Gold to cost less

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal, in his budget speech at the parliament on Thursday, proposed to withdraw the 15 percent VAT on the import of gold bar.

In the outgoing fiscal year, importers had to pay 15 percent VAT to the National Board of Revenue to import gold.

An official of NBR told The Business Post that the government provided the gold import licenses to several companies to prevent smuggling and since then traders have been demanding the withdrawal of VAT on imports of gold.