Budget ambitious but doable: ICAB

The proposed budget is ambitious and challenging because of the coronavirus pandemic but the government would be able to implement it, according to the Institute of Chartered Accountants Bangladesh (ICAB). Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal has presented a Tk 568,000 crore timely and large budget for the next fiscal year, said Muhammad Farooq, president of the ICAB, during a virtual media briefing yesterday.The finance minister talked about widening the government’s reliance on the domestic sources in FY21 in order to meet the budget deficit. Kamal has proposed to borrow Tk 84,983 crore from the banking sector to finance the deficit budget. In the current fiscal year, the government has borrowed from the banking sector nearly double the amount it originally targeted. Similarly, the target on bank borrowing would overshoot as the fiscal year progresses. The ICAB called for bringing down the tax at source for the professionals from 10.12 per cent to 8 per cent. Cutting the advance tax at the import stage on raw materials used in local manufacturing industries to 4 per cent from 5 per cent is a business-friendly initiative. Attaining the revenue collection target would be a major challenge because trade, commerce, industries, import, export and services have all been affected severely by the covid-19.In order to curb the trade under-invoicing, the provision for imposition of penalty at 50 per cent is a laudable move. The finance minister’s proposal to increase the deposit to 20 per cent from 10 per cent on disputed tax amount before filing an appeal with the Appellate Tribunal and the Appellate Commissionerate would increase the cost of businesses.

Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/business/news/budget-ambitious-doable-icab-1914085

MFS should be mandatory for social safety net handouts

Nagad yesterday urged the government to make it mandatory to use the mobile financial services platform to disburse funds for the social safety net programmes. The MFS arm of the postal department made the call after Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal on Thursday proposed raising the allocation for social security by 16.74 per cent to Tk 95,574 crore for fiscal 2020-21. The new allocation is 16.83 per cent of the total budget and 3.01 per cent of the total gross domestic product. The government has already adopted MFS for distribution of grants and allowances in several sectors, Nagad said in a press release. And that needs to be increased.Last month, four MFS providers had disbursed the prime minister’s Eid gifts of Tk 2,500 each to 50 lakh families affected by the coronavirus outbreak in Bangladesh. Nagad distributed the handouts to 17 lakh families.

Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/business/news/mfs-should-be-mandatory-social-safety-net-handouts-1914097

Walton’s generosity towards its retail investors amid hard times

Walton Hi-tech Industries usually offers several types of discounts on its products round the year. But this time, the high-flying company has come up with a discount on its share price, in a move not seen by the country’s bourse before. The move comes to give relief to general shareholders amid the raging coronavirus pandemic. The local electronics giant has already discovered its cut-off price for each share at Tk 315 through bidding of eligible investors as it plans to go public. General investors usually buy shares at 10 per cent lower than the cut-off price in the initial public offering (IPO), according to the listing regulations. As a result, Walton’s share price would stand at Tk 283 for the general shareholders.In total, the company would make 15.48 lakh shares available for general investors as it looks to raise Tk 39.3 crore from the public. Another 13.79 lakh shares will be offloaded to the eligible investors for Tk 60.7 crore. After listing with the bourse, sponsors’ shareholding would be 99.03 per cent, while the rest 0.97 per cent would be off-loaded. Walton has a huge potential in the upcoming years, so it received a good premium during the bidding, said ParthaProtim Das, its company secretary.

Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/business/news/waltons-generosity-towards-its-retail-investors-amid-hard-times-1914093