Dhaka: Bangladesh Bank (BB) Governor Dr. Ahsan H Mansur today called for full digitisation of the country’s tax system to increase revenue collection. “Corruption in revenue management will persist without a fully online value-added tax (VAT) and tax collection process,” he stated during a discussion on “Challenges and Prospects of Digital Transactions: VAT Increase Perspective”, organised by Prothom Alo in the city.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, the governor acknowledged that major reforms in revenue management would require at least two to three years to implement. “The current government will not have that time, but we will begin the process,” he remarked, indicating a long-term commitment to overhauling the system.
Addressing inflation control measures, Dr. Mansur defended the current policies, saying, “Some say policies are not working, but I would say policy is working to control inflation. Even in developed nations, it takes 10 to 12 months to see the impact of measures. We expect to see positive results by June.”
He also highlighted concerns over the sluggish growth in bank deposits, noting, “Currently, deposit growth in Bangladesh’s banking sector is very low. I believe it should be at least 14-16%.”
In addition, Mansur mentioned that the government is exploring alternatives to the Letter of Credit (LC) system. “We are trying to get out of the LC method. A feasibility study will be conducted in the next three months to find out LC alternatives used in developed countries,” he explained.