BPGMEA: Effective management needed for budget implementation

The proposed national budget for the next financial year will help the country along the path to development, the Bangladesh Plastic Goods Manufacturers & Exporters Association (BPGMEA) said on Monday.

“BPGMEA thinks that the declared budget will achieve the overall economic goal of Bangladesh,” BPGMEA President Md Jashim Uddin said.

“However, to ensure the implementation of this challenging budget, effective management must be ensured.”

The industry body commended PM Sheikh Hasina for seeking to build on the country’s strong economic growth with an enlarged national budget for the next fiscal. 

“Bangladesh is on the road to becoming a developing nation only because of the leadership of our prime minister,” he added.

“The per head income of people have increased, average GDP growth is now 6.5% (and) foreign currency reserves have also increased. Poverty has reduced, too.”

BPGMEA saw some good news for the plastics industry in the FY2018-19 budget, which was placed before parliament by Finance Minister AMA Muhith on June 7.

“For importing some finished goods in the plastic sector, supplementary duty has been reduced from 50% to 45%,” he said.

“The proposed budget will decrease the price of plastic goods, which will benefit both customers and traders.”

The association, however, took issue with the government for holding the tax on imported raw materials for the pharmaceuticals packaging industry at 15%, instead of lowering it to 5% in line with the tariff policy.

Jashim Uddin also criticized the proposal to raise the tax on imported raw materials in the filler and masterbatch plastic sectors by 15 percentage points, to 20% and 25% respectively. 

“(This) will increase the price of finished goods (so) we urge the government to reconsider it,” he said.

The BPGMEA chief lamented also the move to subject “all kinds of plastic bags and monograms” to an additional 5% of supplementary tax. 

“This additional 5% tax will affect the quality of products (and) the upcoming plastic factories, and result in a decrease in investment and jobs,” he said.

“The end user will have to bare the overhead cost so we strongly urge the government to reconsider this.”