Description

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal proposed the 50th national budget for fiscal year 2021-22 (FY 22) before the parliament on 3rd June, 2021. This is the second budget amid the pandemic. The BDT 6.0 tn (USD 71 bn) budget is the largest in the history of Bangladeshaccounting for 17.5% of the of forecasted GDP of FY 22. Among all the sectors, the government has provided utmost priority to the healthcare in the forthcoming fiscal years to have a good grip against COVID 19. Implantation of the stimulus package to improve the economic fallouts was the second most staple matter of the budget. Considering the need of recovery, corporate tax for most of the noncompanies' rate has been reduced to 30.0% from 32.5% and for the listed companies, it has been reduced to 22.5% to 20.0%. Moreover, this budget has proposed arrays of benefits providing tax and vat exemptions to the key business sector. Health care, IT, agriculture, electric, engineering, cement, steel, construction, and pharmaceuticals are the key sectors that would benefit from these wide ribbons of vat and tax exemptions. These would slash the cost of sourcing materials for these business entities. Telecom operators have been highly deprived throughout the budget as no significant changes have been made towards their benefit. This current budget is a pivotal one for the capital market. Initiatives to change specific policies and to list treasury bonds in the capital market would enhance overall size of the market. Continuation of 2% extra incentive on inbound remittance and lower target from bank borrowing will help maintain the liquidity abundance that might improve the market participation. In a nutshell, this year's budget has met the expectations for significant business sectors, but on the broader horizon, still many sides are untapped.