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The Financial Express

Funding on flexible terms will be challenging: SMEF

Budget reaction


| Updated: June 21, 2022 18:52:02


- Picture used for illustrative purpose - Picture used for illustrative purpose

Thanking the government for accepting its proposals in the budget, the SME Foundation says small and medium enterprises will be benefited when these take effect.

It, however, say funding for entrepreneurs, especially for women, on flexible terms will be challenging.

The Small and Medium Enterprise Foundation (SMEF) made the observations in a statement issued to the media on Sunday.

The SMEF routinely presents its specific proposals regarding income tax, VAT, duties and other fiscal issues to government agencies, including NBR, through industries ministry in the interests of SMEs.

Earlier, it sought proposals from different SME platforms and trade bodies only to urge the government to include them in the budget for the next fiscal.

Consequently, the SMEF received more than 120 proposals related to SMEs ahead of the presentation of the budget in parliament on June 09.

An SMEF analysis shows that 14 of its proposals have been completely or partially accepted in the proposed budget.

The accepted proposals include increasing import duties on some foreign products as a safeguard to the locally manufactured goods.

The proposed budget has also exempted agro-processors and agri-equipment manufacturers from tax for 10 years.

According to the statement, tax exemption on light engineering goods being used by other industries.

The budget also proposed increasing import duties on several finished products to help the local one-time paper-cup makers.

Finance minister proposed to impose no income tax on women-owned enterprises having an annual turnover of Tk 7.0 million.

The SMEF says the government has accepted 85 out of 467 proposals partially or completely between fiscal year 2012 and 2022 for the growth of SMEs in Bangladesh.

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