Sheikh Hasina has threatened the private banks with tough actions if they do not lower the rates of interest they charge to lend to or below 9 percent.
Imported smartphones to get costlier under new budget
The price of smartphones is set to increase under the proposed budget for the 2019-20 fiscal year.
Published : 13 June 2019, 11:37 AM
Updated : 13 June 2019, 02:16 PM
The government plans to raise the customs duty on smartphones to 25 percent from the existing 10 percent.
“As smartphones are used by affluent people, I propose to increase customs duty of smartphones to 25 percent,” said Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal.
The customs duty of feature phones on the other will remain unchanged at 10 percent, considering that it is used mainly by ‘relatively poor people.’
The finance minister has also proposed reducing the duty on mobile phone charger connector pin and SIM slot ejector pin to 10 percent from 25 percent.
The move is likely to benefit domestic manufacturers of cell phones triggering a rise in the price of imported smart phones, according to industry insiders.
Currently, smart phones worth Tk 100 billion are being sold in the country.
The finance minister is also seeking to double supplementary duty on mobile phone services for the new fiscal year, raising the rate to 10 percent from the existing 5 percent.
At present, the total tax on phone services is 22 percent, including 15 percent VAT, 5 percent supplementary duty and 1 percent surcharge.
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Transparency International, Bangladesh, or TIB, has come down hard at the government for proposing scopes to legalise undisclosed income in the 2019-20 national budget.
The Centre for Policy Dialogue says the proposed budget is full of promises, with no specific ways to implement it.
BGMEA President Rubana Huq has said she is “70 percent happy” with the proposed national budget for the next fiscal year.
