Bangladesh failing to meet revenue targets year after year is among the most damaging trends that has persisted. While we aspire towards lofty ambitions, it is this inability to generate revenue and balance our books that has remained among the most major reasons for our inability to make even greater progress.
With that said, the authorities concerned need a better approach and should look towards generating more non-tax revenue -- that is the avenue that remains most untapped, and squeezing everyday individuals and businesses for more tax revenue is simply not the sustainable solution to this crisis.
To this end, we cannot help but agree with experts from the Centre for Policy Dialogue that ensuring good governance and efficiency in state-owned commercial enterprises ranks among the first and most important steps we can take. State-owned enterprises have long been dragging the nation down with the losses they have accrued.
This brings us to the next issue of addressing corruption and the proper utilization of government resources. It is a shame that while the average Bangladeshi toils and is taxed incessantly, there remain those that, owing to connections and the positions they hold, enjoy an incomprehensible level of impunity. These are the individuals and entities that are robbing the nation of millions, and thereby halting our ascent.
Moving forward, the authorities concerned need to clean up on issues that remain far more salient than taxation. While we need an overhaul of our tax culture as a whole, what is equally important is to identify the non-tax revenue streams, and ensure that they do not continue to drag us down.