Binayak Sen, director general of the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), told Prothom Alo that he thinks it is necessary to reduce duties on essential goods to almost zero for at least a year, and there may also be some advance income tax. He said the government may take a closer look at the duty policy to control inflation.
There is no duty on import of many essential commodities like wheat and pulses. However, the tax burden is very high. There is a total tax of 59 percent on spices including cardamom, cumin and cinnamon, which are used extensively during Eid-ul-Azha. That is, the government gets 59 taka from the sale of spices worth 100 taka.
The price of the dollar is likely to increase due to customs duty as Bangladesh Bank has fixed the exchange rate at 117 taka per dollar while maintaining the crawling peg method. The price of the dollar may also increase in Sonali Bank in the coming days, thus, the tax rate on it will be higher and the prices may increase.