The Exporters Association of Bangladesh on Tuesday said that controlling inflation would be the biggest challenge in the upcoming financial year as foreign currency reserve of the country had depleted.
According to a press release issued on the day, the organisation said that there were no steps reflected in the proposed budget to protect the export sector of the country, which was the main earning source of foreign currency earning.
They pointed out a few measures taken in the proposed budget, announced by finance minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali on June 6 at the national parliament, and said that they thought the said measures would impede creating new employment and investment in the country.
The points included proposal to increase import duty from 5 per cent to 10 per cent on various types of construction materials used in construction of steel buildings and fixing import duty from 0 per cent to 1 per cent on capital parts and construction materials for companies in the economic zone. The organisation also urged the government to continue the ongoing policy support for the apparel and textile sector till 2029 and to introduce alternative policy support.
Signed by Abdus Salam Murshedy, member of the parliament and president of the EAB, the press release said that if the industry survived, revenue would come and new jobs would be created.
鈥業f we can increase exports with the continued support of the government, it is possible to increase the revenue without increasing the tax rate. This will benefit the economy more,鈥� it added.