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Lucrative Libyan market open again for Bangladeshis, but only 15 agencies running the show
Although the labour market in Libya has recently reopened for Bangladeshis after a pause of nearly a decade due to the Libyan Civil War, just 15 recruiting agencies are now calling the shots, making the once lucrative destination in the MENA region uncertain and costlier for job seekers.
In February this year, Libya's labour market was reopened for Bangladeshis, but the Libyan Embassy in Dhaka was said to be lax in receiving and delivering passports submitted by any agency other than "the 15."
The 15 recruiting agencies are said to have been "unethically demanding extra money" for delivering the passports submitted by them after stamping visas.
However, following the intervention of the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA), the embassy started accepting and delivering passports submitted by other agencies on October 24, 2022.
Also read: No headway in sending Bangladeshi workers to Malaysia despite agreement
In November last year, Bangladesh lifted the restriction on sending workers to Libya considering the "improved political situation" in the war-torn country.
In 2012, the government banned sending workers to Libya following political unrest in the country.
Sohail Ahsan Khan, an exporter of labour, told UNB that he submitted 12 passports to Md Kefaitullah Mamun, managing partner of Sonar Bangla Krishi Khamar Recruiting Agency, an influential member of the 15 recruiting agencies, for stamping visas a few days back.
Initially, Kefaitullah had agreed to accept a fee of $150 per passport from Khan for stamping them with visas. But then he ratcheted it up by 10 times to $1500 and declined to return the passports, else.
Read More: Bangladesh wants to boost cooperation with Libya to curb illegal migration
Some other victims said the migrant workers are having a hard time reaching Libya on time, as the 15 recruiting agencies, capitalising on the hopes of young people trying to escape poverty and hemmed in by a lack of opportunity, are taking hold of the passports for a long time demanding extra money.
Abul Kashem, a youth from Noakhali, said he submitted his passport through a recruiting agency three months back to go to Libya.
"I'm not getting my passport back after my visa was stamped due to a melee between two agencies. My visa will expire on November 9. I don't know whether I will, finally, be able to go to Libya," he added.
Like Kashem, many other people are not getting their passports back in time before their visas – (for Libya or elsewhere) expire. If they do not get their passports back with their visas, their journey to Libya will become uncertain.
Read More: Libya seeks joint commission with Bangladesh to expand cooperation
We tried repeatedly, but Kefaitullah simply could not be reached over the phone. He also did not respond to an SMS sent to his number.
BAIRA President Mohammed Abul Basher said 55 percent of Bangladesh's foreign exchange earnings come from remittances sent by expatriates. "But regrettably, no one including the ministry concerned or its subordinate offices, is taking any step for the development of the labour migration sector."
"After a long time, the opportunity to export Bangladeshi manpower to Libya has been created, but due to the syndicate of 15 recruiting agencies, labour migration to Libya has been hurt," Basher said.
He said BAIRA, which has over 1600 members, already wrote to the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment to take action against this "syndicate." "We also wrote to the Libyan Embassy in Dhaka. And the mission has started delivering the passports submitted by other agencies."
Read More: Detained Bangladeshis in Libya to be brought back: FM
The BAIRA president said they want a "syndicate-free" environment in labour migration so that the workers can go abroad cheaply, or at least spend less money.
He also said a delegation from Libya will come to Bangladesh very soon and it will talk with the embassy and related stakeholders to do what it takes to take Bangladeshi workers to Libya at a low cost.
About the allegation that Sonar Bangla and other agencies are charging extra money by taking hold of passports, Abul Basher said they are informed about it and are trying to resolve this.
"Md Kefaitullah Mamun, managing partner of Sonar Bangla Agency, has been inflicting fatal damage on labour migration. He has been cooperating with the syndicate, harming the sector," the BAIRA president said.
Read More: Bangladeshi journalist, engineer to return home from Libya soon: FM
State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam Sunday said Bangladesh supports legal migration to other countries and wants to enhance cooperation with Libya to curb illegal migration.
He particularly sought the cooperation of Libya in contract farming of Bangladesh agro-entrepreneurs in Libya by leasing land there.
Libyan Ambassador Abdulmutalib SM Suliman told him that his country wants to employ Bangladeshi doctors, nurses, technicians and engineers in Libya.
The International Organization for Migration's Mobility Tracking survey in Libya identified 17,409 Bangladeshi nationals in the country between February and April 2022.
Read More: Libya’s migrant roundup reaches 4,000 amid major crackdown
Mobility Tracking in Libya gathers data through key informant interviews at both the municipality and community level on a bi-monthly basis.
Of the total migrants identified by key informants in the country in February and April 2022, Bangladeshi migrants made up only three percent of total migrants in the country; however, Bangladeshi nationals accounted for 34 percent of all migrants, including refugees, from South Asia and the Middle East.
Ninety-one percent of Bangladeshi migrants used air travel as their means of transportation to Libya. In addition, the average cost of their migration was $2,423.
Fifty-four percent of Bangladeshi migrants were identified in western Libya. However, the highest concentration was in Benghazi (33 percent) in the east, followed by Tripoli (20 percent) and Misrata (13 percent) in the west.
Read More: Major General Shamim new Ambassador to Libya
Turkey was a transit country to reach Libya for more than a third of Bangladeshi migrants (34 percent). Migrants transiting through the UAE and then Turkey reported paying more than those transiting through other countries.
Bagerhat's Dublar Char abuzz as fish drying season begins
Fishermen and hired hands in Dublar Char, close to the Sundarbans, are busy drying fish. Catches have been good, and hopes are high.
Over 10,000 fishermen have already reached Dublar Char as fish drying is on in full swing. Fish drying season started on October 29 and will continue till February 28.
The Forest Department expects to earn Tk 5 crore revenue from dried fish processing this fiscal.
Dried fish, or shutki, have a shelf life of several months and is considered a delicacy not only in Bangladesh but also in several countries where they are exported.
Also read: Dublar Char comes alive as Sutki fish season gets underway
Investment projection spelled out to counter hurdles for growth
The government of Bangladesh has projected to upgrade total investment in the country to 33.6 percent of the total GDP on a mid-term basis (in the 2024-25 fiscal year) aiming to overturn the economic shock from the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war.
In this investment, the private sector will contribute 26.65 percent of the GDP while the public sector will contribute 7.0 percent.
According to an official document, to attain the gradual acceleration of the GDP, private investment expansion is necessary along with public investment.
The estimated investment target for 2023-24 fiscal year is 32.8 percent with 25.91 percent from the private sector and 6.9 percent from the public sector.
Read more: Lack of financing, policy support causes of weak startup growth in Bangladesh: Speakers
For the running 2022-23 fiscal year, the investment target is 31.5 percent with the private sector contributing 24.81 percent and the public sector adding 6.7 percent.
The estimated GDP target for the current 2022-23 fiscal year is 7.5 percent while the target for 2023-24 and 2024-25 is 7.8 percent and 8.0 percent respectively.
The document stated that the GDP of the last 2021-22 fiscal year was 7.25 percent while in 2020-21 it was 6.94 percent.
The growth in agriculture, industry and service sectors have been estimated at 5.0 percent, 8.8 percent and 7.9 percent respectively for the 2024-25 fiscal year.
Read more: Bangladesh's strong growth could be at risk without urgent climate action: World Bank
The official document said that About 7-8 percent real GDP growth is targeted over the medium term based on the assumptions of the gradual recovery of the world economy from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the early resolution of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
The document put emphasis on private investment, saying that it needs to be boosted along with public investment to increase capital accumulation.
Total investment in fiscal 2020-21 stands at 31.0 percent of the GDP where the contributions of private and public sectors are 23.7 percent and 7.3 percent respectively.
“But this level of investment is not adequate to achieve around 8.0 percent growth over the medium term,” the document said.
Read more: Tier-2 cities like Gazipur, Narayanganj must promote urban growth outside Dhaka: World Bank
It also mentioned that public investment could not be increased to an expected level due to the lack of capacity in implementing the annual development programme.
Recognising this, the document stated the government has taken steps to bring about some structural changes at both project design and implementation levels.
It mentioned that a potentially huge global supply shock that may reduce growth and push up inflation is affecting the post-COVID-19 recovery.
“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the economic sanctions on Russia that followed put global energy supplies at risk,” it said.
Read More: More development projects planned to support trade, investment
The document said that Russia supplies around 10 percent of the world’s energy, including 17 percent of its natural gas and 12 percent of its oil.
The jump in oil and gas prices will add to industry costs and reduce consumers’ real income, it added, saying that record-high inflation is currently evident, which also affects Bangladesh.
The total investment in 2018-19 fiscal year was 31.6 percent of the GDP where the share of private and public sector were 23.5 percent and 8 percent respectively.
The investment in 2019-20 fiscal year was 20.8 percent of the GDP (private sector 12.7 percent and public sector 8.1 percent).
Read More: “Bangladesh can be the right place for investment from Brunei”
"But to attain 8 percent GDP in the mid-term basis” such investment is not adequate, it said.
The document mentioned that the government has taken various reforms measures like simplification of the fund release process for accelerating the rate of ADP implementation.
It mentioned that the overall agriculture sector, especially foodgrain, vegetables, livestock and forest resources was less affected due to coronavirus.
It said that disbursement of agriculture loans played an important role in the satisfactory growth of the agriculture sector in Bangladesh.
Read More: Shares vs Bonds: What is the Ideal Investment Opportunity
Already riddled with crisis, private power plant operators cry for unpaid bill worth $2.5 billion
The unpaid bills to the private power plant operators have now crossed $2.5 billion as the government has failed to pay since May this year.
“Our payments have been cleared until May...For the last 5 months no payment has been received from the government”, Imran Karim, president of the Bangladesh Independent Power Producers Association (Bippa), told UNB.
The association is the apex body of the private power producers in the country.
The association president also claimed that despite a harsh reality, the private plant operators have been making their highest efforts to continue power generation and supplying electricity to the national grid for the sake of the interest of the nation.
“But some of the plant operators have now become unable to generate electricity from their plants as they could not import furnace oil due to the fund crisis”, he noted.
Read more: Tk 1893 crore unpaid as electricity bill by govt ministries, departments, Nasrul Hamid tells JS
Officials of the state-owned Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) admitted about the non-payment of the bills against the electricity purchased from the private power plant operators.
true, the private plant operators did not get any bill after May this year”, said Sheikh Aktar Hossain, member (finance) of the BPDB.
He, however, said the government is trying to clear the payment. “BPDB will take measures as per the directive of the government”, he told UNB.
Sources said the government on an average has to pay about Tk5,400 crore per month to the private sector against the purchase of electricity from the private plants. It was Tk 4000 crore before the increase in fuel and US dollar price.
Read more: Nasrul Hamid now hopes power supply situation will improve from Nov
Considering these statistics, the total unpaid bills will be around Tk 27,000 crore or $2.575 billion (considering US dollar exchange rate at Tk 105), he added.
The government purchases electricity from the private sector at the US dollar as per the agreement with them, he noted.
Beyond this liabilities with the private sector, the BPDB purchases electricity from some power plants under different state-owned companies like Ashuganj Power Station Company Limited, Bangladesh-China Power Company (Pvt) Limited (BCPCL), Rural Power Company Limited (RPCL) and B-R Power Gen Ltd.
The BPDB has similar power purchase agreements (PPA) with the companies and it has to buy electricity of Tk 2,200 crore on an average per month from them.
The BPDB has unpaid bills of 11,000 crore to these companies, said a BPDB official requesting anonymity.
Read more: 2 weeks after grid failure, Ghorashal Power Station’s unit-5 resumes operation
Currently, the country’s power generation capacity is over 25,500 MW and more than 50 percent of electricity is generated by the private sector through their independent power producer (IPP), rental and quick rental power plants.
Import of electricity from India is also counted as private sector generation.
The private sector operators mainly use furnace oil and diesel to generate electricity while natural gas is used in some plants. Of these, 4,700 MW is generated by using furnace oil.
According to Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority (Sreda), of the total 25585 MW of generation capacity comprising both public and private sector plants, currently 1768 MW (6.91 %) is coal-based), 11330 MW (44.28 %) gas-based, 6238 MW (24.38 %) furnace oil (HFO) based, 1341 MW (5.24 %) diesel-based (HSD), Imported 1160 MW (4.53 %), renewable 948.12 MW (3.71 %) and captive is 2800 MW (10.94 %).
Read More: Nasrul Hamid under fire in Parliament for electricity crisis
Private sector power industry insiders said that recently the private plants operators had to suspend about 800 MW of their furnace oil-based electricity generation because of the fund shortage.
“We had to suspend our operation because of a lack of furnace oil. We can’t import fuel as we are not getting bills from the government”, said one operator preferring anonymity.
According to the sources, of the 800 MW now remaining suspended are EnergyPac’s 230 MW, Hosaf’s 113 MW, Ray Lanka’s 200 MW, Desh Energy’s 200 MW, and Ena Power’s 50 MW.
BPDB has been in a cash crunch for the last several months which forced the organisation to move a proposal to the energy regulator to raise the electricity price at bulk level.
Read More: 80 lakh people remain without electricity: Nasrul Hamid
But the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) held a public hearing on the issue in May this year and finally rejected the BPDB’s plea on October 13 through its decision.
The BPDB documents reveal the government has to spend a total of Tk 71,878 crore in the FY2021-22 for total power production, of which Tk 44,434 crore will be spent for purchasing electricity from the private sector.
Of this amount, Tk 37,963 crore will be required to purchase electricity from the independent power producer (IPP) and small IPP plants in the private sector which produce 38 per cent (8,807 MW) of the total generation.
Bippa officials said the delay in payment is not the only problem that the private power producers are facing.
“The shooting trend in dollar price, unavailability of the green bucks with banks and counting penalties for delayed payment to foreign lenders and equipment suppliers have been the major problems”, said the Bippa president.
Read More: Nepal will export up to 50 MW electricity to Bangladesh for now, envoy tells PM
Cox’s Bazar fishermen rejoice as Bay swarms with Hilsa
The fishing community of Cox’s Bazar is very happy with business catching Hilsa in swarms. Fishing trawlers are returning to the shore full of Hilsa and other fish, bringing down the prices to a tolerable level.
Once deserted fish warehouses and markets of the district are now buzzing with fishermen, traders, and buyers from morning to night.
Visiting Cox’s Bazar Fisheries Landing Station, UNB found the place in a celebratory mood. After the onslaught of Cyclone Sitrang and a 22-day ban on Hilsa catching, hundreds of fishing trawlers are arriving at the station with tons of Hilsa every day.
Read More: With Hilsa catch declining, Bagerhat fishermen stare at penury
No one seems to have time for doing anything else at the landing station. Some were loading the fish into warehouses, some were breaking ice while others were arranging the fishes in baskets. Many traders were also seen sending truckloads of Hilsa consignments to different parts of the country after getting expected prices.
Bangladesh doesn’t have clear picture of maritime domain, Australia can help: Expert
Australian expert Dr David Brewster has said there are gaps in Bangladesh’s maritime security capabilities that need to be built upon or enhanced with a comprehensive picture of its maritime domain in place first.
“Bangladesh does not have a clear picture of what is happening in the maritime domain,” Brewster, who specializes in South Asian and Indian Ocean strategic affairs, told UNB in an interview.
He said there needs to be a system so that Bangladesh understands what is happening out there and it is necessary to create a basis to get benefitted from the blue economy.
The expert said, for example, there is illegal fishing going on but no one has ever done a proper study on its extent.
Read More: Bangladesh Navy deserves appreciation for ensuring maritime security while facing natural challenges: PM
“That is an absolutely fundamental thing,” he said, adding, “study first if you want to get benefit from the marine resources. You have to do the study to figure it out – the amount of resources and how much illegal fishing is taking place.”
Brewster, from the National Security College in Canberra, laid emphasis on generating awareness about everything that is going on in the maritime domain – illegal fishing, drug smuggling, and human trafficking, if any.
“In my view, Australia can be very useful to Bangladesh,” he said, mentioning that lack of a clear picture hinders law enforcement and the protection of maritime resources.
Brewster said Australia has useful experience in this area and can help Bangladesh develop its maritime search and rescue capabilities.
Read more: Bangladesh, Australia want meaningful partnership
“We want to see all our neighbours having the ability to properly manage and govern their maritime spaces. More broadly, we want to see a stable and prosperous Bangladesh,” said the expert.
He said Australia can also provide targeted capability-building assistance on selected transnational security issues.
Talking about growing “competition and rivalries” among major powers in the region, the Australian expert said, “I should say, Bangladesh has handled this competition very well, at least so far.”
Appreciating the process and policies that Bangladesh follows in terms of taking projects and investment, he said, “In my view, Bangladesh has been very cautious.”
Read More: Blue economy potentials: Experts for maritime affairs ministry
Responding to a question, Brewster said beyond economy, Bangladesh and Australia have a lot of shared interests in the region in terms of stability, resilience and making sure that other countries in the region are stable and resilient.
Commercial production of Vannamei variety can bring back golden days of shrimp export
Shrimp once held the second spot in top export goods from Bangladesh but in the last few years it failed to hold up against the growing competition and fell down to seventh.
Traders and exporters involved in frozen shrimp export have been demanding approval for commercial production of Vannamei Shrimps in Bangladesh instead of Freshwater Prawns (Golda Shrimp) and Tiger Prawns (Bagda) as its export to European and American markets can bring back the golden days of shrimp export.
Fourteen of the 15 countries that cultivate shrimps in Asia and export to Europe, USA and other large importers have already been commercially producing Vannamei Shrimp and exporting it while Bangladesh lags far behind, SM Humayun Kabir President of Bangladesh Frozen food Exporters Association told UNB.
Also read: Virus cripples Satkhira shrimp sector; farmers counting huge losses
Country’s export figure of shrimp from Fiscal Year 2013-14 to 2020-21 shows a steady decline.
In FY 2013-14 Bangladesh earned USD550 million by exporting shrimp, in FY 2017-18 it came down to USD 409 million, and finally in FY 2020-21 it came down to 329 USD million, according to the data of Fisheries Department and Export Promotion Bureau.
How Vannamei can replace Bagda and Golda?
Currently, there are 105 approved frozen food processing factories in Bangladesh but only 60 of them are operating due to the struggle for the shortage of raw materials.
Also read: Climate change: Shrimp farming endangered in Khulna
In Bangladesh, 2, 58,000 hectares of land are used for shrimp farming where 300 to 400 kg of Golda and Bagda shrimps per hectare are produced in 160 days.
But as the Golda and Bagda shrimps cannot be produced in any land more than twice a year the production cost of these shrimps becomes very high.
Comparatively high-yielding Vannamei Shrimp, with low production cost and easy availability, has been dominating the global market while Bangladesh’s shrimp industry suffers.
Read More: Shrimp farmers in Bagerhat stare at starvation
Recently, the Fisheries Department has given conditional approval to conduct two pilot projects for harvesting Vannamei Shrimp on 10 acres of land.
According to project results, in just 110 days 10 to 15 MT of Vannamei shrimp can be produced per hectares of land which is quite high compared to 300-400 Kg of Bagda and Golda shrimp production in 160 days, said Prafulla Kumar Roy, owner Jagannath Balaram Subhadra hatchery contracted for the pilot project.
Vannamei Shrimp can also be produced thrice in the same land in one year, he said.
Read More: Chandpur: Coast Guard seizes 1MT shrimps inflated with jelly
Shyamal Kumar Das, another owner of hatchery under the project said if the experimental initiative taken by the Fisheries Department to commercialise Vannamei shrimp production is implemented, it will be possible to produce four to six lakh MTs of shrimp like Bangladesh and India within the next five years.
President of Bangladesh Frozen Food Exporters Association SM Humayun Kabir said, commercial production and export of Vanami shrimp can earn 3 to 4 billion US dollars revenue and it will help Bangladesh regain its position in the global shrimp market.
Khodeza Begum, a housewife who came to Gallamari market of Khulna to buy shrimp said Vanamei shrimps are cheap and delicious.
Read More: Vannamei Shrimp pilot project shows commercial potential
Rabiul Sheikh, a fish seller said that the demand for this shrimp was low in the beginning, but it is increasing day by day.
Prasenjit, who looks after Vannamei shrimp farming pilot project, said that harvesting of this shrimp does not have any adverse impact on nature rather vegetables can be cultivated around the shrimp enclosure.
According to the pilot project data, 77 percent of the world’s shrimp market is occupied by Vannamei Shrimp. As production of this fish isn’t widespread in Bangladesh, the country has to compete for 23 percent of market share through exporting Freshwater Prawn (Golda Shrimp) and Tiger Prawn (Bagda) shrimp.
Read More: Satkhira flood washes away Tk8.28 crore worth of fish, crab, shrimp.
BNP’s ideology stands poles apart from Jamaat, it sees India as a special friend, says Mirza Fakhrul in an exclusive interview with UNB
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has said that his party is different from Jamaat-e-Islami in terms of ideology and political principles.
“We believe in democracy, religious freedom and religious values of all religions. But Jamaat does politics to establish Islam and it doesn’t match with us,” Fakhrul said in an exclusive interview with UNB at his Uttara residence this week.
He, however, said that there are many equations and polarisations in parliamentary politics.
“The main issue here is the number or 151 seats,” he said.
Read more: US sanctions on RAB made BNP fearless in anti-government protests: Fakhrul
Every party, he said, tries to get 151 seats and that's why parties make alliances with Jamaat or reach an understating with Jamaat without forging an alliance. “Awami League had a clear relationship with Jamaat when it waged a movement against us in 1994-1996.”
The BNP leader said their party had an electoral alliance with Jamaat, but not an ideological one. “Our politics will depend entirely on our interests. We’re now going to wage our simultaneous movement independently but not under any alliance.”
He also said Awami League talks against Jamaat only to make political gains, but it has not so far taken any step to ban the party.
Replying to a question, Fakhrul said their party wants all opposition parties, including the left-leaning and Islamic ones, to participate in the simultaneous movement to force the AL government to resign paving the way for holding the next general election under a neutral caretaker administration.
NBR counting losses for rampant tax evasion
Despite taking VAT registration, around 22 percent of companies are not submitting their VAT returns.
A large number of individuals are also remaining out of the tax network despite having taxable income.
A total of 26 lakh people or 52.41 percent of the taxpayers did not submit their income tax returns in the last fiscal year. Of the 50 lakh Taxpayers Identification Number (TIN) holders, some 24 lakh submitted their income tax returns during last fiscal year.
As a result, the National Board of Revenue is missing a large amount of revenue.
Though the companies are taking VAT for products or services from customers they are not submitting money to the government exchequer.
The visiting IMF officials have advised the NBR to increase revenue collection in different forms.
Economists and sector insiders have repeatedly suggested reforming the country’s revenue sector in a way that the tax ratio in the GDP would grow as per the volume of the economy.
Read more: 20% year-on-year growth: NBR collected record Tk 8,733cr VAT in Aug
In south Asia Bangladesh is the lowest tax-GDP ratio. A 2016 World Bank report said that the South Asian tax GDP ratio is 19.1 percent in Nepal, 16 percent in Bhutan, 12 percent in India, 9.9 percent in Afghanistan, 9.1 percent in the Maldive while in Bangladesh it is 8.8 percent. In 2017 Bangladesh's position in tax GDP ratio slid to 7.6.
While official data portrays the burgeoning growth of Bangladesh's economy, tax collection shows an almost opposite trend.
The tax collection as a percentage of GDP has been stuck at around 7.6 percent in 2017, the lowest in South Asia and one of the lowest in the world.
This prompts economists to question the disconnect since revenue receipts should increase in line with the expansion of the economy.
Dr Muhammad Abdul Mazid, former NBR chairman, told UNB that large companies might be avoiding VAT through different ways that the NBR cannot detect owing to a lack of capacity.
He suggested enhancing the capacity of revenue officials, along with ensuring good governance in the revenue sector so that people encourage paying taxes in a hassle-free environment.
Dr Ahsan H Mansur, executive director at Policy Research Institute (PRI), said businesses could not fully make a turnaround from the pandemic-induced losses in FY2022 because of an economic slowdown to some extent, which led to lower growth in VAT collection from large companies.
Commenting on the poor collection from the banking sector, he said banks are now going through a bad patch with a slump in profitability.
Mansur also suggested reforming the total VAT and tax sector to grow the revenue collection from domestic sources, in line with global standards, he said.
Read more: Tax return document not needed for loans up to Tk 20 lakh: NBR
"This shows a big mismatch," said Selim Raihan, executive director of the South Asian Network on Economic Modeling.
"It shows that there is no relation between GDP growth and revenue collection although the tax-to-GDP ratio increases in other countries because of the growth of the economy. In the case of Bangladesh, it is a puzzle,” he added.
According to NBR, there are 3.72 lakh companies that have taken VAT registration. Although among them 2.90 companies or 78.21 percent file VAT returns regularly.
However, still, around 22 percent of companies do not submit VAT returns, according to official sources at the VAT Division of the NBR.
A senior official of the NBR's VAT Division told UNB that 3.72 lakh businesses have registered VAT till August this year. Among them, 2.43 lakh or 83.66 percent have filed returns in online platform.
As per the VAT Act, companies which have annual turnover below Tk50 lakh do not need VAT registration.
US sanctions on RAB made BNP fearless in anti-government protests: Fakhrul
The US sanctions on RAB and the international community’s voice against human rights violations in Bangladesh have helped rejuvenate the BNP rank and file to take to the streets fearlessly, as reflected in its recent rallies, according to the opposition party’s secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.
He also said that the law enforcement forces are not as aggressive towards the BNP's programs as they were in the past because it is a universal practice that civil and military bureaucrats do not stand against the people when they put up resistance with just demands.
In an interview with UNB this week, Fakhrul talked about many other issues, including BNP’s plans for the simultaneous movement, the Dhaka rally on December 10, the Election Commission, the next general election, the proposed national government, and its relations with Jamaat and India. This is the first part of the interview.
Read more: Huge crowds in BNP rally mean they want democracy back, says Mirza Fakhrul
“When the government was continuing all misdeeds at an unstoppable pace without facing any resistance and a loud voice from inside and outside the country, the US sanctions on RAB naturally instilled new hope in the democracy-loving people of Bangladesh. It has also inspired BNP,” he said.
The BNP leader also said their party leaders and activists got a message through the sanctions that the democracy-loving international community would no longer accept such activities, especially the incidents of human rights violations.
“The US in its reports was voicing concerns over Bangladesh’s human rights situation for several years. But this time they not only raised their voices against human rights violations, but also they acted (through the sanctions). It’s undoubtedly encouraged us greatly. On the other hand, the visit of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michele Bachelet to Bangladesh and her subsequent statements on the issue definitely inspired us,” he observed.
Read more: BNP MPs ready to resign; Govt must go for credible election: Fakhrul