DHAKA: Tofail Ahmed, Minister of Commerce of Bangladesh, is asking to reduce the tax at source on exports of garment to a tolerable level.
In his budget speech on June 4, the Finance Minister AMA Muhith asked to increase the tax from the current 0.30% to 1% for the 2015-2016 financial year. Several factors have hit business since the beginning of the year, such as the 92 days of shutdowns and blockade enforced by the BNP-led 20-party alliance, and the devaluation of the Euro. Because of this, the garment sector may fail to reach its US$33.2 billion export target, Minister Ahmed said. He then urged Minister Muhith to take practical and rational steps to save local industries, also suggesting that the government should not only pay more attention to prospective sectors like furniture, shipbuilding and pharmaceuticals, but also give them cash incentives and impose high duties on imports.
According to the Minister, several measures have been taken for product and market diversification, as well as agreements have been signed with many countries in Latin America, Oceania, Asia and the EU. Considering the current purchasing power parity, Bangladesh could become a mid-income country by 2021, likely to obtain soon an improvement of its current status of least developed country.
