The parliament has passed the finance bill 2022 with a surprise late change to the proposal on repatriation of money laundered abroad. The opportunity in the proposed budget to bring back both movable and immovable assets has been cancelled through an amendment on the Finance Bill-2022 by the members of parliament. Speaker of Parliament Shirin Sharmin Chowdhury chaired the session, and Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal brought these amendments to the proposed budget. Later the parliament passed the bill by voice vote. The finance minister accepted 17 amendment proposals on the finance bill at section 2-ka and 2-kha. The other amendment proposals were cancelled by voice vote. “Among the amendments brought in the proposed budget is that only smuggled cash can be brought into the country with 7 percent tax. Those who do not take this opportunity will be fined. The amount of the fine will be equal to the prescribed tax,” Kamal said in the parliament. READ: Parliament passes Finance Bill, allows whitening of undisclosed money The opportunity in the proposed budget to bring in movable and immovable assets has been cancelled. At the same time, amendments have been made to get corporate tax benefits at a lower rate. Companies that transact more than Tk36 lakh a year through banks will get the benefit of paying corporate tax at a lower rate. In the proposed budget this limit was Tk12 lakh. In addition, the obligation to file returns by adding e-TIN (Taxpayer's Identification Number) for all the services has also been waived. The return filing has been made mandatory only for individual taxpayers. Along with the finance bill 2-22, the parliament has also passed the national budget for the fiscal year 2022-23 of Tk678,064 crore, which was placed in the parliament on June 9. Finance minister AHM Mustafa Kamal presented the budget titled “Return to the Path of Development; Leaving the Covid-19 Behind”. This is the fourth budget of the third consecutive term of the government led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and also the overall 51st budget of the country. The budget kept the GDP growth target of 7.5 percent and the GDP size estimated at Tk44.50 lakh crore. The revenue target is set at Tk4.33 lakh crore, while the budget deficit is Tk2.42 lakh crore or 5.4 per cent of GDP. The average inflation in the budget was kept at 5.6 percent.  

The annual development programme (ADP) for 2021-22 fiscal will prioritise the transport, education, health and agriculture sectors, with a view to off-setting the adverse impacts of the coronavirus crisis that have weighed on the economy since March last year. According to the Planning Commission and Planning Ministry sources, the size of the ADP in the upcoming budget is likely to be in the range of Tk 2130 billion- just over a third of what is shaping up to be a Tk 6 trillion finance bill. Of the total ADP, some Tk 1500 billion, or Tk 1.5 trillion, would come from local sources while the remaining Tk 630 billion is expected to come from foreign sources. Some adjustments in the size and source may come when the National Economic Council (NEC) approves the final ADP for the next fiscal. The number of projects to be included in the ADP for 2021-22 is around 1900, including 1480 investment projects. For the 2020-21 fiscal, which expires on June 30,  the government is working with an ADP of  Tk 2051.45 billion, giving the highest priority to the transport sector. Also read: ADP for new fiscal year likely to be cleared Tuesday with tough challenges ahead Of the original ADP, Tk 1346.43 billion was slated to come from local sources while Tk 705.02 billion from the foreign sources. The number of projects in the ADP was 1584 to start with,  including 1456 investment projects, 127 technical assistant projects, and one project from the Japan Debt Cancellation Fund (JDCF). Besides, there were 89 projects of the autonomous bodies and corporations. But the National Economic Council (NEC) in March approved  a revised ADP of Tk 1976.43 billion, downsizing it by some Tk 75 billion.. The entire reduction was down to a cut in the foreign funding, which came down to Tk 630 billion from Tk 705 billion.