Revenue growth 15% in July-May

Revenue collection in the 11 months of this fiscal year increased by about 15% compared to the July-May period of last year.  

According to the latest data released by the National Board of Revenue (NBR), the July-May collection stands at around Tk2.53 lakh crore – which is about 15% more than in the same period in the last fiscal year.

Although the revenue growth is slightly lower than the rate in the corresponding period last year, the figure outshines the average growth rate of the last five years.

Attributing the growth to import-staged revenue amid soaring commodity prices in the international market, economists say collection shortfall could hover around Tk28,000-Tk30,000 crore at the end of FY2021-22.    

The revenue authorities collected Tk2.66 lakh crore in the 2020-21 fiscal year. The collection target was increased by 24% to Tk3.30 lakh crore for FY2021-22.

An analysis of the revenue data shows that average growth in revenue collection was 15% till April, but came down to less than 12% in May.

If the revenue maintains the May-like pace, the total collection of the current fiscal could amount to Tk5.06 lakh crore.

Towfiqul Islam Khan, senior research fellow at the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), told The Business Standard that the growth in revenue could not be described as satisfactory since pricier imports had led to the higher revenue collection.

"This income is basically price driven, not due to the administrative efficiency of the revenue authorities," he said, adding that the shortfall could be at Tk28,000 to Tk30,000 crore than the target at the end of the year.

Revenue data also show that import duty among the three major revenue sectors topped the growth in the first 11 months of the current year.

Imports posted more than 18% of revenue growth, as collection was more than Tk68,000 crore. During the period, value-added tax (VAT) and income tax collection increased by 10.30% and 14.93% respectively. ***