Dhaka, April 21 -- Bangladesh stands at a critical juncture in its economic journey. Over the past two decades, the country has achieved commendable progress-sustained GDP growth, rising per capita income, declining poverty, and significant infrastructure development. Yet, beneath this success lies a persistent structural weakness: an underperforming revenue system.

Despite a GDP of approximately $462 billion, Bangladesh's national budget is only around $62 billion, keeping the budget-to-GDP ratio at a modest 13-15 per cent. More concerning is the tax-to-GDP ratio, which hovers between 7 and 10 per cent-well below the South Asian average of 12-18 per cent and far behind developed economies where the ratio often exceeds 30 per cent. This ...