Bangladesh's baggage regulations will undergo substantial changes, according to the National Board of Revenue (NBR). The luggage rule will be changed in the proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year 2023–2024, notably by raising the fee for bringing gold bars by Tk 2,000 per person. This policy tries to prevent unauthorized gold influx and increase remittances made through authorized banking channels.

Currently, import duties of 2000 taka per bhori are applicable to gold bars weighing 234 grams (20 bhori). From July, the tax will increase to 4,000 Taka, with a 20 bhori gold duty of 80,000 Taka as opposed to the present 40,000 Taka. Any additional gold bars over one that weighs 117 grams or ten bhori will be confiscated in the state's favor. However, the rules for bringing gold ornaments remain unchanged.

Individuals are permitted to import duty-free gold decorations up to 100 grams (8.5 loads) in weight from overseas, however they are only allowed to import up to 12 pieces of one style of ornament. According to top sources from the Finance Ministry and NBR, the main goal of the luggage regulation changes is to promote the sending of remittances through authorized banking channels.

According to NBR sources, a syndicate that transports gold overseas has been discovered in accordance with the Baggage Rule. Individuals transport gold for the syndicate in exchange for a predetermined commission. This syndicate promises increased income in exchange for persons bringing gold under the luggage rule, which raises commissions and gold prices. In a recent assessment on this behavior, intelligence agencies suggested changing the baggage regulation to stop it and stop remittances from being diverted through illegal means.

The Passenger (Non-Travel) Baggage (Import) Rules, 2016, which were put into effect by the National Board of Revenue, contain comprehensive directions for carrying gold bars and gold jewelry. 

Gold Bar: For every 11.67 grams of gold bars, a duty of 2,000 rupees must be paid. Passengers can bring up to 234 grams of gold by declaring it. Exceeding this limit will result in seizure by customs. Failure to declare gold bars while crossing the Green Channel will be treated as smuggling.

Gold Ornaments: Passengers can bring up to 100 grams of gold ornaments duty-free (not exceeding 12 ornaments of the same type). Any additional ornaments will incur a duty of approximately 2,000 rupees per piece. Customs will detain imported gold if it appears to be of a commercial quantity. Impounded gold ornaments can be retrieved after paying the required duty, tax, and fine through the post-adjudication process. If it is deemed as smuggling, customs will initiate a criminal case directly.
   
 

Stocks today witnessed upward trend as major indices of both Dhaka and Chittagong Stock Exchanges were found rising with higher activities of some large-cap securities.

The DSEX, the benchmark index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), inched up 13.96 points, or 0.22 per cent, to close at 6,338.77. The DS30, the blue-chip index, increased 3.26 per cent to 2,160.67 while the DSES, the Shariah-compliant index, went up 2.96 per cent to 1,373.88.

Of the securities, 110 advanced, 60 declined and 170 did not show any price movement.

GREENDELT made the highest gain with an increase of 9.78 per cent. CANTEX was the highest loser, shedding 7.83 per cent.

BSC was the most-traded stock on the day, followed by SEAPEARL, FUWANGFOOD, JANATAINS and JHRML.

The CASPI, the all-share price index of the Chittagong Stock Exchange, attained 26.61 points, or 0.14 per cent, to close at 18,710.04.

Of the issues, 69 rose, 34 retreated and 67 did not see any price swing.

The gold price climbed above the level of $2,000 per Troy ounce during the trading session at Comex for the first time since June 2 of this year, according to market data.

The gold price had reached $2,000.4 per Troy ounce (up 0.43%) but then rolled back to $1,998 per Troy ounce, plus 0.35%.

Silver prices at the same ticked up by 0.53% to $24.49 per Troy ounce.

The World Bank (WB) yesterday approved $300 million to help Bangladesh improve the efficiency of gas distribution and end-use through pre-paid metering systems for residential and industrial consumers and reduce methane emissions along the natural gas value chain.
 
 The Gas Sector Efficiency Improvement and Carbon Abatement Project will address natural gas leakage and losses along the gas transmission and distribution network, reduce wastage in use by residential and industrial users, and strengthen network monitoring capabilities. 
 
 It will install more than 1.2 million prepaid gas meters in Dhaka and Rajshahi Division. Among these, 1.1 million prepaid meters will be deployed in Greater Dhaka covering 54 percent of residential customers of Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Limited, and 128,000 prepaid meters in Rajshahi division, covering the entire residential customer base of Pashchimanchal Gas Company Limited (PGCL), said a press release.
 
 The project will also pilot rolling out about 50 smart meters to larger industrial users to demonstrate the viability of smart meters to better monitor and manage gas use in the industrial sector.
 
 It will install a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) and Geographic Information System on PGCL’s network to improve gas flow monitoring and help reduce methane leaks. They will contribute to reduce greenhouse gas emissions with better monitoring in the gas network for identifying and repairing methane leaks.
 
“Improving energy efficiency will be important for Bangladesh to achieve its 2021 Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) commitment of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2030,” said Abdoulaye Seck, World Bank Country Director for Bangladesh and Bhutan. 
  
"The project will help cut down natural gas wastage in households and industries and reduce fugitive methane emissions in gas pipelines, which are often caused by leaks from gas production, processing, transmission, and distribution.” he added.
 
Natural gas accounted for 68 percent of the country’s primary energy consumption in 2021. Methane leakages in the oil and gas value chain – which is 25 times more potent than CO2 at trapping heat in the atmosphere – amounts to an estimated 257 kilotons, which is roughly equivalent to 7.7 million tons of CO2.
  
“Bangladesh’s biggest source of greenhouse gas emission comes from the oil and gas sector,” said Sameh I. Mobarek, World Bank Senior Energy Specialist and Team Leader for the Project. “Prepaid gas meters and advanced monitoring systems will help optimize natural gas end-use, mitigate methane leakages and lead to lower gas bills for the households and industrial users.”
 
 The project will finance technical assistance to detect CO2 and methane emission sources along the natural gas value chain and identify and prioritize opportunities to abate emissions in existing facilities and infrastructure. 
 
 It will also help develop emissions monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) protocols and regulatory frameworks for sustained carbon abatement in the energy value chain that can then be implemented through investment with public and private climate financing.
  
The World Bank was among the first development partners to support Bangladesh. In its 50-year partnership with Bangladesh, the World Bank has committed over $40 billion in grants, interest-free and concessional credits to the country. Currently, Bangladesh has the largest IDA program in the world with a total of $15.6 billion of commitments to 53 ongoing projects.

The revenue collection by the National Board of Revenue (NBR) from VAT witnessed a 17 percent growth in the last fiscal year (FY23) fetching Taka 1,25,424 crore.

The revenue collection from VAT by the revenue board in the previous fiscal year (FY22) was Taka 1,08,420 crore. In that consideration, the revenue collection from VAT in the FY23 was Taka 17,004 crore higher than the previous FY22.

According to a press release of the NBR, the VAT Commissionerates of Chattogram, Khulna and Dhaka South attained higher growth in revenue collection in the last fiscal year out of its 12 VAT Commissionerates witnessing 38.71 percent, 24.71 percent and 19.89 percent growth respectively.

The NBR data revealed that the LTU VAT Commissionerate collected the highest amount of Taka 58,566 crore as VAT in the last fiscal which was Taka 6,133 crore or 11.70 percent higher than the previous fiscal year.

Talking to BSS, a senior official of the NBR said that the overall collection of VAT in the last fiscal year was a bit less than the expectations due to the current global economic condition and the austerity measures of the government.

Otherwise, the VAT collection could have been higher, he said adding that the overall VAT collection could be termed as a 'good achievement'.

The official said that the VAT collection in the last fiscal year (FY23) witnessed 17 percent growth mainly for three reasons which are strict monitoring in VAT collection at the field-level, updating the production related materials of the business enterprises and taking effective measures for evading VAT.

The NBR data also showed that the highest amount of Taka 32,818 crore came as VAT from cigarettes and tobacco products in the last fiscal year (FY23) with a 10 percent growth followed by Taka 9,438 crore as VAT from the mobile phone operators with 11 percent growth.

Besides, the other sectors which achieved notable growth in VAT collection in the last fiscal are MS rod with 58.46 percent growth, soft drinks with 31.19 percent growth, cement with 33.72 percent growth, commercial space rent with 20.11 percent growth, petroleum gas with 21.68 percent growth, petroleum products with 23.43 percent growth, sweetmeat shops with 38 percent growth, residential hotels with 39 percent growth and restaurants with 16.78 percent growth.

The revenue collection target from VAT in the last fiscal year (FY23) was Taka 1,36,800 crore.