Press Secretary: Revenue deficit hits 42,000C in five months

A revenue deficit of Tk42,000 crore has been reported over the past five months, according to Shafiqul Alam, Press Secretary to the chief adviser.

Shafiqul Alam said this during a briefing at the Foreign Service Academy in the capital on Sunday evening.

He also said that increasing the tax-to-GDP ratio would benefit the general public in the near future.

"Bangladesh's tax-to-GDP ratio has been declining significantly since 2021," said Shafiqul Alam. "Since the pandemic, it has reached such a low point that the revenue deficit for the past five months this year has reached Tk42,000 crore. Our target was Tk159,000 crore, but only a little over Tk126,000 crore has been collected."

He added: "Moreover, Bangladesh's tax-to-GDP ratio is among the lowest globally. The ratio is reaching an unsustainable level. To ensure the well-being of the people of Bangladesh, we must achieve a certain level of tax-to-GDP ratio. In this context, some VAT has been imposed."