The revenue income of the government has increased from the import-export sector from the last fiscal year (FY) and the trend has continued in the first six months (H1) of the current FY-22.
Compared to the last FY-21, Tk7,551 crore more was deposited in the state coffers during the first half of the current fiscal year.
Analysts say that the country's export sector has been on the rise since overcoming the Covid-19 aftershock.
At the same time, the rise in prices of commodities in the international market has also caused the overall import figure of the country to increase for the last two fiscal years and as a result, income from this sector is increasing in the state coffers.
According to the National Board of Revenue (NBR), the revenue collected from the customs sector during July to December of the current fiscal year was Tk41.2 thousand crore.
In the first six months of the last fiscal year, the customs revenue collection was only Tk33,643 crore.
The chairman of NBR thinks that it is possible to meet the customs revenue target in the current fiscal year if this pattern of import and export continues.
Chairman of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) Abu Hena Md Rahmatul Muneem said: “Our target for the whole year is Tk96,000 crore, while till December Tk41,194 crore has been collected from our customs sector. It is a 23% growth over the previous year (first six months) and we hope that by the end of the year, we will be able to meet the target for customs revenue."
"Although the share of customs revenue contribution is less than that of income tax and VAT, our customs have been in a good position in terms of growth especially in the last two years,” he added.
According to NBR data, this is an increase in growth of 22.44% from the first six months of the last fiscal year (FY21) and a 7.6% growth compared to the same period of the previous year (FY20).
In the current fiscal year 2021-22, the government has set a target of raising a total revenue of Tk3.30 lakh crore, of which the target for the customs is Tk95,652 crore.
In FY 2020-21, the customs was able to collect only Tk77,150 crore for the whole year.
Meanwhile, Faruque Hassan, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), thinks that the import and export of the country have played a role behind this increase in customs revenue for the last two financial years.
He told Dhaka Tribune: “After overcoming the Covid-19 shock in the last financial year, the country's export picture has continued to improve, although now it is volume-driven. On the other hand, import income has increased due to the increase in prices of products like cotton and fuel oil in the international market. Naturally, the government's income from this sector has also increased.”
According to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), Bangladesh has earned $24.7 billion from exports in the first six months (July-December) of the current FY22, which is a 28.41% year-on-year growth from the $19.23 billion earned in the last fiscal year.
Meanwhile, the last data released by Bangladesh Bank (BB) on imports shows that during July-November of the current fiscal year $3,116 crore was spent on imports, which is 54% more than the same period last year.