Business
NBR announces tax exemption for donation to third gender
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has exempted tax in donations to the Bandhu Social Welfare Society, an organization working with people of the third gender.
NBR Chairman Abu Hena Md. Rahmatul Muneem signed an order that Bandhu Social Welfare Society will get a conditional tax free facility. And this opportunity will remain valid for the next 5 years.
The NBR's public relations officer Syed A Mumen confirmed it to UNB on Wednesday.
The NBR order states that no tax will be levied on income received from all kinds of donations and grants other than the bank interest income of the Bandhu Social Welfare Society income from developmental work for the heterosexual and heterosexual population.
However, the condition is that this income should be used for welfare of the people of third gender and the organization must abide by the provisions of that ordinance.
Besides, in the last budget also special tax exemption was announced for giving jobs to people of the third gender.
READ: NBR may miss revenue target Tk 3.30 trillion this year too
It states that if an organization employs 10 per cent of its total employees or more than 100 third gender persons, then 75 per cent of the salary paid to those employees or 5 per cent of the tax payable, whichever is less, will be given to the employer as tax deduction.
Earlier, in the budget of last fiscal year, tax benefits were also given to the people of the third gender. For the first time, a tax-exempt income limit is waived for third-gender taxpayers. Their tax-free income limit has been increased from Tk 3 lakh to Tk 3.5 lakh.
Customs houses to remain open during Eid holidays
The National Board of Revenue has decided to keep the customs houses open on limited scale from April 29 to May 4 (except Eid day).
Also read: BGMEA calls for more train services to ease garment workers’ Eid travel
A notification issued in this regard on Wednesday said in order to keep the country's import-export activities dynamic and to ensure a trade-friendly environment, the activities at the custom houses will remain open for limited period during the Eid-ul-Fitr holidays as well as on public and weekly holidays.
Govt yet to take any decision on subsidy or inflation management: Finance Minister
Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal has said that the government is yet to take any decision on subsidy or inflation management.
“So far we have been working on the basis of the GDP growth target set for the current fiscal year,” he told reporters after the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase on Wednesday.
He said the government did not change its 7.2 percent GDP growth target for the current fiscal 2021-22 and is considering 7.5 percent for the next fiscal year.
Also read: No alternative to micro-credit to alleviate poverty: Finance Minister
The finance minister came up with the remarks when reporters asked him why Bangladesh is going to make a high growth projection when international donor agencies like World Bank, IMF and ADB have made a downward global growth projection.
Kamal mentioned that the government still believes that the deficit budget target would be possible to be achieved until any uncertainty is created due to the global situation.
He said all the countries in the world are facing the price hike and inflation problem following the Russia-Ukraine war. “But we are in a better position in inflation management.”
Also read: Import of luxury items to be controlled: Finance Minister
Mentioning the war he said more or less all the countries have been affected by the war and Bangladesh is not out of the impacts.
“As of today there is no visible sign to end the war immediately, but we expect that the war will end soon,” said Kamal.
BB enhances working capital loans limit for export-import trading
Bangladesh Bank has instructed the scheduled banks to raise the working capital limit to a logical level for an interim period for smooth running of export-import trading.
The central bank instruction said the working capital loans would be increased to a logical level despite having crossed the regular limit by the entrepreneurs. Based on banks-customers relationship and measuring risk factors, the bank can increase the working capital loans limit for the clients.
Also read: BB re-fixes MFS money transaction limit to ease payment during Eid
“As the global supply chain was disrupted due to Covid-19 pandemic related movement restrictions, shipment and payment were also delayed. But now the situation is improving, lack of capital, some entrepreneurs are struggling to operate factories,” the central bank order said.
In this context, considering the overall economic activities of the country, including the continuation of production activities and import-export, the BB has decided to enhance the limit of working capital loans.
Also read: BB issues revised agent banking guidelines
In terms of the interim period, banker-customer relationship eliminates / reduces credit risk and customer's financial viability, banks are instructed to increase the verification level, it said.
Chevron concludes community-based Jibika project
A closing event of the Jibika project, a collaboration between Chevron and BRAC, was held recently at BRAC Centre in Dhaka.
Representatives of the Bangladesh government, BRAC, Chevron, BRAC USA, IDEA, IDE and Sharbik Gram Unnoyon Shomobay Shomiti Ltd were present on the occasion.
The project has been operating since October 2015 in areas adjacent to Chevron-operated gas fields in Sylhet, Moulvibazar, and Habiganj districts, Chevron said in a release.
Jibika worked to achieve the long-term sustainability of the community-based organisations by enhancing organisational capacity through strengthening cooperative governance and building leadership abilities.
Read: Power sector subsidy may double at Tk18000 crore in FY22- 23 budget
Jibika facilitated the registration of 110 groups, enhanced their socio-economic status and overall supported more than 22,470 people (around 4,216 households) in the surroundings of gas field communities.
Rear Admiral M Makbul Hossain, director (operations), BRAC, gave closing remarks.
Md Ahsan Kabir, additional registrar, department of co-operatives, Ministry of LGRD & Co-operatives, Eric M Walker, president of Chevron Bangladesh, Md Imrul Kabir, director, corporate affairs, Chevron Bangladesh, and Lauren Godfrey, senior manager of education, BRAC USA, attended as the event as guests of honour.
Shyam Sundar Saha, programme head, Integrated Development Programme (IDP) BRAC and representatives of the community-based organisations presided over the event.
The event highlighted the achievements of the Jibika project, followed by an outline of Jibika’s journey and learning so far and it was presented by the programme coordinator of Jibika, ASM Sofrul Islam.
Read: Chinese Company to set up hair fashion accessories industry at BEPZA economic zone
Md Ahsan Kabir lauded the partnership between BRAC, the world’s largest development organisation, and Chevron, Bangladesh’s largest international oil company, in bolstering the socio-economic development of vulnerable communities, residing near Chevron-operated gas fields in Greater Sylhet.
Muhammad Imrul Kabir And Eric M. Walker on behalf of Chevron thanked the Jibika project and the government cooperative department for their contribution to socio-economic development through the institutionalisation of community organisations and expressed their experience while working on this project.
Eric M Walker emphasised that Jibika is one of the key projects under Chevron’s Bangladesh Partnership Initiative or BPI, which is their signature economic development program.
Jibika project participant, Laila Sultana, secretary, Donokandi Shoboj Sharbik Sharbik Gram Unnayan Shomobay Shamit Ltd, and Md Rubel Ahmed, chairperson, Tukergao Surma Sharbik Gram Unnayan Shomobay Shamit Ltd, said that the training and knowledge gathered from the BRAC-Chevron and IDEA’s Jibika project has helped them to learn how to operate a village development organisation, how to improve enterprise through new technology, market system, and linkage with service providers.
A documentary showed two community-based organization leaders, depicting their journey and the impact Jibika created over the years.
India's biggest IPO to open next week
India's biggest initial public offering of the state-run insurance behemoth -- the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) -- is all set to open next week, with the government deciding to sell 3.5% of its stake in the company.
For anchor investors, the initial public offering will open on May 2. For retail investors, it will open on May 4 and close on May 9. The price band for the offering has been set at Indian rupees 902 to 949, UNB has learnt.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the country's stock markets regulator, approved the red herring prospectus on April 25. LIC has time and again bailed out the government by acting as its internal financier.
READ: E-payments unicorn Paytm launches India's biggest-ever IPO
Experts predict a stellar debut for LIC on the country's bourses just like that of private food delivery giant Zomato last year. The food aggregator was, in fact, India's first new-age technology unicorn to go public in 2021.
Zomato, in fact, rode on the Covid outbreak that has prompted a trend of people moving to order food items online the world over. Such was the fantabulous listing that Zomato's market capitalization breached 12 billion US dollar mark in the first hour itself.
Health budget must increase to reduce ‘out of pocket health expenditure’
Former Governor of Bangladesh Bank (BB) Professor Dr. Atiur Rahman on Tuesday said that of the total health expenditure in Bangladesh, 73 percent comes from the pockets of the citizens and the remaining 27 percent is borne from the health budget.
He believes that to relieve the citizens from this burden of ‘out of pocket health expenditure’, the government needs to increase the share of the health sector in the national budget.
Usually upto 5 percent of the national budget is allocated for the health sector. Dr. Rahman has urged to increase this to 7 to 8 percent in the coming fiscal budget and to set a target for raising this ratio to 10-12 percent in the medium term.
He said this while speaking at an online discussion session titled ‘National Policy Dialogue on Health Budget’, organized by non-government think tank Unnayan Shamannay.
The parliament members present at the discussion were- A. F. M. Ruhal Haque, MP (Satkhira 3), Pankaj Nath, MP (Barisal 4), Md. Amirul Alam, MP (Bagerhat 4), Lutfun Nesa Kan, MP (Reserved Women Seat 48), and Aroma Dutta, MP (Reserved Women Seat 11).
READ: People now safe from Covid-19: Health Minister
Specialist discussants at the event were- the BIDS Director General- Dr. Binayak Sen, Dhaka University Professor Dr. Syed Abdul Hamid, and eminent sociologist Khondoker Shakhawat Ali.
On behalf of Unnayan Shamannay, Dr. Atiur presented proposals about increasing budget allocation for the health sector along with specific proposals about increasing allocations for development projects, allocations for primary healthcare and for medicine provided free of cost at government-run healthcare facilities.
Dr. Binayak Sen, in his remarks, drew attention to the idea of health insurance schemes for poor and lower-middle income households not being viable enough at the moment, and urged them to start planning about a universal healthcare program for these segments of the population.
The online dialogue session was moderated by Unnayan Shamannay’s Senior Project Coordinator Shaheen Ul Alam.
Speakers call for ensuring functional Safety Committees at RMG factories
Speakers at a programme stressed the need for establishing functional Safety Committees at all garment factories in the country to ensure occupational health and safety of the workers.
The function titled “Commemorating Rana Plaza Tragedy: Present OSH Situation in the RMG Sector and Way Forward” was organised by the Solidarity Center-Bangladesh Office at Hotel Asia, Paltan in the city under its USAID’s Workers’ Empowerment and Participation (WEP) Activity to commemorate the Rana Plaza Tragedy.
Also read: BGMEA, CNN willing to team up to promote Bangladesh RMG industry
The speakers said that it has been long nine years since the worst tragedy in the RMG sector in the country. Still there is a long way to go in terms of improving the health and safety conditions in the factories, they said.
Addressing the function Member of Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Labor and Employment Shamsunnahar Bhuiyan said, “We have the responsibility of finding the weaknesses of Safety Committees and resolving them accordingly.”
There can neither be any negligence in their work nor corruption”, she said adding, the stakeholders have to identify the needs of Rana Plaza victims and assist them accordingly.
Advocate AKM Nasim, Country Program Director, Solidarity Center, Bangladesh Office, said after Rana Plaza tragedy, Accord, Alliance and now the RSC are working for a safer workplace.
“We have advanced a lot but still how much the safety committees in factories are able to function is a question. Worker representatives should be allowed to play a stronger role in Safety Committees”, he said.
Advocate Nazrul Islam, Program Officer at the Solidarity Center in his presentation highlighted that research needs to be conducted on weaknesses and challenges and how to make Safety Committees functional.
Also read: Let’s join hands to create brighter future for RMG industry: BGMEA
He added that it is extremely vital to build the capacity of the members of Safety Committee on Occupational Safety & Health (OSH) through training, orientation, learning visits, etc.
Professor Dr. Jakir Hossain said that institutional and legal framework should be strengthened to prevent any accidents in future.
Nazma Yesmin, Director at BILS, said that the injured victims should be given long term medical treatment and health care facilities.
Salauddin Shapon, President of Bangladesh Revolutionary Garment Workers Federation (BRGWF) said that a lot of actions were taken to overcome safety issues in the past few years but now the development has become stagnant..
Participants called for improving fire safety arrangements for the workers and introducing trade union and Safety Committee in all the garment factories.
Advocate A.K.M. Nasim, Country Program Director of the Solidarity Center, Salauddin Shapon, President of Bangladesh Revolutionary Garment Workers Federation, Dr. Jakir Hossain, Professor at Institute of Bangladesh Studies, Rajshahi University, Nazma Yesmin, Director at BILS and Advocate Md. Borkot Ali, Deputy Director (Legal) of BLAST spoke at the event.
Representatives from USAID, ILO, SKOP, NCCWE, Sajeda Foundation, BLF, Labor Court Bar were also present in the event.
Power sector subsidy may double at Tk18000 crore in FY22- 23 budget
The government is considering doubling the power sector subsidy to Tk18000 crore in the upcoming budget of FY 22-23.
The overall subsidy and incentive allocation is estimated to rise by Tk 16,620 crore to Tk 57045 crore in the upcoming budget, Finance Division officials said on Tuesday.
Also read:National Budget to be placed in Parliament on June 9 : Mustafa Kamal
In the current budget the subsidy in the power sector was fixed at Tk 9,000 crore. This year, the subsidy is being doubled in this sector. However, in the revised budget, the subsidy in the power sector has increased by Tk 3,000 crore to Tk 12,000 crore for FY-22.
The subsidy and incentives have continued increasing in the budget every year. As a result the allocation is also being increased. Such as in the budget of FY 22, Tk 40425 crore allocated as subsidy and incentive which was increased by Tk12857 crore to Tk53 282 crore in the revised budget.
The allocation in the subsidy, incentives and loan assistance is estimated to increase by 26.13 per cent or Tk 27910 crore to Tk 177145 crore in the upcoming budget due to adverse impact of Covid-19 pandemic and Ukraine-Russia war, the budget officials said.
BB re-fixes MFS money transaction limit to ease payment during Eid
Bangladesh Bank (BB) has re-fixed the mobile financial service (MFS) transaction ceiling in order to ease payment and transaction during Eid-ul-Fitr.
The central bank has also withdrawn the number of daily transaction times and fixed the daily cash-out limit at Tk 25000 from agent point while the monthly transaction limit is Tk 150000.
Also read: BB issues revised agent banking guidelines
The cash-in limit is fixed at Tk30000 while the monthly limit is set at Tk200000, the person to person (p2p) cash transfer limit has been set at Tk25,000 daily and Tk 200000 monthly.
The MFS account can keep a maximum balance of Tk 300000 in each account.
Besides, bank account to mobile financial service daily money transfer limit has been set at Tk 50,000 while monthly limit at Tk 300000.
Also read: BB starts releasing new notes ahead of Eid