Special measures taken to protect SMEs: Finance Minister

The government has taken up special measures for the protection of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) considering the importance, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal has said in his budget speech.

Considering the development of SMEs, he said the Prime Minister has declared Light Engineering as the ‘Product of the Year’ for 2020, he told parliament on Thursday while presenting the budget proposed for the fiscal year 2020-21.

“In light with the recommendations of SME Foundation, I have proposed to reduce tax rate on import of some of the raw materials used in the production of SME products,” he said.

“Duty and taxes on import of some products (e.g. nails, screws, small machinery parts, etc.) have been proposed to increase to protect SMEs.”

The finance minister also proposed to increase the current duty rate on importing honey in bulk to 25 per cent from 15 per cent in a bid to protect the indigenous honey farmers.