A revolutionary reform will be required to achieve the revenue target set in the proposed budget for FY24, former governor of Bangladesh Bank Dr Atiur Rahman said on Saturday.
The quantum jump in the revenue collection target is a brave move by the government as it is happening in an election year, he said, explaining that the target was set amid different types of expectations.
He was presenting a keynote paper at a post-budget press conference, organized by Unnayan Shamannay, a non-profit research organization at its office in the city.
Dr Atiur, chairperson of Unnayan Shamannay, joined the event virtually.
Unnayan Shamannay's emeritus fellow Khondoker Shakhawat Ali chaired the session.
Hailing the proposed budget, Dr Atiur said that this is the beginning of the journey towards Smart Bangladesh and sustaining the development by addressing the multifarious microeconomic challenges.
"I would attribute the budget as a balanced, hopeful, reformative and future-oriented one," he said, adding that both the short-and long-term issues are addressed in the proposed budget for FY24, yet there are many challenges towards implementation, while the government has also no alternative to adopt the brave paths.
He said that the targets of Tk500,000 crore revenue earnings and 6% inflation are challenging.
Underscoring the need for taking proper policy measures, he said that coordination between the fiscal and monetary policies is of critical importance to ensure macroeconomic stability.
He, however, stressed the need for reviewing proposals such as widened individual's surcharge-free net wealth ceiling from Tk3 lakh to Tk4 lakh, and increased travel tax on migrant workers and students.
He said the proposed provision for minimum income tax payment of Tk2,000 by the non-taxable TIN-holders may contribute to developing a tax culture in Bangladesh.
However, he warned that this must not be used as a tool to harass potential taxpayers.