Haque Specialized Group's News

Doulot Akter Mala Government's tax authority plans to raid some organisations on a pilot basis to trace foreign workers evading taxes allegedly with the connivance of the employers. Officials said the move came after taxmen had found a significant increase in foreign employees in different organisations and companies but the number of foreign taxpayers staying almost steady at around 10,000 during the last two years. Allegations are rife that a section of foreign employees came to Bangladesh on tourist visa for avoiding tax payment. The income-tax authority gets data about the foreign employees from Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) and works on the basis of that information. A senior tax official said absence of data hinders the activity of taxmen to crosscheck the BIDA-furnished information. A taskforce of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) is working for preparing an automated databank on foreigners doing jobs in the country. Once the databank is formed, each of the foreigners may have to obtain a certain number from the NBR so that tax authority can trace their entry and exist. The taskforce in its meeting last year recommended raiding some companies for finding out their actual foreign employees, officials said. Taxmen are contemplating implementing the recommendation next month by paying visit to least one organization for a case study, they said. The NBR will also reconstitute the taskforce as two members of the body recently went on retirement. "We have planned to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the immigration department to ensure information sharing on the foreign nationals," the official said. It has been alleged that local employers help the foreign nationals to evade tax by renewing tourist visa, instead of obtaining employment visa, he added. Several steps of the NBR including setting up tax-desk in the airports and land ports also failed to perform as per expectation, he added. "Income-tax desk in airport collected tax from foreign nationals in the first two months but now cannot perform well due to its location and lack of cooperation from immigration authority," he added. Taxmen collected around Tk 60 million in income tax from 150 foreign nationals in July-August 2016 from the check-posts established at airports and Benapole land port. In July 2016, the NBR set up four income-tax check-posts in Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, Dhaka, Shah Amanat International Airport, Chittagong, MAG Osmani International Airport in Sylhet and Benapole land port. Foreign nationals have to show tax-clearance certificates at the income-tax counters at the checkpoints. Officials said as the desk is located in a distant place in the airport and immigration authority hardly asks for the tax-clearance certificate of the departing foreign workers, many of the foreigners fail to notice the tax check-posts at the airport as these are placed in a corner. The counters of the check-posts should be located just beside the immigration desk, he added. Earlier, the revenue board had sent a letter to the Civil Aviation Authority to allocate a visible place for relocating the income-tax check-posts at the airports. As per income-tax ordinance, foreign workers are required to pay 30 per cent tax on their incomes. There is no tax ceiling for them.     doulot_akter@yahoo.com....

Published at: 2017-07-22 00:00:04

Syful Islam The central bank has rejected the power division's plea for allowing the banks to lend funds exceeding 25 per cent of banks' paid-up capital to single borrowers for establishing large power plants, officials said. Instead, the Bangladesh Bank suggested seeking syndicated loans for financing such capital-intensive power projects. The suggestion came as the power division in a recent meeting advised amending the Bank Company Act for making available large-scale loans for power-sector single borrowers since nearly US$30 billion will be needed by 2021 to realise the government plans for providing electricity to all. According to section 26 (B) of the Bank Company Act a bank is not permitted to lend an amount exceeding 25 per cent of its paid-up capital to a single borrower. The meeting, as such, noted that nowadays large-sized power plants need to be set up to meet a growing demand for electricity. And it requires big amounts of money. "If the government provides state-guarantee for loans considering power as a priority sector, necessary large-sized loans can be made available through forming syndication (among several banks)," BB general manager Abu Farah Md Naser said in a letter to the ministry of finance. "The amendment of the relevant section of the Bank Company Act is not necessary for providing large-sized loans to power sector," he noted. He also said that, generally, the banking companies provide special importance considering power as a priority sector. The central bank welcomed a proposal for issuing bonds by power division to collect money for setting up power plants, saying that banks and financial institutions will be interested to make long-term investment in those bonds. The BB also opined that there is no barrier to investing money from 'Government Islamic Investment Bond' in the power sector. But the issue has to be incorporated through an amendment into its policy. According to central bank data until June this year, some Tk 88.14 billion was collected through issuing three-to-six-month-term Islamic Bonds.  Of the money, some Tk 47.70 billion was invested in different sectors and the rest remained unutilised. The unutilised sum can be invested in power sector, the BB opined. A senior finance ministry official told the FE that country's banks and financial institutions, both in public and private sectors, possess large sums of idle money which can be invested in power sector to help generate necessary electricity to meet the growing demand. "We want them to invest in power sector instead of keeping money idle and counting loss from interest payments," he said. The official also said central bank's opinion is now under scrutiny for next course of action.      syful-islam@outlook.com  ....

Published at: 2017-07-22 00:00:04

Bangladesh could suspend a plan to import rice from India due to high prices, the country's food ministry said on Thursday while a deal with Thailand edged closer. Bangladesh, the world's fourth-biggest rice producer, has emerged as a major importer of rice this year due to depleted stocks and record local prices following flash floods. It could import as much as 1.2 million tonnes this year, and has so far struck deals with Vietnam and expressed interest in Thai and Indian rice. But it now said deals with the world's biggest rice exporter, India, might not happen. "Chances are very thin as their offer seems high," Badrul Hasan, the head of Bangladesh's state grain buyer told Reuters. India's 5 per cent broken parboiled rice prices fell by $6 to $405-$408 per tonne this week on sluggish demand. Hasan said Bangladesh could reconsider if India could assure an immediate delivery, but it is already looking to Cambodia to replenish stocks. A Bangladeshi delegation, led by Food Minister Kamrul Islam, will visit Cambodia early next month to sign a memorandum to import rice, two food ministry officials said. Its deal with Thailand is also making progress. A Thai delegation is due to visit Dhaka next week to finalize a government-to-government rice deal of up to 200,000 tonnes, Hasan said. The Thai Rice Exporters Association told Reuters last week the process could take a month and a half. Thai private traders also hoped to secure deals with Bangladesh, saying weak demand from abroad has led to a constant decline in rice prices since they reached the highest level in almost four years at a market average of $455 per tonne on June 22. Thailand's benchmark 5-per cent broken rice was quoted at $395-$405, free-on-board (FOB) Bangkok, on Thursday. Thailand's commerce ministry said there was a significant interest from Sri Lanka, but it has yet to strike anything with the would-be first-time buyer of Thai rice. Vietnam, the world's third biggest rice exporter, is observing a slow trade. The country's benchmark 5-per cent broken rice dipped to $400-$405 a tonne, FOB Saigon, from $405-$410 last week. Vietnamese traders are currently eyeing deals with the Philippines, one of the world's biggest rice importers. On July 25, the country will open a tender for 250,000 tonnes of rice to boost its thinning stockpile ahead of the typhoon season later this year. Traders from Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore are expected to submit bids. Bangladesh will also open its fifth tender since May to buy 50,000 tonnes of rice on July 27. A report by the world-grain.com adds: An expected smaller harvest of Boro rice has led to a lowering in the rice production forecast for Bangladesh, according to a July 13 Global Agricultural Information Network report from the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Rice production in Bangladesh for the 2017-18 marketing year was forecast at 34.18 million tonnes, down from 34.578 million tonnes in 2016-17 and compared with 34.5 million tonnes in 2015-16.  "The Boro rice production estimate is lowered to 17.8 million tonnes on crop losses caused by neck blast disease as well as adverse weather, including hailstorms and repeated flash floods, during an unusually heavy pre-monsoon rain 20 days before harvest: heavy rainfall fell from late March to the middle of May," the USDA noted in the report. "The flooding damaged over 1 million tonnes of Boro rice crop across 400,000 hectares of wetlands (in Haor) and lowlands in nine districts." The USDA noted that rainfall in Bangladesh during April was the highest in 35 years, and the crop loss was aggravated by a fungi attack on a limited area of Boro rice crop at several northern and southern districts of the country. The forecast for rice imports in 2017-18 was raised to 1.2 million tonnes, reflecting expectations of "robust consumer demand, expanding food safety net program, lower public stocks, and relaxed trade and financial policy impact," the USDA said. The USDA noted that 2016-17 wheat production is forecast to be 3% lower at 1.2 million tonnes on reduced cultivation area as some farmers sought to avoid risk of a recurrence of wheat blast. Meanwhile, the 2017-18 wheat production forecast held steady at 1.3 million tonnes, assuming normal weather conditions, according to the USDA. The forecast for wheat imports in 2017-18 was raised to 6 million tonnes on "expected resilient domestic demand and lower international prices," the USDA said.....

Published at: 2017-07-22 00:00:04

The government's much-vaunted step to send female migrants at free of migration costs has almost fallen through because of intermediaries, insiders have said. According to the agreements between Bangladesh and Middle-Eastern countries, women outbound workers will secure job there at zero-migration costs. The aspirant female migrant workers were told that employers would bear all the necessary expenses such as passport, medical, airfare, recruiting agents' fees and many other facilities. Besides, Saudi-bound workers will get a one-month advance salary along with these facilities. But the majority of women workers is forced to shell out minimum Tk 50,000 to Tk 80,000 each while going to the Gulf nations with jobs because middlemen were involved in different stages of migration process. Talking to the FE, a number of women outbound workers said they were informed about the government's move to send women workers without any costs. But they gave money to the middlemen or sub-agents of manpower recruiting agencies as they refused to send them without cost. Migration experts and sector insiders said that if the government is not able to cut or bring the middlemen under a legal framework, it is impossible to send women workers without migration cost. Presently, middlemen or sub-agents are the primary channel of overseas jobseekers. Manpower recruiting agencies are taking the advantage of involvement of middlemen in the labour-sending process as they remain safe from legal action over money transaction, they said. Lota knows very well about the government's move to send workers without migration cost. But she was helpless when one sub-agent passed on to send her abroad without charges. "Instructors at the pre-departure training classes advised me not to give a single penny to the recruiting agency. But how can we follow the instruction as there is no scope for avoiding middlemen," she said. She eventually paid Tk 40,000 to go to Saudi Arabia. Robin, husband of a female migrant worker, said he spent Tk 75,000 to send his wife to Saudi Arabia. A middleman named Shahjahan took this money to complete the procedures. The middleman charged this money to make passport, complete medical checkup, and do mandatory pre-departure training, said Robin who hailed from Velanagar village at Narshingdi. "I gave money in installments. Although my wife did not take part in any training course, Shahjahan charged Tk 16,000 for the certificate," he said. His wife, however, was forced to come back home two months after her departure, failing to cope with excessive work and physical torture. Rahima spent Tk 80,000 to go to Oman. A middleman promised her to give a well-paid job. But she did not get any and returned home after seven months. General Secretary of WARBE Development Foundation Faruque Ahmed said a large number of women workers were still going abroad spending money as they were recruited by middlemen. "Through several case studies of women outbound workers, we understood that women were spending between Tk 30,000 and 50,000 to go abroad," he saidd. He suggested that departments and district manpower offices maintain a list of middlemen so that they can be identified if workers are cheated. Mr Ahmed also emphasised awareness campaign about not giving money to recruiting agencies. The migrant rights activists said the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA) has to be cooperative in protecting women migrants' interests. There is no reason to spend money to go abroad as employing countries bear all expenses for women workers, said Shameem Ahmed Chowdhury Noman, a joint secretary-general of BAIRA. Still, many women outbound workers cannot harness the opportunities properly because recruiting agencies depend heavily on middlemen. He requested the government to introduce a mechanism to recruit workers directly.     "If workers contact directly with us, we will be able to send them without migration cost," he added. Jabed Ahmed, additional secretary of the ministry of expatriates' welfare and overseas employment, said that the Middle-Eastern countries bear all related expenses while hiring Bangladeshi women workers. "If we get such cases of fraud, we will cancel licences of recruiting agencies will," he warned.        The state-run Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training (BMET) statistics showed that A total of 638,844 Bangladeshi women workers went abroad with housekeeping jobs from 1991 and until June 2017. Most of them went to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Lebanon and Jordan.    arafat_ara@hotmail.com....

Published at: 2017-07-22 00:00:04

Mehdi Musharraf Bhuiyan The government and World Bank (WB) have recently agreed to form a US$ 5-million worth Bank Executed Trust Fund (BETF) facility to steer the results of the recently formulated Public Financial Management (PFM) Reform Strategy. The duration of the scheme would be three years, and its necessary funding would come from the unspent money of the recently-completed Strengthening Public Expenditure Management Programme, Ministry of Finance (MoF) sources told the FE. The parties concerned reached an agreement in this regard during a meeting between the government and WB, held at Bangladesh Secretariat last week. Chaired by Finance Secretary Hedayetullah Al Mamoon, the meeting was attended by WB Country Director Qimiao Fan, among others. European Union (EU), Department for International Development (DFID) of UK and Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) are other co-financiers of the scheme.    "In addition to providing urgently needed technical assistance for IBAS++, BETF will also support the government in finalization and implementation of PFM Reforms Action Plan," MoF Additional Secretary Mohammad Muslim Chowdhury told the FE after the meeting. Reforming the public financial management system has always been a burning issue for the country in ensuring better governance accountability. Various macro-economic analyses over the years have revealed that strong PFM systems are critical to derive maximum benefit from a steady increase in the government expenditures. In this context, the government with the support of a Multi-Donor Trust Fund, led by WB, earlier implemented Strengthening Public Expenditure Management Programme from 2007 to 2016. Consequently, MoF also approved a new PFM Reform Strategy in last August, based on Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability Assessment (PEFA), carried out in 2015, and the lessons learnt from the previous PFM reform programmes.   The guiding principles of this PFM reforms have been country ownership and gradualism, with a stronger focus on getting the basics in place. "Although, attempts have been made to translate this strategy into an action plan, a complete, sequenced and prioritized action plan, covering needed funds and different sources of funding, was not finalized," said a senior official of MoF, seeking anonymity.    "In this context, we felt the need of forming a complementary Bank Executed Trust Fund, taking from the unspent funds of SPEMP MDTF for augmenting the results of PFM Reform Strategy," he added. According to the sources, the government is also in talks with WB and other development partners concerned for formulating the second phase of SPEMP project. The estimated cost of the project could be around $ 100 million, which may start operation within six months to one year.   In the meantime, DETF facility would steer some major works of the public financial reforms activities including that of iBAS++ -- an integrated budget and accounting system, they informed.    Experiences of earlier PFM reforms in Bangladesh usually point to the need for a greater focus on fewer priorities to effectively advance the reform strategy. In addition, there is a need for an effective change management approach to ensure that reforms are solving functional PFM problems and that improved PFM systems and processes actually lead to better service delivery and asset management, they added. In this context, BETF Facility would support immediate advisory and technical assistance needs of Finance Division relating to iBAS++ rollout as well as Budgeting and Accounting Classification Standards (BACS) implementation, the MoF sources said. In addition, it would also support the government in finalizing PFM Action Plan and related change management for the implementation of PFM Strategy, they added.      mehdi.finexpress@gmail.com....

Published at: 2017-07-22 00:00:04