Hasnat questions BNP’s stance on NBR reform

National Citizen Party (NCP) leader and Cumilla-4 MP Hasnat Abdullah has questioned the Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s (BNP) change of position on reforming the National Board of Revenue (NBR). He asked why the party opposed separating tax policy from revenue collection while in opposition but is now supporting the same move after coming to power.

In a long Facebook post on Sunday, Hasnat raised questions about the government’s political commitment to NBR reform, its policy position and its revenue collection target.

He referred to a statement made by BNP leader and now Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on 25 May 2025. At the time, Tarique had criticised the interim government’s NBR reform, saying it had been imposed suddenly and had created problems in revenue collection.

Hasnat also referred to Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury’s statement on 23 August that the NBR would be split into two bodies.

Hasnat said the two statements raised a clear question. If separating tax policy and revenue collection was harmful in 2025, why has it become necessary in 2026?
He also rejected the claim that the earlier reform had created a deadlock in revenue collection. He said revenue growth fell to around 2.5% in the 2024-25 financial year but rose to more than 12% in 2025-26, the first full year under the reform structure.

Hasnat said the reform was not imposed suddenly. According to him, it followed several months of discussions with stakeholders, inter-ministerial meetings and a review by the Cabinet Division. The reform was later amended after objections from officials.

He also questioned why the BNP did not turn the two ordinances into laws when parliament began its work. He said the ordinances ceased to remain in force because they were not converted into laws after parliament became functional.

Hasnat questioned whether the government was carrying out the reform because of its own policy decision or pressure linked to an IMF loan.