NBR Chairman Announces Planned Cut in Mobile Phone Import Duties
National Board of Revenue (NBR) Chairman Md Abdur Rahman Khan has announced plans to reduce customs duties on legally imported mobile phones, a move expected to lower import costs and make handsets more affordable for consumers.
The announcement came on Monday, December 15, at a seminar titled “Socio-Economic Priorities of the Next Government”, organised by research organisation RAPID at the CIRDAP Auditorium in the capital. Former caretaker government adviser Rasheda K Chowdhury attended the event as a special guest.
Speaking as the chief guest, the NBR chairman assured business leaders that the government is shifting its focus from heavy import duties to increased collection of value-added tax (VAT) and income tax in order to ease doing business. He said import duties on mobile phones would be reduced to discourage illegal imports and curb the dominance of the grey market.
“We want to protect the interests of all stakeholders while safeguarding consumer interests,” Khan said. “Our goal is to ensure that the prices of mobile phones and smartphones come down in Bangladesh. To achieve this, we are ready to make concessions on both ends.”
He noted that most high-end mobile phones currently enter the country through informal channels, resulting in significant revenue losses. “Because these phones come through the grey market, the government does not receive actual revenue. If we can formalise the process through NEIR implementation, even if we forgo some revenue initially, overall revenue collection will increase as imports shift to formal channels,” he explained.
The NBR chairman also expressed concern over Bangladesh’s low tax-to-GDP ratio, warning that failure to boost revenue collection would limit the government’s ability to spend on priority sectors and slow economic recovery. However, he maintained that despite ongoing challenges in the financial sector, revenue collection has so far remained on a positive trajectory.
Referring to protection of local industries, Khan said high import duties are often imposed to shield domestic manufacturers. “We have historically set higher rates to protect local industries, but despite that, we are prepared to reduce import duties,” he added.
The seminar featured speeches from Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) President Anwar-ul-Alam Chowdhury, Prothom Alo Head of Online Shaukat Hossain, and Professor Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir of the University of Dhaka’s Department of Development Studies, among others.
Presenting the keynote paper, RAPID Chairman Dr Mohammad Abdur Razzaque warned that failure to control inflation would further worsen the condition of people living below the poverty line. He said the number of poor people in Bangladesh has increased by 9 million over the past three years.
The seminar also highlighted a sharp decline in women’s participation in the manufacturing sector, which reportedly fell by half over the past year. Speakers noted that if the next government considers delaying Bangladesh’s graduation from Least Developed Country (LDC) status, it will have very limited time to make such a decision.
RAPID further cautioned that without accelerating the pace of revenue collection, the incoming government would struggle to implement development initiatives within the current fiscal year, potentially delaying many ongoing and planned projects.
At the event, RAPID urged the next government to prioritise 12 key areas, including LDC graduation, inflation control, good governance in the banking sector, skilled employment generation, foreign reserve growth, domestic revenue mobilisation, increased allocations for health and education, debt reduction, energy security, enhanced female participation in the labour market, strengthening state capacity to manage geopolitical risks, and ensuring transparency and accountability in data and statistics.
DBITech/DEBT/EK
