Business leaders on Monday observed that the Tk 1,67,459 crore revenue earning targeted in the budget bill for fiscal 2013-14 is unlikely to be achieved due to lack of good governance in the country’s revenue collection infrastructure.
At is post-budget press conference, leaders of the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) said the development budget will become one of the main sources of vested political interests if a 100 percent corruption-free implementation of the infrastructure development projects is ensured.
They urged the government to take steps to stop corruption and ensure compliance and accountability in revenue collection as well as in implementation of the Annual Development Programme (ADP).
Speaking at the press conference at the DCCI head office, its president Sabur Khan said the government has targeted a high revenue collection from this fiscal, although the National Board of Revenue (NBR) is likely to fail in achieving the much lower revenue collection target of the fiscal 2012 by 15-20 percent.
The NBR with its recent capacity will not be able to collect the Tk 1,67,459 crore revenue targeted for the new fiscal, he said.
Sabur noted that there also exists huge corruption in the revenue collection, including the toll collection for transport infrastructures. “The government must ensure transparency and accountability of toll collection at bridges and other transport infrastructures,” he said.
Sabur went on: “The business community and people are not still clear how the revenue will be collected. The government must give a clear roadmap in this regard.”
The DCCI president also pointed out that the business community is facing immense hassles due to ‘the lack of good governance in the law implementation.’
Good governance and accountability in revenue collection and strengthening of the judiciary for quick disposal of disputes are needed to boost private investment in the country, he stressed.
“Private sector investment in productive sectors is also expected to have a negative influence due to the government’s decision to allow the investment of undisclosed money in the non-productive real estate sector,” he added.
Concerning the implementation of the development budget, Sabur said it depends again on the good governance. “The budget implementation is quite lacking in good governance. If 100 percent protection against corruption in the implementation of infrastructure-related projects can’t be ensured, the development budget will become one of the major sources of mischief-politics.”
Sabur also called on the opposition to cooperate with the government in implementation of the budget by placing a proper planning and design for the implementation the development works.
The business community also desires to see a guideline on when the government has planned to end the dependency on rental powers, which will not bring any good to the economy in longer term, he said.
The business community also wants the government to speed up the slow implementation of the four-lane upgradation of the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway that has not been addressed in the budget bill. (Source: UNB)
