Economic Reporter :
One of the major reasons behind the revenue deficit is the persons, who are supposed to pay taxes, are not paying taxes, said Dr Mostafizur Rahman, distinguished fellow of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD).
He further said Black money whitening opportunities have reportedly been given in the budget, which is an obstacle to put a lid on corruption.
He made the comment while addressing the Shadow Parliament as the chief guest on this year’s budget amid Covid-19 pandemic organised by Debate for Democracy on Sunday.
Mostafizur Rahman also highlighted some of the issues that the country’s youth can focus on.
“4-6 percent of GDP should be allocated for the education sector, but it was only 2 percent,” he said.
The health sector has implemented only 25 per cent of its budget in the first 10 months. He asked if it will implement 75 per cent in the remaining two months and if so, then there would be questions about its standard.
Black money is being whitened which is not beneficial to the country’s economy in any way, the CPD fellow also mentioned.
About Tk50,000 crore is being smuggled every year, he said.
This year, Tk14,000 crore in black money was whitened. The government also has to make rules so that black money could not be whitened.
In terms of tax, he said two-thirds of taxes are indirect and the rest was direct, adding that most of the indirect taxes were for the country’s general people.
He said, direct taxes, along with government expenditure, needs to be increased in the country.
“I fear this year’s budget will be revised. Implementing a quality budget is very important. There are many questions about the quality of the budget.”
This budget will be implemented in some places, said Mostafizur Rahman.
The original budget was not implemented in the last 10 years. Revisions have been implemented where 90-93 per cent percent has been implemented, he further added.
