Bangladesh needs to collect additional Tk 2.34 lakh crore by FY26 to meet IMF conditions: PRI

Bangladesh has to collect Tk2.34 lakh crore as additional tax revenue by FY2025-26 as per the conditions of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) along with the existing revenue target, said Policy Research Institute (PRI).

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has been given a target of collecting Tk 3.70 lakh crore in the current FY2022-23.

It means the NBR will have to collect an additional Tk 2.34 lakh crore more than the current target.

The PRI, a think tank based in Dhaka, revealed this information in a press conference on Monday in the capital regarding IMF Conditions: Increasing Tax-GDP Ratio.

PRI Executive Director Dr Ahsan H. Mansur and Director of the PRI Study Centre on Domestic Resource Mobilisation Dr Mohammad A. Razzaque spoke at the press conference.

Additional revenue of Tk 65,000 crore has to be earned over the current target in the next FY2023-24 to meet the conditions of the IMF.

The PRI believes that this income would have to be further increased in the following years.

Dr, Razzaque said in his presentation that the implementation of the IMF reforms in the revenue sector will be a challenge.

“But it is not impossible. For this, along with the government’s goodwill, the political-economic perspective must also be changed. The situation prevailing now is that the NBR will have to earn Tk 65000 crores in addition to the current target in FY2023-24,” he added.

Dr, Razzaque also said that in next FY2024-25 ending in June 2025, the additional revenue from the current year’s target will be Tk 1.38 lakh crore.

In the last year of the IMF’s loan programme (FY 2025-26) the NBR will have to collect an additional amount of Tk 2.34 lakh crore over the current target.

Senior economists and PRI research fellows were also present at the press conference.