Finance Minister AMA Muhith claims prices of essential commodities did not rise in the last 10 years.
Speaking to the media at his offices on Monday, he said, “And that will be the case this year and this is my good news for the people of the country.”
Muhith is set to present the budget proposals for the upcoming fiscal in Parliament on Thursday.
He said on Monday that the government plans to bring down the tax slabs for VAT to five from the existing nine.
“The maximum VAT will be 15 percent and we want to go for a three-tier tax slab gradually in the next five years.”
The octogenarian minister, who is set to give the budget for the straight tenth year, made it clear that he will not cut existing 45 percent corporate tax for tobacco and mobile phone companies.
“The maximum tax for listed and unlisted companies, including banks, will be 37.5 percent,” he added.
The size of the proposed budget for the 2018-19 fiscal will be ‘more or less Tk 4.6 trillion’, he said before adding “I can’t say the exact figure right now.”