Honest, competent officers should get more work opportunities: PM Tareque Rahman

Prime Minister Tareque Rahman has said the government wants to build the country by bringing everyone together and provide honest and competent officers with more opportunities to work.

He made the remarks while addressing a revenue conference at the Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre in the capital on Tuesday.

The conference was jointly organised by the Internal Resources Division of the Ministry of Finance and the National Board of Revenue (NBR).

Finance and Planning Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury and Prime Minister’s Adviser on Finance and Planning Rashid Al Mahmud Titumir also spoke at the event.

The prime minister said he does not view the revenue conference as an ordinary conference, as the success of the government’s development plans largely depends on the success of the NBR’s activities.

“I hope this conference will guide you towards greater success in the days ahead,” he said.

Tareque Rahman said the NBR, like other state institutions, could not remain free from the “curse” of one-and-a-half decades of fascist rule and exploitation.

He said patronising individuals for personal or party interests, showing hostility towards others and exercising arbitrariness in revenue collection by ignoring rules and regulations had made the NBR questionable and eroded public trust in the institution.

“Now it is time for us to rise again in a fascism-free Bangladesh,” he said, adding that people, particularly taxpayers, expect the NBR to be a reliable and trustworthy institution.

Public confidence can be restored only through efficient and sustainable revenue management, he said.

Addressing NBR officials, the prime minister said they must take responsibility for meeting taxpayers’ expectations.

“The current government is determined to make the NBR and the overall revenue structure people-friendly,” he said.

Tareque Rahman said the government is opposed to relying solely on foreign assistance and placing an excessive debt burden on future generations.

Therefore, the country must expand its domestic sources of income and revenue, he said.

The government has adopted a people-oriented production policy to expand sources of income, which will increase investment, business, trade and industrialisation, he said.

“This will increase people’s incomes, create substantial employment and ensure better public services for the people,” the prime minister said, adding that the NBR’s more efficient and effective role is indispensable in this regard.