Cup of coffee will cost you more

Coffee prices may rise as the finance minister today proposed imposing 20 percent supplementary duty on processed and ready-to-consume coffee.

"The total tax incidence on raw roasted coffee is 89.32 percent, but the total tax incidence of processed and ready-to-consume coffee is 58.6 percent," the minister said in his budget speech.

"In the interest of revenue protection, I am proposing to impose a 20 percent supplementary duty on processed and ready-to-consume coffee at the import stage," he added.

According to the Department of Agricultural Extension, Bangladesh consumes 1,100 tonnes of coffee as beverage through imports mainly from Vietnam, Brazil, Malaysia, Indonesia and African countries.

The yearly local market for coffee is around Tk 130 crore, and it is growing at 15 percent.