks on Wednesday while addressing an inter- ministerial meeting on stock, supply, import situation and prices of commodities ahead of Ramadan.
Read:Commerce ministry seeks BTTC report before raising edible oil price
The meeting held at the conference room of the Commerce Ministry at the secretariat.
He said the field administration has been asked to take stern action against those who are trying to increase price of commodities creating artificial crisis or hoarding goods illegally.
“The government has taken all possible steps so that people can buy commodities at affordable prices. Everything will be done to protect the interest of producers and consumers. All measures have been taken to keep the stock, supply and price of essential commodities normal,” the commerce minister told reporters.
He said the government will sell sugar, edible oil, lentils, onions and chickpeas among 1 crore people across the country through TCB during Ramadan.
The commerce minister said that the government will not allow sale of loose soybean oil after May 31 and sale of loose palm oil after December 16.
The government has decided that all edible oil will be bottled or packaged and sold at a fixed price to ensure the fair price.
Read: Veggies’ price soars due to untimely rains & intermediaries: Agriculture secy
The Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection under the Ministry of Commerce and the National Board of Revenue (NBR) have intensified market monitoring, Munshi said.
The meeting was chaired by Senior Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce Tapan Kanti Ghosh, Chairperson of the Bangladesh Competition Commission Mofizul Islam, Chairman of the Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission (Secretary) Md. Afzal Hossain, member of the National Board of Revenue Masud Sadiq, FBCCI President Jasim Uddin, TCB Chairman Brigadier General Md. Ariful Hasan, Director (Administration) of Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection Manzoor Mohammad Shahriar, representatives of Ministry of Industries, DGFI, NSI, BGB, among others, were present at the meeting.
Remittance inflow down by $ 3.25 billion in 8 months of FY 22
Bangladesh’s remittance inflow decreased by USD $ 284.5 million to $ 1496.09 million in February of the current fiscal year compared with the same month of last fiscal year.
In February of FY2020-21, the expatriates sent remittance of $ 1780.59 million to the country.
Bangladesh received $ 13.44 billion remittance in the first 8 months of the current FY2021-22 which is counted from 1st of July every year. In the same period of last FY2020-21, the expatriates sent $16.68 billion. It means flow of inward remittance has decreased by $3.25 billion.
Read: Remittance Magic: Bangladesh received $11.95bn in 7 months
Bangladesh Bank (BB) data released on Tuesday found that the expatriates in different countries of the world sent $1496.09 million inward remittance through banking channels.
The previous month, in January, expatriates sent inward remittances of $ 1704.53 million, in December $1630.66 million.
The government has been providing a 2 per cent incentive from the FY2019-20 to increase remittance inflow in the formal channel (banking) discouraging hundi.
Read:Central bank devalues taka to boost exports, remittances
After easing global Covid restriction on movement, the inward remittance flow decreased gradually compared with the severe pandemic period. In the last FY2021-22 Bangladesh received a record $ 24.77 billion remittance, which is the highest ever.
In January 2022, the government increased remittance incentive to 2.5 per cent to increase the inward remittance flow in the banking channel.
It means the expatriates are now getting hassle-free Tk 102.5 for sending Tk 100 remittance through banking channels.
Read Govt raises incentive on remittance to 2.5%
The sector insiders said that Bangladesh's remittance inflow would increase in the remaining period of the current fiscal year as the government increased incentive rate and upward trend of fuel oil prices in the global market.
Finance minister thanks ADB for prompt assistance in tackling pandemic
Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal has thanked Asian Development Bank (ADB) for its prompt assistance in overcoming the adverse effects of COVID-19 pandemic.
Illustrating the ADB’s assistance to Bangladesh he said ADB has provide USD $ 1.0 billion budget support for potential economic impact of Coronavirus outbreak, $100 million for in health assistance for COVID-19 Response Emergency Assistance project, $940 million loan assistance for purchase of COVID-19 vaccine and $9.34 million grant assistance during the pandemic.
READ: Govt, ADB ink $13.5 mln loan deal to improve irrigation management
Kamal came up with remarks while speaking in an exchange meeting with Executive Director of ADB Sameer Kumar Khare at his secretariat office on Monday.
Abdur Rauf Talukder, Senior Secretary, Finance Division, Fatima Yasmin, Secretary, Economic Relations Division, Edimon Ginting, Country Director, Asian Development Bank, Bangladesh Office, among others, were present.
ADB is one of the leading development partners in Bangladesh. ADB has provided $19.7 billion in loan assistance to Bangladesh since 1982.
Kamal particularly urged the ADB to provide more development assistance to address the challenges following the transition from LDCs to developing countries.
READ: ADB provides $150 mln loan to support small-scale employment creation project
He stressed the need for continuing such cooperation between Bangladesh and ADB in the future to achieve the overall development goals.
In response Sameer Kumar said ADB has been cooperating from the very beginning to restore the social and economic security of Bangladesh to overcome the pandemic and will continue to be on the side of Bangladesh in the future as well.