The Bangladesh National Revenue Service (NBR) has issued a Statutory Regulatory Order (SRO) to increase the regulatory duty on imports of more than 135 HS-coded products to 20% from the previous 3% to 5% to reduce these Imports of products, thereby easing the pressure on foreign exchange reserves.

It mainly includes four categories: furniture, fruit, flowers and flower products and cosmetics

l Furniture includes: imported bamboo materials, accessories and various furniture raw materials, as well as wooden furniture, plastic furniture, rattan furniture and various metal furniture for offices, kitchens and bedrooms.

l Fruits include: fresh or processed mango, banana, grape, fig, pineapple, avocado, guava, mangosteen, lemon, watermelon, plum, apricot, cherry fruit, frozen or processed fruit seeds and mixed fruit foods.

l Flowers and flower products include: all kinds of fresh and dried imported flowers, imported flowers for making decorations, all kinds of artificial flowers and saplings or branches.

l Cosmetics include: Perfume, Beauty and Cosmetics, Dental Floss, Tooth Powder, Preservatives, After Shave, Hair Care and more.

Currently, a total of 3,408 products in Bangladesh are subject to regulatory duties at the import stage, ranging from a minimum of 3% to a maximum of 35%. This includes imposing high tariffs on items classified as non-essential and luxury goods.

In addition to the above four categories of products, products subject to regulatory duties include vehicles and vehicle engines, machinery, iron and iron products, fly ash as a raw material for the cement industry, rice and consumer goods，etc. For example, a regulatory tax of up to 20% on pickup trucks and two-cabin pickup trucks, 15% on car engines, 3% to 10% on tires and rims, and 3% on iron bars and billets Up to 10% regulatory tax, 5% regulatory tax on fly ash, about 15% regulatory tax on oxygen, nitrogen, argon and primary health insurance supplies, 3% to 10% on fiber optics and various types of wires regulatory tax, etc.

In addition, Bangladesh’s foreign exchange reserves are reported to have remained subdued in the past few months due to a decrease in inward remittances and an increase in import payments. Market operators said demand for the U.S. dollar has gradually increased as the conflict between Russia and Ukraine continues and the economy rebounds after the new crown epidemic. Rising prices for commodities, including fuel, in global markets in recent months have pushed up the country’s import payment obligations.

Bangladesh’s local currency is continuing its depreciation trend as global price increases have led to a significant increase in import payments compared to foreign exchange inflows in the past few months. Bangladesh’s currency has lost 8.33 percent since January this year.

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