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Published : 12 Jun 2026, 02:47 AM
Bangladesh Chamber of Industries (BCI) President Anwar-Ul-Alam Chowdhury Parvez has described the government's revenue collection target for fiscal year 2026-27 as a "major challenge".
He warned that it will be difficult to achieve without meaningful reforms at the National Board of Revenue (NBR) and a broader tax base.
Reacting to the proposed budget on Thursday, Parvez told bdnews24.com that NBR revenue collection in the outgoing fiscal year is likely to reach around Tk 4.25 trillion.
Amid these challenges, the government's target of Tk 6.05 trillion for FY2026-27 implies growth of nearly 42 percent, which he said was unrealistic under current conditions.
"The tax net has not expanded significantly, while NBR digitalisation and reform efforts have yet to be effectively implemented. With existing capacity, achieving 42 percent revenue growth will be extremely difficult," he said.
Parvez also pointed to weaknesses in the business and industrial sectors.
Private-sector credit growth has fallen to 4.75 percent, while growth in productive industries has slowed.
Imports of capital machinery and the flow of working capital have also shown negative trends, limiting the government's ability to generate the expected revenue from industry.
Despite strong tax potential, administrative shortcomings remain a major obstacle, he said.
Bangladesh has more than 11.8 million business units, yet fewer than 800,000 are VAT-registered. Similarly, the number of income taxpayers remains far below potential.
"There is ample scope for revenue collection, but the management systems and institutional capacity needed to realise that potential have not yet been built," he said.
The business leader also voiced concern over the government's planned reliance on bank borrowing to finance the budget deficit, warning that large-scale public borrowing could further squeeze credit flows to the private sector.
He added that energy shortages, high interest rates, rising non-performing loans and declining confidence in the banking sector were undermining industrialisation and investment.
"Without strengthening NBR's capacity, restoring discipline in the banking sector and improving the competitiveness of industry, it will become even harder to navigate the challenges that come with post-LDC graduation," Parvez said.
