Bangladesh has posted a lower trade deficit of $18.22 billion for the first 10 months of the current fiscal year, improving slightly on last year’s figures. Imports rose to $54.79 billion over the 10-month period, up by 4.60 per cent from $52.37 billion a year earlier. CURRENT ACCOUNTThe current account deficit, which captures a country’s routine external transactions, has narrowed sharply, reaching $1.39 billion by the end of April, down from $6.02 billion year-on-year. A surplus helps reduce dependence on foreign loans, while a deficit signals external financing pressure. The country received $910 million in the first 10 months of FY25, down from $1.27 billion in the same period last year.

The Public Service Commission (PSC) has prepared a roadmap to resolve the backlog concerning the 44th to 48th Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) exams. The commission said that the final results of the 44th, 45th and 48th BCS exams will be published this year. Specifically, the final result of the 44th BCS will be announced on Jun 30, the 48th special BCS on Sept 22, and the 45th BCS on Dec 10, bdnews24.com reports. Meanwhile, the PSC pledged to publish the 45th BCS written test results on Jun 19, the 47th BCS preliminary results on Sept 28 and the 46th BCS written test results by Dec 18. The 47th BCS preliminary test is scheduled for Sept 19 and the written test for Nov 27.

Government employees are set to receive a "special benefit" of up to 15 percent on their basic salary. Employees on post-retirement leave (PRL) will receive the benefit based on their last basic pay grade, according to the notice. For pensioners, the special allowance will be calculated based on their current pension and grade. The issue of a dearness allowance for public servants has been in discussions since the current government assumed office. In the end, instead of a dearness allowance, the government is introducing this “special benefit”.

Far from offering a roadmap out of the grip of inflation, the budget delivers little reprieve for ordinary citizens. Economists also consider the targets he has set for revenue collection and private sector investment to be “ambitious” numbers. To implement the budget, the IMF had advised setting a revenue collection target of Tk 5.8 trillion for the new fiscal year. Thus, the NBR’s tax collection target is surging by over 7.66 percent. Because, although expenditures have been reduced, the revenue collection target has not been lowered and instead it has been increased.

The proposed budget outlines a deficit of Tk 2.26 trillion, which equals 3.62 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). The outgoing year’s ADP was initially Tk 2.65 trillion, revised down to Tk 2.16 trillion. Saifuddin argued that if leakages and mismanagement in development spending can be curbed, job creation may not suffer. DEFICIT SMALLEST IN 14 YEARSThe proposed deficit of Tk 2.26 trillion is the lowest in 14 years. The last time the budget deficit dipped below this level was in FY2010–11, when it stood at 3.8 percent of GDP.

A day after delivering the budget speech for the 2025-26 fiscal year, Finance Advisor Salehuddin Ahmed is attending a press conference to take questions on his proposals. The event began at the Osmani Memorial Auditorium at 3:00 pm on Tuesday, reports bdnews24.com. Home Advisor Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, Planning Advisor Wahiduddin Mahmud, and Power, Energy, and Mineral Resources Advisor Fouzul Kabir Khan are also attending the press conference. Finance Secretary Md Khairuzzaman Mozumder, Cabinet Secretary Sheikh Abdur Rashid, Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H Mansur, and National Board of Revenue Chairman Abdur Rahman Khan are there as well. Salehuddin presented the proposed Tk 7.9 trillion budget for the upcoming fiscal year in a speech broadcast on BTV on Monday.

The measures were outlined in the proposed national budget for FY26, presented by Finance Advisor Salehuddin Ahmed on Monday. The proposed budget has left the retail price and tax rates of all types of cigarettes unchanged. They further pointed out that the prices and tax rates of zarda and gul, which are smoke-free chewing tobacco products, have also been left unchanged. Reacting to the proposed budget, PROGGA’s Executive Director ABM Zubair said: “Tobacco causes the death of 442 people every day in Bangladesh. If the anti-tobacco tax reform proposals were implemented, tobacco use and related deaths would decline, and government revenue would rise.”Currently, 35.3 percent of adults in Bangladesh use tobacco.

In response to additional duties imposed by the United States on Bangladeshi exports, the government is planning to offer tariff relief on 626 products as part of preparations for trade dialogue and to gradually reduce trade imbalances with the US. ""In addition, supplementary duties on 9 products are proposed to be fully withdrawn, while those on 442 products are proposed to be reduced. This will ease the tax burden on citizens and reduce anti-export bias. Under this, Bangladeshi exports to the US would face a 37 percent supplementary duty.Previously, the average US tariff on Bangladeshi goods was about 15 percent. Combined, this would increase the total duty on Bangladeshi exports to 52 percent.Following a request from Bangladesh, the additional 37 percent duty was temporarily suspended for three months.

The cost of online shopping may increase as the proposed budget for the 2025-26 fiscal year increases the VAT rate on online product sales commissions from 5 percent to 15 percent.Industry insiders warn that the measure is likely to have a negative impact on the e-commerce sector. AHM Hasinul Quddus Rusho, the chief corporate affairs officer at Daraz Bangladesh -- one of the country's leading online shopping platforms, says: "The new 15 percent proposed VAT rate will significantly increase the costs of the e-commerce businesses, which will have a negative impact on both entrepreneurs and consumers. ""Previously, online sellers used to pay VAT on commission at a rate of 5 percent, which has now increased by 10 percent, so this additional cost will either have to be borne by the seller, or it will be passed on to the consumer as an additional hike in the price of the product. As a result, this threatens the future of e-commerce businesses." �"bdnews24.com

Finance Advisor Salehuddin Ahmed has not made any clear statements on a dearness allowance for government workers, but has proposed an increase in the “special benefits” they are entitled to. “In this context, I would like to mention that as no pay scale has been declared after 2015, I propose to increase special benefit for the government employees in the budget of FY2025-26,” he said. There’s a fair chance it will happen, but it may take some time.”The budget speech did not discuss a dearness allowance and it was unclear what “special benefits” government employees will receive. After the interim government took charge, the issue of a dearness allowance for government employees was raised in September and October last year. On Jan 18, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said: “Giving dearness allowance to government officials and employees under the current circumstances will undoubtedly create problems.”“A dearness allowance at this time will increase inflation.

Finance Advisor Salehuddin Ahmed has not made any clear statements on a dearness allowance for government workers, but has proposed an increase in the "special benefits" they are entitled to. "In this context, I would like to mention that as no pay scale has been declared after 2015, I propose to increase special benefit for the government employees in the budget of FY2025-26," he said. The finance advisor raised the matter himself on May 20, saying: “We are actively considering the matter of dearness allowance. There’s a fair chance it will happen, but it may take some time.”The budget speech did not discuss a dearness allowance and it was unclear what "special benefits" government employees will receive. After the interim government took charge, the issue of a dearness allowance for government employees was raised in September and October last year.

Finance Advisor Salehuddin Ahmed proposed a full withdrawal of import duties on 110 of these products. "In addition, supplementary duties on 9 products are proposed to be fully withdrawn, while those on 442 products are proposed to be reduced. The budget proposal also includes zero import duty on certain weapons such as rifles, howitzers, mortars, rocket launchers, flamethrowers, grenade launchers, and torpedo tubes. These items previously carried a 5 percent import duty in the outgoing fiscal year. To offset the trade imbalance, Bangladesh has already waived import duties on 190 US products.

Bangladesh has proposed to lift all import duties on a wide range of military-grade weapons, including guns, howitzers, mortars, torpedoes, rocket launchers, grenade launchers, flame throwers and other artillery systems, as part of its fiscal strategy for 2025–26. All categories of artillery weapons have been included among the 110 products proposed for full customs duty withdrawal. The existing 5 percent duty on these weapons is to be cut to zero under the proposed measures. "In addition, supplementary duties on nine products are proposed to be fully withdrawn, while those on 442 products are proposed to be reduced. Bangladesh has a $6 billion trade surplus with the US-- meaning it exports $6 billion more to the US than it imports.

Bangladesh waives charges on bank deposits up to Tk 300,000The government has proposed removing excise duty on bank deposits up to Tk 300,000, offering relief to low and middle-income account holders. Currently, if a bank account balance reaches Tk 100,000 at any point in a year, the account holder must pay excise duty, which is deducted once annually by the bank. No excise duty is charged if the deposit stays below the Tk 100,000 threshold. For deposits between Tk 100,000 and Tk 500,000, the annual excise duty is Tk 150. No other changes have been proposed in the structure of bank account excise duties.

Finance Advisor Salehuddin Ahmed presented the proposed budget for the 2025-26 fiscal year in a speech broadcast by state-run BTV on Monday. A broad range of consumer and essential products will benefit from VAT exemptions. For greener transport and energy solutions, the existing VAT exemptions on locally produced motor vehicles will continue. Along with that, hybrid and electric vehicles, including general and ICU ambulances, will be conditionally exempted from VAT until Jun 30, 2030. From Jul 1, 2028 to Jun 30, 2030, these batteries will be granted exemption from all VAT in excess of 5 percent.