NBR halves duty on sugar imports to reduce price

Business Report :
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has reduced the customs duty on sugar imports by half, aiming to lower the cost of this essential commodity and maintain market stability.

In a notification on Wednesday, the NBR said the import duty of non-refined sugar has been fixed at Tk1,500 per tonne, which was Tk3,000.

The duty for refined sugar has been reduced to Tk3,000 per tonne from Tk6,000.

The new duty rate would be in force immediately and it would remain in effect until 31 March 2024.

Currently, the sugar importers have to pay 15% VAT, 30% regulatory duty, 2% advance income tax apart from Tk 3,000 tax for per tonne of sugar.

Currently, per kg sugar is being sold at Tk135-Tk140 in the kitchen market.

In order to rein in the price of sugar, the government has undertaken a number of steps including reduction of duty in the current year.

But, the price of sugar is yet to come at desired level.

The local production of sugar constitutes one percent of the overall demand which is around 30,000 tonnes annually whereas the annual import of sugar is around 22-24 lakh tonnes.