Savings certificate interests to be intact: NBR chief

FT ONLINE

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) Chairman Md Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan has said the government would try its best to keep the present interest rates in savings schemes intact, considering the beneficiaries’ interests.

The NBR chief said the number of beneficiaries in savings schemes is now around two crore.

“Their desires and aspirations are very important for the government. We’ll try to keep the present interest rates of various schemes intact,” Mosharraf, also the senior secretary of the Internal Resources Division (IRD), said on Saturday while addressing the inaugural function of the Savings Week-2018 as the chief guest held on the premises of the NSC Tower Complex in Dhaka.

Director General of the Department of National Savings Shamsunnahar Begum was also present. The NBR Chairman also assured that the government would continue the current stimulus being provided to the subscribers of various savings tools.

Despite criticisms from the think tanks and economists that savings tools is creating an imbalance with the banking system, the NBR chief said looking into the welfare and wellbeing of the common people through providing them interests against various savings certificates is above all considerations of the government.

“The government has kept the savings tools as promotional schemes. I can assure you that the government would try so that the interest rates of the existing savings certificates do not decline,” he added.

He also informed that the cumulative amount of various savings tools over the years have reached Taka 1,92,798 crore. Besides, Mosharraf Hossain said the government received Taka 624 crore as Advanced Income Tax (AIT) from the savings tools during the July-February) period of the current fiscal which is expected to cross Taka one-thousand mark at the end of the year.

“The Department of National Savings has been conducting its operations through some 2,553 outlets across the country and there is no such complain from the beneficiaries of the savings tools in getting their interests,” he said.

The revenue board chief added that among different schemes, 11.76 percent interest is provided against the pensioners savings scheme while 12 percent interest against the wage earners development bond for the non-resident Bangladeshis.

Earlier in the morning, the Savings Week-2018 (April 7-13) kicked off in the country in a bid to create more awareness among the people about savings and further enhance the quality of services by the Department of National Savings.

The Department of National Savings under the Internal Resources Division (IRD) has chalked out elaborate programmes to mark the week in a befitting manner.

The theme of this edition’s Savings Week is “Let us do savings, help building Digital Bangladesh (Cholo sobai sanchay kori, Digital Bangladesh gorai sohayota kori)”.

After the formal inauguration, a colourful rally marched from the NSC tower and ended at the same venue after parading Paltan-Press Club-Shikhya Bhaban-Secretariat-Zero Point.

According to the Department of National Savings, it will motivate teachers and students of various educational institutions in the capital on Sunday through giving them proper idea about savings.