Govt sets 12% higher revenue target for FY23

The government has set a revenue target for the ensuing 2022-23 fiscal year at Tk 3,70,000 crore amid a suspicion that it may not be accomplished due to Covid-19 fallout trails.

The newly set target is 12 percent higher than the current fiscal’s projection of Tk 3,30,000 (revised), an official of the finance ministry said.

It is a challenging matter for the government that another huge revenue target is being set amid the Omicron variant’s threat, the official added.

Omicron, which has spread fast in Europe and Americas--- Bangladesh’s important export destinations---have made the respective governments worried over economic recovery.

The revenue target was discussed in a recent coordination council meeting chaired by Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal.

In the incumbent budget, the total revenue has been set at Tk 3,89,000 crore. Of this, the National Board of Revenue will collect a sum of Tk 3,30,000 crore.

As per the country’s 8th five year plan, the revenue collection should have been Tk 484,000 crore for the forthcoming financial year.

The NBR in their proposal explained that the revenue earned in the current financial year could not get better due to Coronavius pandemic.

In the first five months (July-November) of the current financial year, the revenue deficit stood at Tk13,099 crore. The target for the first five months of the financial year was Tk 1,13,036 crore while it was aggregated at Tk1,00,267 crore.

If the Coronavirus impact persists, the revenue deficit may expand further, the official said.

The Covid-19 is still trampling the whole world and that many countries such as the United Kingdom, France and several other EU nations have enforced fresh lockdowns to tame the virus.

The isolation measures have created a sense of uncertainty among the exporters as imports would get slow in those affected countries.

Not only exports, home-bound remittances may be affected, too, feared experts.

However, the finance division of the finance ministry is not paying any heed to these growing concerns.

Another official of the finance division said the NBR should engage themselves more with the politicians (cum businessmen) because they are not paying enough taxes.

The official said a revenue commission---to be headed by an ex bureaucrat--- could be formed to take consultation on how to increase the revenue earnings.

He suggested that the NBR should be held accountable to the commission.

“We can accomplish the revenue target if the government sets up offices across some upazillas because those are considered as the revenue growth center of the country,” he said.

“We have introduced an auto challan system through an app. Individuals and institutions pay money to the Bangladesh Bank through ‘challan’ (invoice) on various occasions. And, this app notifies the NBR how much money was just being paid to the exchequer. This has generated an additional Tk 10,000 to Tk 12,000 crore in revenue per year,” the official pointed out.

An expert said the proposed revenue target looks fatty.

“The economies of the developed nations across the world are still suffering from the Covid-19 syndrome. Now, they are trying to survive the Omicron impacts. So, the coming days will not be good for the world economy,” said Dr AB Mirza Azizul Islam, an adviser to a former caretaker government of Bangladesh.

Mirza Azizul told Business Insider Bangladesh on Thursday that setting such a huge revenue target for the next financial year would be ‘unrealistic’.

“It will not be possible to realise it in any way. Because, if the economies of these countries are affected, it will have a big impact on our exports and growth,” he said.

The adviser said such an ambitious revenue target should be avoided in the next budget.

At the meeting of the Coordination Council, the total revenue for the next financial year has been estimated at Tk 4,33,000 crore. This is 9.9 percent of the estimated GDP.

Of this amount, the NBR has been given a target to earn Tk 3,70,000 crore . A sum of Tk 18,000 crore (revenue) would be generated from non-NBR sources. However, the non-tax revenue has been estimated at Tk 45,000 crore, officials said.