The Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dhaka (MCCI) has welcomed Bangladesh's largest-ever national budget for FY 2026β"27 as a bold initiative to rebuild the economy, while flagging serious concerns over the achievability of an ambitious revenue collection target and the risk of taxpayer harassment without meaningful structural reforms.
In a press statement issued on Saturday, MCCI President Kamran T. Rahman congratulated Finance and Planning Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury for presenting the 55th national budget, the first of the newly elected government, amounting to Tk 938,000 crore, equivalent to 13.73 percent of GDP.
The chamber described the Tk 695,000 crore revenue collection target,18.20 percent higher than the revised target of the outgoing fiscal year as ambitious and expressed doubt over its feasibility, according to UNB report.
Of the total, Tk 604,000 crore has been assigned to the National Board of Revenue (NBR), representing a 20.08 percent increase over the revised target.
MCCI noted that the NBR collected only Tk 326,928 crore, about 65 percent of its revised target through April of the current fiscal year, while ADP implementation stood at just 41.41 percent during the Julyβ"April period.
βWithout structural reforms, efforts to meet this target may lead to increased pressure and harassment of taxpayers,β the chamber warned, adding that additional taxation could raise prices of essential commodities and burden ordinary citizens.
MCCI expressed concern over a sharp decline in total investment, which fell to 27.93 percent of GDP in FY 2025β"26, the lowest in a decade. Private investment accounted for only 21.53 percent, with public investment at 6.40 percent.
The chamber said the investment slump was eroding employment opportunities and heightening poverty risks.
The chamber welcomed a Tk 144,338 crore allocation for social safety net programmes, up Tk 17,607 crore or 13.89 percent from the previous fiscal year, including dedicated funds for the Family Card Programme (Tk 14,500 crore), Farmer Card Programme (Tk 1,062.50 crore), and religious allowances (Tk 1,081 crore).
MCCI also praised plans to raise education spending from 1.39 percent to 2.0 percent of GDP and health expenditure from 0.58 percent to 1.01 percent, calling them reflective of long-term commitment to human capital development.
Among the welcome measures, MCCI commended proposed reforms to Tax Deducted at Source (TDS), reduced mandatory deposit requirements for tax appeals at tribunal and high court levels, quarterly VAT return filing, paperless VAT administration, and inclusion of labour within the VAT input definition.
