Dhaka, June 11 -- Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury has proposed to impose excise duty on bank balances of Tk 400,000.

He made the proposal while presenting the Tk 9.38 trillion budget in the parliament on Thursday.

Currently, excise duty is levied on bank balances of Tk 300,000 or more.

If the proposal is approved by the end of this month, the new threshold will take effect in the 2026-27 fiscal year.

In his budget speech, the minister said: "Bank balances of up to Tk 300,000 are currently exempt from excise duty.

"To provide relief to small depositors, I am proposing to raise the exemption limit to Tk 400,000."

He also proposed to make a provision to deduct excise duty only once against a loan account.

The budget prop...