Revenue collection down by 13% in Q1, reaching target a challenge

Revenue collection fell by 13 percent in the first quarter — July to September — after growth in the first two months of the current fiscal year 2022-23, NBR's latest data reveals.

According to the latest data, the total revenue collection target through NBR has been set at Tk 3.70 lakh crore in the budget of FY 2022-23.

The provisional statistics of NBR show that Tk 65737 crore has been collected from July to September of the current fiscal year.

Economists say that to achieve the target set in the revenue this time, the collection should be increased by at least 31 percent. This target is very 'ambitious', they mentioned.

The revenue in July-August increased by 23 percent compared to the same period of the previous fiscal year. Still, growth slowed in the first quarter (July-September).

The growth in revenue collection in the first quarter of the last fiscal year was about 17 percent. Compared to that, in the first quarter of the current financial year, the decline in revenue is remarkable.

NBR did not give any explanation for decrease in the revenue collection. However, people concerned said that revenue collection has had a negative impact due to lower imports in September compared to August.

Apart from this, the purchasing capacity of people has decreased due to price hike of goods in the domestic market. It has an impact on value-added tax collection at the local level.

As a result, overall revenue growth shows a declining trend in the first quarter of FY 2022-23. The global recession and domestic policy to curb import of non-essential goods give relief to the volatile forex market.