Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal proposed an additional 10% supplementary duty on the import of optical fibre cables in the proposed budget for FY22-23.
During his budget speech, the Finance Minister said: “We have optical fibre cable factories in the country and there is currently a 15% import duty on the product. To protect the domestic industry, I am proposing to impose another 10% supplementary duty on the import of optical fibre cable.”
Optical fibre cables are one of the main elements of the broadband internet industry. With the prices of imports going up, the cost of broadband internet will also likely witness a hike.
While the Finance Minister said that the decision came in order to protect the domestic market, industry insiders said that the quality of locally produced fibre optic cables is not up to the mark.
