Badrul Ahsan :
The government is actively considering to bar receiving profits from savings certificates of those who have gratuity fund deposits with the Department of National Savings, officials said.
Earlier, the Ministry of Finance directed the Internal Resources Division to form a committee to ease the complexities arisen over Sanchaypatra Rules 1977 and Income Tax Law 1994.
The seven-member committee, headed by the director general of the Department of National Savings (DNS), recommended that those who have gratuity fund deposits should not receive profits from savings certificates.
The committee found that five institutions including banks, financial institutions and an NGO, have been depositing their gratuity funds in the DNS for five years.
Over the past five years, the five in question have deposited Tk40.1 crore in earnings, and were set to earn Tk15.9 crore in profits.
However, the committee recommended those depositors should be denied profit.
Earlier, the government had announced plans to set investment limits for potential buyers of national savings certificates, in addition to a two-tier profit rate. Buyers could also be required to disclose the sources of their funds to the DNS authority.
Finance Division officials said the government will not reduce the interest rate of savings certificates despite the finance minister’s repeated assertions.
“We need to change the profit rate on savings certificates. But the finance minister will have the last say,” said an official of DNS, preferring anonymity.
An official at the government’s policy-making level said decisions that may affect the government’s popularity are unlikely to be taken before the election.
The government is also planning to borrow massively from savings instruments.
Big investors, especially corporate houses, industrial entrepreneurs and business groups who have bought savings certificates in unusually large volumes, are now strict monitoring by the authorities concerned.
The interest rates on deposits are 3-4 percent in private banks and 4-5 percent in state banks, while the interest rates on savings certificates range from 10-11.25 percent which lured the people and institutions to invest massively in the DNS.
In the 2016-17 financial year, the government had a target of selling Tk19,610 crore in savings certificates. But it ended up selling Tk52,327cr worth of certificates, a 167 percent increase from the previous fiscal year.
The government is actively considering to bar receiving profits from savings certificates of those who have gratuity fund deposits with the Department of National Savings, officials said.
Earlier, the Ministry of Finance directed the Internal Resources Division to form a committee to ease the complexities arisen over Sanchaypatra Rules 1977 and Income Tax Law 1994.
The seven-member committee, headed by the director general of the Department of National Savings (DNS), recommended that those who have gratuity fund deposits should not receive profits from savings certificates.
The committee found that five institutions including banks, financial institutions and an NGO, have been depositing their gratuity funds in the DNS for five years.
Over the past five years, the five in question have deposited Tk40.1 crore in earnings, and were set to earn Tk15.9 crore in profits.
However, the committee recommended those depositors should be denied profit.
Earlier, the government had announced plans to set investment limits for potential buyers of national savings certificates, in addition to a two-tier profit rate. Buyers could also be required to disclose the sources of their funds to the DNS authority.
Finance Division officials said the government will not reduce the interest rate of savings certificates despite the finance minister’s repeated assertions.
“We need to change the profit rate on savings certificates. But the finance minister will have the last say,” said an official of DNS, preferring anonymity.
An official at the government’s policy-making level said decisions that may affect the government’s popularity are unlikely to be taken before the election.
The government is also planning to borrow massively from savings instruments.
Big investors, especially corporate houses, industrial entrepreneurs and business groups who have bought savings certificates in unusually large volumes, are now strict monitoring by the authorities concerned.
The interest rates on deposits are 3-4 percent in private banks and 4-5 percent in state banks, while the interest rates on savings certificates range from 10-11.25 percent which lured the people and institutions to invest massively in the DNS.
In the 2016-17 financial year, the government had a target of selling Tk19,610 crore in savings certificates. But it ended up selling Tk52,327cr worth of certificates, a 167 percent increase from the previous fiscal year.
