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The move aims at boosting investments from expatriates and alleviating reserve shortages
Published : 03 Nov 2024, 08:38 PM
The Internal Resources Division has removed the investment cap on Wage Earners' Development Bonds in a move aimed at boosting investments from non-resident Bangladeshis.
It is also designed to alleviate shortages of foreign currency reserve by allowing expatriates to invest as much as they wish from December.
“The upper limit for investments in Wage Earners' Development Bonds, similar to the US Dollar Premium Bond and US Dollar Investment Bond, has been removed for non-resident Bangladeshi nationals, and the automatic reinvestment feature has been made more beneficial,” the National Board of Revenue, or NBR, announced in a media statement on Sunday
The interim government also has provided opportunities for non-resident Bangladeshi mariners, pilots, and cabin crew working for foreign-owned shipping or air wage companies to invest in wage earners' bonds.
The IRD directive includes provisions for pensioners, allowing them to receive monthly profits instead of quarterly payouts from pension savings certificates.
The announcement will take effect from Dec 1 this year.
The removal of the investment cap on Wage Earners' Development Bonds allows expatriates to invest any amount in these bonds, NBR spokesperson Syed A Mumun said in a media release.
It said under the "National Savings Scheme," families can reinvest their principal in savings certificates, pension savings certificates, quarterly profit-based savings certificates, Wage Earners' Development Bonds, US Dollar Premium Bonds, and US Dollar Investment Bonds automatically.
Moreover, for five-year maturity Bangladesh Savings Certificates and Post Office Savings Bank-term accounts, there will also be the benefit of reinvesting principal along with profits.
Investments in Wage Earners' Development Bonds can now be made for a total of 15 years: the initial remittance can be invested for one term and reinvested for an additional two terms.
For the US Dollar Premium Bond and US Dollar Investment Bond, properly remitted funds can be invested once and reinvested four more times, allowing for a total investment period of 15 years.
The removal of investment caps for Wage Earners' Development Bonds, along with the facility for automatic reinvestment of savings certificates and the investment opportunity for Bangladeshi mariners, pilots, and cabin crew, is expected to significantly enhance the influx and investment of foreign currency by expatriate Bangladeshis, thereby accelerating economic development in Bangladesh, according to the press release.
