United News of Bangladesh

The government has announced that individuals could purchase ‘Savings Certificates’ up to Tk 10 lakh without showing income tax return submission documents. However, an income tax return will still be mandatory for investments exceeding this amount. Previously, the threshold for exemption was Tk 5 lakh. The National Savings Directorate, under the Internal Resources Division of the Ministry of Finance, recently issued a circular regarding this change. This follows a gazette published by the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs Division, in June. Based on that gazette, the National Savings Directorate has now allowed the purchase of savings certificates up to Tk 10 lakh without the need for an income tax return submission.  The new circular specifies that proof of income tax return submission will be required only for investments exceeding Tk 10 lakh in savings certificates. Sanchayapatra interest rate revised: New profit rates of Bangladesh National Savings Certificate in 2025 This change means a significant shift from the previous rule, which required an income tax return for savings certificate purchases above Tk 5 lakh. Now, the exemption limit has been doubled to Tk 10 lakh. Meanwhile, on July 1, the Internal Resources Division (IRD) also issued a circular reducing the profit rates for five savings schemes operated under the National Savings Directorate.  The new profit rates, depending on the scheme type, now range from a maximum of 11.82 percent to 11.98 percent. These revised rates came into effect on July 1.

A substantial portion of the proposed 6.2 percent of GDP budget deficit in the next fiscal will be met from the local sources, where a total of Tk 37,001crore will be taken out from the savings  certificates  and  other non-bank sources. Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal placed this outline while unveiling the national budget in parliament on Thursday giving a total estimated expenditure of Tk.  6,03,681  crore,  which  is  17.5  percent  of  GDP.  Read: Govt aims to rein in budget deficit back within 5% from next fiscal He said the overall budget  deficit  for  FY2021-2022  will  be  Tk 2,14,681 crore, which is 6.2 percent of GDP, up slightly from the last budget's 6.1  percent.  “Out of  the  total  deficit,  Tk.  1,01,228crore  will  be  financed  from  external  sources,  while Tk 1,13,453 crore from  domestic  sources  of  which Tk.  76,452  crore , or two-thirds will  come  from  the banking  system, and the remaining third, Tk  37,001crore,  from  savings  certificates  and  other non-bank sources. He mentioned that the government has set  the target  for  total  revenue  income  in  the  fiscal  year  2021-2022  at  Tk 3,89,000  crore,  which  is  11.3  percent  of  GDP. Read: Overall budget deficit Tk. 190,000 crore in 2020-21 “Out  of  this,  Tk  3,30,000crore  will  be  collected  through  the  NBR  sources while revenue  from  non-NBR  sources  has  been  estimated  at  Tk  16,000 crore and the  non-tax revenue is estimated to be Tk 43,000 crore”.  

The government has clarified that interest rates of different savings schemes with Post Office Savings Bank were lowered, not that of any savings certificate.