Tax revenue posts 17pc growth

Despite economic slowdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic, revenue collection posted a 17 per cent growth in the just concluded fiscal year (FY) over that of the previous FY thanks to contribution of the large corporate taxpayers. The National Board of Revenue (NBR) managed to collect Tk 2.56 trillion in the FY 2020-21 against Tk 2.18 trillion in the previous FY, according to the provisional figures obtained by the FE on Sunday. The NBR officials expected that the amount would go up further in the final count as the Research and Statistics Wing of the board has started compiling data from the field offices of income tax, customs and VAT. However, the NBR missed the revised revenue collection target (Tk 3.01 trillion) by Tk 450 billion and the original target (Tk 3.30 trillion) by Tk 740 billion during the last FY. The income tax wing collected Tk 850 billion, VAT wing Tk 940 billion and customs wing Tk 770 billion during the period under review.Although 20 per cent of the undisclosed money holders are large taxpayers, they contributed 80 per cent of the taxes under the scheme. The data until June 30 last of the money whitening opportunity is yet to be finalised as some of the field-offices were taking time to compile their data. Until May 25 last, 10,404 people disclosed their money availing the blanket opportunity offered since July 1, 2020. The government received taxes worth Tk 14.45 billion against some Tk 144.59 billion whitened under the opportunity. During the period from 2005-06 to 2019-20, a total of Tk 145.95 billion undisclosed income has been formalised under such opportunities.

Source: https://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/first-page/tax-revenue-posts-17pc-growth-1625421606

IBBL to invest housing finance for government officials

Finance Department of the Ministry of Finance and Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) recently for providing investment in building houses and flats for government officials. Md. Ekhlasur Rahman, Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, and Mohammed MonirulMoula, Managing Director and CEO of the bank, signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organisations.

Source: https://today.thefinancialexpress.com.bd/stock-corporate/ibbl-to-invest-housing-finance-for-government-officials-1625416230

Dhaka Bank rides on tech to make retail, SME banking vibrant

Dhaka Bank Ltd has embraced technologies to make its retail and SME banking vibrant instead of relying on the corporate segment as it looks to drive the next phase of growth. The bank has set a target to disburse 30 per cent of its total outstanding loans to the small and medium enterprises sector and retail clients within the next year and 40 per cent by 2025, up from 20 per cent now.Dhaka Bank introduced Robotic Process Automation (RPA) in 2019, becoming the first lender in Bangladesh to do so. The system helped it run operations efficiently when the country came under a lockdown during the first wave of the pandemic. UiPath, a global software company based in New York, recognised Dhaka Bank with UiPath Automation Excellence Awards in December last year, also the first among the banks.RPA makes it easy to build, deploy, and manage software robots, which emulate human actions interacting with digital systems and software.Depending on the income, they will initially get loans ranging from Tk 16,000 to Tk 50,000. The amount will go up to Tk 300,000 gradually. The artificial intelligence technology will be used to make the new programme successful. “We will make the product available for all customers in the future. Dhaka Bank contributed around 3.50 per cent to the country’s total trade volume last year, and it expects to lift it to 4 per cent this year.The bank, which commenced its operation in 1995, does not attach much importance to opening full-fledged branches because of the banking industry’s shift towards digitalisation globally.Dhaka Bank accounts for 10 per cent of the financing in the power sector, which has increased electricity generation fourfold in the last decade.Excess liquidity has become a burden for banks owing to lower credit growth for the time being. But the private sector would absorb the additional funds in the coming months as many businesses plan to expand their footprint.

Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/business/economy/interview/news/dhaka-bank-rides-tech-make-retail-sme-banking-vibrant-2124277

Mercantile Bank gets new vice chairmen

Mercantile Bank has recently witnessed the appointment of two new vice chairmen at its Board of Directors. The appointees, ASM FerozAlam and Md Abdul Hannan, were previously sponsor directors. Mr. Alam is the managing director of Bengal Trading (Tokyo) while Hannan chairman of Debstar Associates and Murad Apparels.

Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/business/organisation-news/press-releases/news/mercantile-bank-gets-new-vice-chairmen-2124253