Tax incentives for mobile firms going public
Staff Correspondent
Cellular phone operators would be offered tax incentives once their companies are enlisted on the stock exchanges in the country. "Mobile phone operator companies' corporate tax rate would be 45 percent, but the tax rate would be 35 percent if the companies are converted as publicly traded companies and listed with the stock exchanges," said Mirza Azizul Islam, finance and planning adviser, in his budget proposal for the fiscal year 2007-08. The corporate tax rates will otherwise remain unchanged as prevailed in 2006-07 fiscal, the adviser added. In the speech he mentioned that the capital market in Bangladesh is gradually being extended and remarkable increase of market capitalisation as well as daily turnover are attracting foreign and local investors. "Following the listing of state-owned enterprises [SoE] on the stock exchanges, supply of securities in the capital market has increased and opportunity for investment in the capital market has widened." "In the next fiscal year, shares of a number of SoEs will be off-loaded in the capital market. The capital market will be vibrant following the listing of SoEs from power, telecommunication and energy sectors," the adviser hoped.
| 
