Finance Minister AMA Muhith said the proposed hike in the excise duty on bank-account balance wouldn't be changed, thereby deflating widespread criticism of his budgetary measure.     

"It is not new. The banks have been paying (excise duty) for long number of years. Only the rate and threshold have been changed," he said Tuesday after the launch of Foreign Aid Management System (FAMS) in the city.

Mr Muhith mentioned that the excise-free limit on bank balance has been enhanced to Tk 100,000 from the previous threshold of Tk 20,000.

"I have just raised the threshold and the rate of the duty now."

In the national budget for the next fiscal, the government has proposed Tk 800 as excise duty instead of the current amount of Tk 500 for the bank balance over Tk 100,000.

Economic Relations Division (ERD) organised the launching ceremony of software for FAMS at its office in Dhaka with its Secretary Kazi Shofiqul Azam in the chair.

Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal, State Minister for Finance and Planning MA Mannan, State Minister for ICT Junaid Ahmed Palak, Chief Coordinator for the SDG Affairs M Abul Kalam Azad and ERD Additional Secretary Farida Nasreen also spoke on the occasion.

Asked about the newly proposed uniform 15 per cent VAT, the finance minister said the assembly would discuss the budget and take decision it thinks better.

To a query about lower projection of the estimated GDP growth by some development partners, Mr Muhith said he is hopeful of achieving 7.2 per cent growth in the  outgoing financial year (FY), 2016-17.

"During September-October period of the next fiscal, we will get the final estimation of the GDP. I am confident that the country's GDP will be 7.2 per cent."

About the Centre for Policy Dialogue's criticism on the proposed national budget, Muhith uttered his oft-repeated snide epithet: 'Rubbish'.

He did not elaborate further on the policy think-tank's critical appreciation of different measures proposed in the Tk 4.0 trillion-plus budget for the next fiscal.

In his speech at the FAMS launching ceremony the finance minister said Bangladesh is no more the 'basket case' nation dubbed by the then US Secretary of State, Dr Henry Kissinger, as Bangladesh's dependency on foreign aid has dropped drastically.

In early years after the independence of Bangladesh, its debt-to-GDP (gross domestic product) ratio was about 8.0, which has now fallen to only 1.5.

"Till early 1980s, nearly 90 per cent of the national budget income had come from the foreign assistance. But the scenario started changing when the VAT was introduced in 1991 in the country," he noted.

Planning Minister Mustafa Kamal said the foreign aid the ERD mobilizes should have been economical for the country.

"When the ERD goes for negotiations, the ERD should keep the highest priority on the economic return from the aid," he added.

About the GDP growth's lower projections by some donors, Mr Kamal said they had given the data based on the reality, not on the assumptions. "So, our statistics is correct."

ICT state minister Mr Palak said they would convert 90 per cent of government service to online from the current 40 per cent by the year 2021.

Meanwhile, AMA Muhith launched the ERD's FAMS software where the state of the foreign assistance committed by different external development partners and lenders for different projects of the country, their disbursement, repayment of the debts and other information will be available.

The government ministries and agencies concerned will easily access the software for working on foreign aid.

The ERD with a support of a local private firm --genweb2-has developed the software for digitizing the foreign-aid administration.