The Foreign Investors’ Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) on Thursday called for sweeping structural reforms to Bangladesh’s fiscal policy, warning that sustainable revenue growth and investment will stall without a broader tax base, policy predictability, and rapid digital transformation.
Speaking at a post-budget press meet at the chamber's Dhaka office, Ficci president Rupali Haque Chowdhury characterized the proposed National Budget for FY27 as positive and relatively predictable.
However, she emphasized that Bangladesh’s upcoming graduation from Least Developed Country (LDC) status requires the government to aggressively reduce the cost of doing business to maintain global competitiveness.
While acknowledging the government's efforts to stabilize a fragile economy, Chowdhury pointed out that efforts to plug budget deficits have historically relied on raising indirect taxes and supplementary duties.
This practice, she argued, unfairly penalizes compliant taxpayers and drives up the effective tax rate (ETR) compared to competing regional economies.
Chowdhury identified inflation as the country’s most pressing economic challenge.
While she welcomed the government's target to bring inflation down from roughly 9.5% to 7.5%, she stressed that policymakers have yet to provide a clear strategy or implementation roadmap to achieve this objective.
To aggressively expand the tax net, Ficci recommended several hardline compliance measures. The chamber urged the government to target non-filers by making the Proof of Submission of Return (PSR) mandatory for issuing or renewing all licenses and permits, as well as for VAT return submissions.
It also called for a 360-degree cross-checking mechanism to reconcile suppliers' tax returns with withholding tax records.
Presenting the chamber's technical observations, Ficci tax consultant Snehasish Barua urged the National Board of Revenue (NBR) to deploy a comprehensive automation roadmap. This plan should fully integrate customs, VAT, and income tax systems to improve fiscal transparency.
As a short-term solution to boost the tax-to-GDP ratio, Ficci proposed establishing a dedicated data analytics team within the NBR to audit discrepancies between industry market share and revenue share.
To enhance the investment climate, the chamber outlined a five-year roadmap to optimize the ETR and transition Bangladesh into a fully cashless economy.
Key proposals include lowering corporate income tax rates for unlisted companies that adopt cashless transactions, phasing out the minimum tax on sales, removing inadmissible expense provisions, and adjusting personal income tax brackets to account for inflation.
On trade facilitation, the chamber stressed that customs reforms are critical ahead of LDC graduation.
Ficci called for assessing import duties on actual transaction values rather than arbitrary valuations, ensuring the proper classification of raw materials, and eliminating non-tariff barriers.
The chamber also urged the government to conduct Time Release Studies to expedite port cargo clearance and requested the immediate withdrawal of the proposed supplementary duty increase on raw materials.
The press meet was also attended by Ficci vice president Mohammad Iqbal Chowdhury, Director Habibur Rahman Bhuiyan, and executive director TIM Nurul Kabir.