Financial governance needs to be improved further: BB governor

Governance in the financial sector needs to be improved further, said Bangladesh Bank (BB) Governor Fazle Kabir.

He said banks, insurance and financial institutions account for 78% of the financial sector. If good governance is ensured, the contribution of financial institutions will increase a lot.

The BB governor said this while speaking as the chief guest at an event organised on Tuesday honouring the top taxpayers of the country.

Thirty banks and financial institutions of the country were honoured as the best taxpayers of the last financial year at the event.

Fazle Kabir said the NBR's revenue collection has increased by 19% in the last financial year. Nevertheless, the contribution of revenue to GDP (tax to GDP ratio) is low. The tax to GDP ratio in the country is still below 10%. Hopefully, this rate will increase further once the tax collection is fully automated.

"We will be honoured after graduating to developed country ing country. However, after 2026, there will be no exemption in many sectors. So, the development must be taken forward through the additional revenue collection of NBR," he added.

Addressing the taxpayers, NBR Chairman Abu Hena Md Rahmatul Muneem said transparency is desirable in income statements. It will be possible to reduce the tax rate further, if the taxpayers' accountability and transparency can be ensured. It will help create a taxpayer-friendly environment.

He hoped that transparency in the financial sector would come through the online document verification system (DVS) invented by ICAB to verify the financial statements of companies.

Addressing the taxpayers, he said the people earn the right to enjoy the fruit of the government's development work by paying taxes. Therefore, we can also consider the paid tax as a service charge or investment.

The event, organised by the Large Taxpayer Unit (LTU of the National Board of Revenue (NBR), was held in a hotel at the capital's Siddheswari area.

NBR member Alamgir Hossain, LTU Commissioner Iqbal Hossain, Islami Bank MD and CEO Monirul Maula, Grameenphone CEO Yasir Ajman, among others, also spoke on the occasion.