The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has decided to allow black money whitening by paying just 15 percent tax for individuals. In the next budget for the fiscal year 2024-25, the NBR brings back the opportunity of individual black money whitening closing such opportunities as investing in Economic Zones or high-tech parks. In the last five years, the opportunity of whitening black money was available in EZs, but not a single penny of black money was being invested. Under the new rules, black money can be turned into white without question by paying only 15 percent tax, said sources of the budget section of NBR. According to the sources, to bring black money into the mainstream of the economy, the 2019-20 budget allowed unquestioned investment in economic zones or hi-tech parks. Then finance minister AHM Mustafa Kamal said in the budget speech that the income arising from the production of goods or services in economic zones and hi-tech parks has been given tax exemption at various rates for 10 years. Junior finance minister gets coy over keeping provision for whitening black money in next budget A tax of 10 percent on the money invested from undisclosed income in setting up industries in economic zones and hi-tech parks to increase investment and create employment. Such investment would not raise any question from the Income Tax Department about the source of that invested money. After several years economic zones or hi-tech parks got the opportunity to invest black money. But no one took this opportunity in 5 years. This facility is scheduled to expire on June 30 of the current fiscal year 2023-24. Therefore, black money investment in new economic zones or hi-tech parks is not allowed as part of the advice of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Instead, an opportunity to legitimize black money or undeclared income is being offered under a general amnesty (tax amnesty). Of course, for this, you will have to pay more income tax than before. HC summons BFIU chief over 'incomplete report' on black money in Swiss banks Earlier black money could be whitened by a 10 percent tax, in the future, it will be 15 percent. If the money is legalized in this way, no other organization of the government can question this, said an official of NBR.

Duty tax for every 11.664 grams of gold on arrival from abroad has been doubled in the proposed budget for the fiscal year 2023-24. Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal announced the proposal for increasing the duty tax to Tk 4,000 instead of existing Tk 2,000 while addressing budget speech in the National Parliament today (Thursday). According to sub-rule (10) of Rule 3 of the Passenger (Nontourist) Baggage (Import) Rules, 2016, a passenger can import gold bars or gold pieces weighing 234 grams on arrival from abroad subject to payment of all duties and taxes. In order to increase the flow of valuable foreign currency in the country, the Finance Minister proposed to curtail the facility and decrease the amount of gold to 117 grams instead of existing 234 grams. Also read: Finance Minister unveils Tk 761,785 crore national budget “Also, I propose to amend the existing baggage rules by incorporating the provision of confiscation of any amount of gold in excess of the declaration or brought concealed by the passenger,” he said. Under baggage rules, a passenger need to pay a total duty of Taka 2,000/- (two thousand) for every 11.664 grams of gold bars or gold pieces on arrival from abroad, I propose to increase the total duty-tax to Taka.4,000/- (Four Thousand) for every 11.664 grams of gold bars or gold pieces, the Finance minister added.    

This year the budget session of the Parliament will begin on May 31 as Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal is scheduled to present the national budget for the 2023-24 fiscal year on June 1. President Mohammed Shahabuddin summoned the 23th session (Budget Session) of the 11th parliament exercising power bestowed upon him by Article 72(1) of the Constitution. The budget session will start at 5:00pm on May 31, said a press release from Parliament on Sunday. On May 11 last, the National Economic Council (NEC) on Thursday approved a Tk 263,000 crore Annual Development Programme (ADP) for the next fiscal year (FY24) making highest allocation of Tk 75,945 crore (28.88pc of allocation) in the transport and communication sector. Also read: 22nd session of 11th Parliament prorogued Out of the original ADP allocation, Tk 169,000crore will be drawn from the local sources while Tk 94,000 crore will come from the foreign sources. In 2022, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal placed Tk 678,064-crore national budget for the fiscal year 2022-23 in the House.  

The foreign assistance for the national budget has declined to US$ 2.23 billion in the current fiscal year from US$ 3.26 billion in the last fiscal year (2021-22). Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal on Tuesday placed this statistics in Parliament while replying to a scripted question from Awami League lawmaker Morshed Alam (Noakhali-2). In the written answer, the minister said the government received assistance equivalent to some US$ 3.26 billion from different development partners for the budget in the last fiscal year. But there is a possibility to get the assistance equivalent to US$ 2.23 billion in the current fiscal year. Also read: 1st quarter performance of FY22-23 budget satisfactory: Finance Minister Responding to questions from ruling party MPs Kazim Uddin Ahmed (Mymensingh-11), the Finance Minister said there is currently no plan to increase the interest rate on family savings certificates. But the interest rate on savings certificates may be revised considering the investment situation. In response to a question from Mamunur Rashid Kiran (Noakhali-3), Mustafa Kamal said the National Board of Revenue (NBR) has been working to accomplish 100 percent of the revenue collection target. The NBR expects that the target will be fully achieved by the end of the fiscal year, he said.

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal told the Parliament on Tuesday that legal proceedings are underway to recover the money laundered from the country based on specific information,  The minister, in reply to a tabled question from Jatiya Party MP Mashiur Rahman Ranga, said that due to various procedural and legal complications, recovery of laundered money takes a long time. He also mentioned that determining the amount of laundered money is very difficult. He, however, reiterated the government’s determination to bring home the laundered money.  Various development organisations and research organisations use different methodologies to estimate the amount of money smuggled out of the country. “But even those organizations do not claim to be accurate in their methodologies,” he said. The finance minister said, the reports of these organizations show conflicting information about the amount of money laundered from Bangladesh. “In fact, quantifying money laundering is extremely difficult. But regardless of the scale or amount of money laundering from the country, the government is determined to stop the possible sources of money laundering as well as prevent money laundering and bring the money back to Bangladesh,” Kamal said.   He said that for this purpose, all the government’s agencies are working together. Read more: Finance Minister Mustafa Kamal urges global leaders to ease economic crisis The finance minister expressed hope that money laundering will reduce to a large extent in the future due to the government's actions. Kamal said that Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) has been collecting information from foreign financial intelligence agencies about smugglers or smuggled money and providing it to various investigating agencies including the Anti-Corruption Commission, CID of Bangladesh Police and the National Board of Revenue. He also said that several cases related to buying flats or houses abroad (including Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Australia, United Kingdom, USA, Canada etc.) or in any other manner are currently under investigation by the Anti-Corruption Commission. Besides, proceedings of several cases related to money laundering filed by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Bangladesh Police are ongoing. On the other hand, the inter-agency task force under the leadership of the Attorney General is working to recover the money smuggled abroad. Besides, the Ministry of Home Affairs has been designated as the central authority to provide mutual assistance in matters related to crime in order to ensure mutual legal cooperation with various countries. In response to a question from Workers Party MP Lutfun Nesa Khan, the finance minister said that Bangladesh is far below the risk limit as per the percentage of foreign debt-GDP. He said that the economy of Bangladesh is at a risk-free and satisfactory level in terms of foreign loans. Read more: $4.5bn IMF loan: 1st instalment expected next Feb, says Mustafa Kamal The finance minister claimed that there is no major risk in the medium and long term repayment of Bangladesh's foreign debt. Quoting the IMF report, the minister said that Bangladesh is risk-free in terms of foreign debt including domestic debt till 2032. In reply to another query, the finance minister said that 217 people have been sent to jail for defaulting on loans during the tenure of the current government. The incident of taking 12 farmers to jail for defaulting on loans (in Pabna) is related to Bangladesh Sambay Bank Ltd. It is not a scheduled bank under Bangladesh Bank. The minister also said it is not appropriate to comment on the issue of sending loan defaulters to jail as it under the jurisdiction of the courts.

Bangladesh has planned to import 5.46 million (54.6 lakh) metric tons of petroleum for 2023. Of these bulk petroleum, some 3.860 million (38.60 lakh tons) is refined petroleum while the remaining 1.6 million (16 lakh) MT is crude petroleum. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) in a meeting, with Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal in the chair, on Wednesday gave approval in principle to two separate proposals in this regard, placed by the Energy and Mineral Resources Division. State-owned Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) will import the entire petroleum. As per the proposal, 1.6 million MT of crude petroleum will be imported from ARAMCO of Saudi Arabia and ADNOC of Abu Dhabi through a direct procurement method. The refined 3.8 million MT petroleum will be imported from different countries under G2G basis.  However, the sources of the import and the quantities were not disclosed. These proposals will come to the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase (CCGP) for final approval and at that stage, the details of the proposals might be disclosed. Normally Bangladesh imports half of its refined petroleum through G2G basis through negotiation and the remaining half from the international market through international tender. Both in the negotiation process and tender process and negotiation process, only premium is set for the import while the petroleum rate is fixed on the basis of market rate through a certain formula.     Read: Country has adequate stocks of petroleum fuel: Energy Division “Chattogram Metropolitan Sewerage Project for Patenga Catchment” The CCEA also approved in principle another proposal titled “Chattogram Metropolitan Sewerage Project for Patenga Catchment” to implement it through public-private partnership (PPP). The Local Government Division placed the proposal while its subordinate body Chattagram WASA will implement the project in order to build an environment-friendly sanitation system in South Patenga and surrounding areas under the Chattagram City Corporation. No detail of the project’s cost was disclosed in the meeting.

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal has said those who own flats or lands in Dhaka city are black money holders. “The existing system of the government make them owners of the black money”, he said while virtually briefing on the outcomes of the two consecutive meetings of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) and the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase  (CCGP) on Wednesday. Responding to a question he said owners of lands or flats register their properties at much lower rates than the actual.   The government’s registration fees of lands and flats have been fixed. But flat or land owners register their properties showing much lower rate to evade the taxes which make them owners of black money, he said. For instance, he said, if price of a flat in Gulshan is Tk 10 crore, it’s owner register it showing Tk 2 crore. Also Read: Law bars asking questions about laundered money: Finance Minister “So, in that sense, almost all the flat or lands owners in Dhaka city are black money holders”, he said. Kamal again defended the government’s recent amnesty for the money launderers and black money whitening steps saying that money becomes black due to the government’s improper systems. Due to the flaws in the government system, people get the chance to evade taxes, he added.   

An amount of Tk 28,781 crore has been proposed for the Public Security and Security Service divisions under the Home Ministry in the proposed budget for fiscal year 2022-23, up by Tk 1893 crore, from the outgoing fiscal year 2021-22. Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal announced the proposed budget while addressing budget speech in the National Parliament today (Thursday). Of the total allocation, Tk 24,594 crore has been allocated for the Public Security division, while the remaining Tk 4,187 crore for the Security Service division. These allocations include important state agencies providing security and emergency services such as the police, the Fire Service, etc.

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal has said that US$ 80 billion is being planned for investment by 2030 to achieve climate resilience. Presenting his plan in parliament in his budget speech on Thursday, he said the government is going to implement the ‘Mujib Climate Prosperity Plan’, which is essentially a strategic investment framework for climate financing to move from climate risk to sustainable climate prosperity. The investment will be funded by both domestic and external sources, he added. He said that considering the immense importance of environmental protection, the government has made it mandatory to follow a pragmatic and inclusive environment-friendly plan in all development activities while addressing the risks of climate change. As part of the implementation of the global carbon emissions reduction target, the country’s updated ‘Nationally Determined Contribution’ was finalised in August 2021. By 2030, the target of reducing carbon-dioxide emissions has been set at 6.73 percent with the country’s own financing and technological capabilities. Also read: Budget FY23: Tk5,000 crore earmarked to combat pandemic Another 15.12 percent of this emission reduction has been provisioned subject to the availability of international funding and technical assistance. On the other hand, the process of formulating a ‘National Adaptation Plan’ to determine the long-term integrated adaptation strategy together with an action plan to tackle the country’s climate change is at the final stage. He said the updating of ‘Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan’ formulated in 2009 is in progress. In addition, steps have been taken to make all existing industries and newly established industries environment friendly. Following this, new decisions have already been taken on installation of 10 coal-fired power plants worth 12 billion USD with the generation capacity of 8,600 MW. Of these plants 4 have been canceled and the remaining 6 will be renewable or gas-based, on the basis of a feasibility study. We are working on ensuring availability of 40 percent of our energy resources from renewable sources by 2041. So far, 13 areas of the country have been declared as Environmentally Critical Areas on the basis of the finding of scientific studies aimed at conserving biodiversity and the natural environment, said the finance minister. In the last 13 years, a total of 35 new protected areas have been created, including 9 National Parks, 18 Wildlife Sanctuaries, 3 Eco-parks, 1 Botanical Garden, 2 Marine Protected Areas, and 2 Special Biodiversity Conservation Areas, bringing the total number of protected areas in the country to 51, said the financial minister.

The Government has allocated Taka 1,282 crore for the Youth and Sports Ministry in the proposed annual budget for the 2022-23 fiscal, little-changed from the amount in the outgoing 2021-22 fiscal’s revised budget of Tk 1,264 crore.      Of the proposed allocation of Tk 1,282 for the next financial year,  Tk 876 crore shown as operating cost and Tk 406 crore shown as development expenses. The budget allocation for the 2021-22 fiscal was Tk 1,122 crore, which was later raised to Tk 1,264 crore in the revised budget, which is a rare occurrence since allocations are usually revised downwards.  Also read: Budget FY23: Laundered money to be legalized by 7-15 pc tax In a budget speech at the Jatiya Sangsad on Thursday (June 9), Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal said the government has been constructing and developing various sports infrastructures including modern stadiums, gymnasiums, and swimming pools, with the aim of improving the quality of sports and augmenting sporting and athletic opportunities. There are 8 (eight) ongoing projects in Fiscal Year 2021-22 for construction and development of sports infrastructure, one of which is the construction of Sheikh Russell Mini Stadium as an Upazila Level project.  Side by side, the government seeks to invest in training for the players by skilled and experienced coaches with the aim of producing skilled players, improving the quality of rural sports and provision of long term trainings for talented players, selected through talent hunts). In addition, regular financial grants and sports equipment are being allocated to various sports federations/associations/organizations for organizing sports events and participation in domestic and international sports events. The Sheikh Kamal National Sports Council Award has been introduced to promote the sports, which is being awarded to the eminent athletes/organisers.