SLOW revenue collection and downtrend in export-import as well as spiralling prices of essentials have made difficult for the government to keep steady the macro-economic stability. Government’s economic policymakers recently viewed revenue-earning shortfall in the first four months of fiscal 2019-20 has already exceeded Tk 40,000 crore. Due to long economic sluggishness, cumbersome unemployment, high inflation rate, shrinking export, siphoning money and widespread corruption in all sectors; it is feared that citizens would have to pay more tax and VAT in this fiscal to minimise the shortfall of revenue.
The revenue income stood at around Tk 65,000 crore, a shortfall by over Tk 40,000 crore during July to October. Amid poor revenue growth, the government’s borrowings from the banks soared by 43.98 per cent or Tk 39,331.47 crore year-on-year on September 24 of this fiscal. Simultaneously, the country’s export earnings dropped by 2.94 percent year-on-year in the July-September quarter of the same fiscal. Government’s policymakers said in July-August imports fell by 2.3 percent to $8.62 billion compared to $8.83 billion in the same period of the last fiscal. In this backdrop, the Finance Minister asked the taxmen to speed up installing electronic VAT collection machines to increase VAT collection. The think-tank Centre for Policy Dialogue, however, warned that the macro-economic stability became weaker as key economic indicators including revenue mobilisation and exports were under mounting pressure.
Increasing revenue collection is imperative for materialising development schemes. But what’s frustrating is that corruption-prone spending in the name of purchases and constructing development projects has been draining money to vested quarters. Besides, most of the Ministries have failed to burn out the budgetary allocation that eventually triggered spending spree at the end of fiscal year, resulting in unbridled corruption. If the government lowers the revenue collection by spending smartly and effectively, the people would get more opportunity to spend for their basic needs. But first of all, it will need to check widespread corruption.
