The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has reported a revenue deficit of over Tk 58,000 crore, falling short of its target for the first eight months (July-February) of the current 2024-25 fiscal year. The revenue growth stands at a mere 1.76%, significantly below expectations.
The deficit, which was about Tk 58,000 crore by December, has remained unchanged despite efforts to boost collections. NBR officials attribute the shortfall to several factors, including political instability during July and August and a rise in the value of the dollar, which adversely affected revenue collection.
According to data from the NBR’s statistics department, the revised revenue target for the first eight months of the fiscal year was Tk 2,80,059 crore. However, only Tk 2,21,817 crore was collected, leaving a deficit of Tk 58,242 crore. For comparison, in the same period of the previous fiscal year (2023-24), revenue collection stood at Tk 2,17,971 crore.
For the current fiscal year, the NBR had set a target of Tk 4,80,000 crore, which was later revised down to Tk 4,63,500 crore midway through the year. Import-level revenue collection during July-February amounted to Tk 64,439 crore, which marks a decrease of 1.30% compared to the same period in the previous year (Tk 65,288 crore).
At the local level, revenue collection from Customs and excise duties increased by 2.21%, reaching Tk 84,223 crore compared to Tk 82,402 crore in the same period last year. On the other hand, revenue collection from income tax and the travel sector rose by 4.09%, reaching Tk 73,154 crore, up from Tk 70,280 crore during the same months of the previous year.
The government had initially projected a total revenue of Tk 5,41,000 crore for the 2024-25 fiscal year, which would represent 9.7% of the GDP. Of this, Tk 4,80,000 crore was expected to be collected by the NBR, while Tk 61,000 crore was to be sourced from other means.
Despite the increased collection in some sectors, the overall shortfall continues to raise concerns about the government’s ability to meet its revised fiscal target by the end of the year.
