Budget discussion: Speakers for strengthening revenue collection

Experts at a programme on Wednesday underscored the necessity of eliminating corruption and strengthening the revenue collection capacity of National Board of Revenue (NBR) to implement the upcoming National Budget of the country.

The speakers came up with the observation at a workshop titled “Budget Reporting” jointly organised by Economic Reporters’ Forum (ERF), Research and Policy Integration for Development (RAPID) and The Asia Foundation (TAF) at the ERF auditorium in the capital.

The budget implementation rate in Bangladesh is the lowest among the least developed countries (LDCs) due to a lack of political will, corruption and feeble revenue collection capacity which should be resolved immediately, they suggested.

RAPID Chairman Dr Mohammad Abdur Razzaque said “Except Bangladesh, other less developed countries implement their budget around 20-25 per cent of their GDP while Bangladesh has set a budget implementation target of 14-15 per cent of GDP. Later, the figure comes down to 13-14 per cent in the revised budget.”

“The key reasons behind this are the lack of political will, corruption and frail revenue collection capacity,” he said

ERF President Mohammad Refayet Ullah Mirdha, presided over the function while its secretary general Abul Kashem moderated the event.