Rejaul Karim Byron

Inflation fell 61 basis points to 5.35 per cent in May from a month earlier owing to a drastic fall in food prices caused by a collapse in demand because of the coronavirus pandemic.

That the subsidy expenditure would go up next fiscal year as the government scrambles to keep the pandemic-induced recession from undoing decades of progress in alleviating poverty and elevating its citizens into the middle-class -- was a given.

The optics look perfect. The global lender of last resort coming to the rescue of a not-too-well-endowed country struggling with the economic impact of the pandemic with no strings attached.

The government may allow uses of untaxed or black money in all sectors to boost investment and create jobs as part of its efforts to pull the economy out of Covid-19 wreckage.

New job postings nosedived 87 percent year-on-year in April on the leading job search sites in Bangladesh, highlighting the strain the country’s labour market has been going through because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The budgetary allocation for safety net programmes would see a major uptick in the next fiscal year as the government looks to widen the number of beneficiaries struggling to make ends meet because of the coronavirus outbreak.

Bangladesh is on course to availing $250 million in loans from the World Bank this fiscal year to bring in reforms to address jobs challenges by modernising trade and investment environment, strengthening systems that protect workers and improving policies that enhance access to jobs for vulnerable populations.

In an uncharacteristic gesture of goodwill, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) yesterday approved $250 million in loans as budget support to Bangladesh to cope with the economic impact of the global coronavirus pandemic.

Revenue collection crashed more than 55 per cent in April, revealing the massive hit the Bangladesh economy has taken from the coronavirus outbreak in the country.

The government appears to have paid heed to the growing calls for a bigger health budget, with its allocation from the annual development programme soaring 28.92 per cent next fiscal year, the highest amongst the 12 sectors.

The government may increase the tax-free income limit for individual taxpayers after five years in fiscal 2020-21 to give relief to people in the lower-income bracket such that they can manage the economic hardship brought on by the pandemic better, said officials of the finance ministry yesterday.

Bangladesh’s plan for significant coal- and LNG-fired power plant additions will cause substantial overcapacity, with major financial implications, said a new study.

The National Board of Revenue plans to introduce e-payment for value-added tax on a pilot basis from June to automate the VAT system and administration, ease the hassles faced by businesses and reduce the time and the cost of compliance.

The country’s import decreased 62 per cent year-on-year to $1.95 billion in April as industrial production has almost come to a halt due to the ongoing shutdown to tackle the spread of the coronavirus.

With the pandemic-induced lockdown battering livelihoods and choking cash flow across the board, the tax authority is working to give a breathing room to businesses and individual taxpayers in the low-income bracket.

Bangladesh is set to request the International Monetary Fund (IMF) within a week to extend $700 million in emergency financing to help the country avoid being overwhelmed by the coronavirus pandemic.

In an uncharacteristic move, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) and the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) have agreed to provide budget support to Bangladesh to meet its growing expenditure needs in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, which has firmly taken hold in the country.

Development spending in Bangladesh decelerated in April on the back of the countrywide shutdown enforced since March 26, with the government managing to use Tk 8,136 crore during the month, down 23 per cent from the previous month.

The annual development programme (ADP) is set to become a big casualty of the resource reshuffling that the government is set to deploy to bankroll the massive stimulus packages announced to jumpstart the economy once the rogue coronavirus has been tamed.

The government may introduce a coronavirus tax on tobacco products and several luxury goods while giving tax cuts to internet services.