The government's revenue collection increased at a rapid clip of 14.34 percent year-on-year to Tk76751 crore in the first quarter of the current fiscal year 2023-24.

Despite the high growth of 14.34 percent, the NBR could not meet its targets in any sector of income tax, VAT, or customs. The revenue collection is Tk8195 crore behind the set target. Earlier, the revenue deficit in the first two months (July and August) of the current fiscal year was Tk 4,870 crore.

According to NBR, the revenue collection target for the current fiscal year 2023-2024 has been set at Tk 4.30 lakh crore. Among this, the target of revenue collection in the first quarter was Tk84946.93 crore. Against the target, the NBR collected Tk 76751.30 crore.

Among the revenue collected in the first quarter, the highest Tk28,982 crore came from the value-added tax (VAT) at the local level, up from Tk24,547 crore in the same period of last financial year. Accordingly, the growth in this sub-sector is slightly more than 18 percent.

At the import-export level, the revenue of Tk 24128 crore was collected, up from Tk22455 crore in the same period of the last fiscal. The growth in this sector is 7.45 percent.

Apart from this, the revenue from income tax and tourist tax sector in the first quarter was collected at Tk 23 641 crore. The growth stood at 17.47 percent.

Those concerned said that along with several mega projects including the Bangabandhu Tunnel, and Matarbari Thermal Power Station, VAT collection from tobacco products sales have increased slightly. Rising inflation is also a major reason for the high growth in VAT collection, they said.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is set to raise the revenue target to 0.5 percent of GDP in the current fiscal, as a condition of a USD $4.70 billion loan.