“One day we may see packets without biscuits,” warns industry chief over higher VAT

Bangladesh Auto Biscuit and Bread Manufacturers Association President Shafiqur Rahman Bhuiyan has criticised the interim government’s decision to impose additional VAT on bakery staples like bread and biscuits.

He said the tax is “discriminatory, regressive and defies both research and expert opinion”.

At a press conference at the Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU) on Saturday, he likened the move to shrinking product value.

He said: “How small will the packets become? One day, we may see packets that have no biscuits inside.”

Shafiqur argued the government persisted with higher VAT despite warnings from World Bank reports, economists, researchers and media outlets.

He called it “deeply regrettable” that widely consumed staples were being taxed to the detriment of the poor.

Earlier this year, the caretaker administration raised VAT on bread and biscuits from 5 percent to 7.5 percent, prompting protests from the industry.

Negotiations with the National Board of Revenue (NBR) chairman led to assurances that VAT would be cut back to 5 percent in the budget.

Shafiqur said those promises were broken. “When the budget was announced, the VAT stayed at 7.5 percent, it wasn’t reduced to 5 percent,” he said.

Describing the move as “more discriminatory and regressive” than previous policies, he said it stood in direct opposition to the spirit of Anti-discrimination Student Movement.

He said the government had turned basic food items into tools of exploitation, what he decried as shameful and appalling.