TBT Desk:
Bangladesh Bank (BB) Governor Dr. Ahsan H. Mansur on Wednesday called for full digitization of the country's tax system to increase revenue collection.
"Corruption in revenue management will persist without a fully online value-added tax (VAT) and tax collection process," he told at a discussion on "Challenges and Prospects of Digital Transactions: VAT Increase Perspective", organised by Prothom Alo in the city.
The governor said that major reforms in revenue management would take at least two to three years, saying, "The current government will not have that time, but we will begin the process."
Addressing inflation control policies, he said, "Some say policies are not working, but I would say policy is working to control inflation. Even in developed nations, it takes 10 to 12 months to see the impact of measures. We expect to see positive results by June."
He further pointed out the sluggish growth in bank deposits, stating, "Currently, deposit growth in Bangladesh's banking sector is very low. I believe it should be at least 14-16%."
Mansur also said the government is also looking for alternative methods to the letter of credit.
"We are trying to get out of the LC method. A feasibility study will be conducted in the next three months to find out LC alternatives used in developed countries," he stated.