Mixed reaction among chambers, trade bodies

Business leaders yesterday hailed the government's concept of the public private partnership (PPP) initiative in the budget to implement different projects in infrastructure, health and education sectors.

They, however, gave mixed reactions over whitening of black money in the proposed budget for the fiscal year 2009-10.

The trade body leaders also expressed their concern over the possible price rise of basic commodities in local markets due to government's laxity in monitoring the market.

Syed Earshad Ahmed, president of American Chamber of Commerce in Bangladesh (AmCham) said, "I personally welcome the concept of public private partnership (PPP) as it is a new element in our national budget."

He welcomed the government' decision of legalising black money but its scope in the non-productive sector like real estate sector will not yield any positive result as it might create problems in cash flow.

“Overall it is a good budget but its implementation would be a big challenge for the government," Ahmed continued.

The government may face problem in tax collection, as the target is ambitious to some extent, he said.

In his statement Waliur Rahman Bhuiyan, president of Foreign Investors' Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) appreciated the measures taken in the budget especially in the agriculture, social security and welfare, ICT and education, communication and environment sectors.

"The proposed budget of Tk 1,13,819 crore, which is 20.90 percent higher than that of the last FY, is somewhat ambitious and it depends heavily on bank borrowing.

FICCI president thinks it will require strong monitoring to achieve the goals.

He also appreciated the duty cut on import of basic raw materials and tax and VAT exemption from small and medium-sized enterprises.

The government's heavy dependence on bank borrowing may create liquidity crunch, which will make funding of trade, commerce and industries costlier, he said.

Expressing his concern over whitening of undeclared income he said that it would discourage honest taxpayers.

Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) said offering tax rebate for people aged between 65 and 70 years, public private partnership (PPP) initiative and announcement to prepare district-wise budget for 2010 all these are positive aspects in the national budget.

Zafar Osman, president of DCCI opposed the idea of inclusion of RAB in assisting tax officials for collecting VAT in the proposed budget.

When asked M A Rouf Chowdhury, president of Bangladesh Edible Oil Refiners Association (BEORA) termed the budget positive but he said the government might face problem in managing the markets for essential commodities, as the finance minister said nothing about it in his speech.

He said it is not clear about the prices of edible oil from the budget speech. Earlier, we demanded VAT exemption from import of edible oil to keep the market stable, Chowdhury said.

Chowdhury said the government might consider withdrawing such tax from the import of essential commodities and strengthening the monitoring for market stabilisation.

"Implementation of the budget is a big challenge for the government as the public servants are not efficient enough to handle the allocation," he said

Chowdhury also criticised the salary hike for government employees.

Abdur Razzaque, president of Moulvibazar Babosayee Samity (MBBS) urged the government to strengthen market monitoring to stop businessmen from making windfall gains, cashing in on budget proposals.