DHAKA — Finance Minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury on Thursday unveiled a Tk 9.38 trillion national budget proposals for the fiscal year 2026-27 before the parliament.
Marking the debut fiscal plan of the BNP administration’s current tenure, the proposed budget rolled out comprehensive structural shifts to import duties, supplementary levies, and minimum customs assessment thresholds.
The executive strategy focuses on dual tracks: penalizing public health hazards and high-emission vehicles while shielding local industries through targeted import tariffs. Simultaneously, it aggressively dials back taxes on essential commodities, information technology hardware, and medical equipment to insulate the public from inflationary pressures.
What Will Cost More: Items Seeing Higher Tariffs
To stimulate domestic manufacturing, encourage eco-friendly alternatives, and discourage health-hazardous products, the government has recommended steep duty hikes across several market segments.
Tobacco & Fossil-Fuel Vehicles
Cigarettes & Nicotine Pouches: Tobacco consumption will turn more expensive as minimum retail price boundaries for a 10-stick pack have been recalculated across four distinct categories: Tk 62 (low tier), Tk 92 (medium tier), Tk 160 (high tier), and Tk 210 (premium tier). Furthermore, the supplementary duty applied to nicotine granules and pouches will jump from 300% to 350% to deter public health risks.
Combustion-Engine Cars: To actively discourage the use of traditional petrol, octane, and diesel vehicles, the total tax incidence on imported mid-range internal combustion engine (ICE) cars (1,200cc to 1,600cc) is slated to increase from 132.36% to roughly 156%.
Imported Foods & Agricultural Products
Cashew Nuts: In a bid to cultivate a competitive domestic cashew sector, import tariffs on raw and processed cashews are set to spike to a flat 25% (up from 1% and 5% respectively). Local processors importing raw cashews, however, will benefit from a lower concessionary duty of 15%.
Pangasius Fillets & Honey: A fresh 20% supplementary duty has been slapped on imported pangasius fish fillets to protect the local fish processing ecosystem. Meanwhile, the minimum assessable value for importing natural honey has been raised by $2 to $7 per unit, lifting the overall duty burden.
Betel Nuts & Confectionery: The minimum customs evaluation for betel nut imports rises by $0.25 per unit. Valuation benchmarks have also been bumped up for imported coffee, sugar confectionery, and ready-to-eat packaged foods, translating to higher shelf prices.
Home Appliances, Construction, & Cosmetics
Washing Machines & Home Goods: To boost import substitution and strengthen local factories, a new 20% supplementary duty is being placed on all imported household washing machines. Higher duty rates and altered customs valuations will also raise prices for imported microwave ovens, toys, foam items, tiles, and sanitary ware.
Bicycles: Local bicycle assemblers will face steeper manufacturing expenses as the import duty on freewheel components climbs from 15% to 25%, layered with a fresh 5% supplementary duty.
Steel Rods & Gas Cylinders: Real estate developers and homebuilders face upward pricing pressure as VAT is raised on the raw inputs required for steel rod production. Additionally, composite liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders will now carry VAT at the import stage.
Cosmetics: Imported lip liners and lip gels will experience an upward price correction due to elevated customs value evaluations.
What Will Cost Less: Consumer Relief & Fiscal Injections
To counteract persistent cost-of-living hikes, the finance minister has introduced aggressive tax waivers, source tax reductions, and the complete withdrawal of regulatory duties on core necessities.
Daily Groceries & Kitchen Supplies
60 Essential Commodities: Delivering on election pledges to bring direct economic relief, the government has slashed the source tax rate on 60 vital consumer commodities—including rice, paddy, wheat, potatoes, onions, garlic, ginger, salt, sugar, fish, poultry, livestock, edible oil, and seeds—down to a uniform 0.5% from previous brackets of 1%, 2%, and 5%.
Spices & Dates: Cooking costs will drop as the existing 5% regulatory duty on essential spices like cumin, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, coriander, and black pepper has been entirely removed. The 5% regulatory duty on imported dates has also been abolished.
Infant Food: Sourcing raw materials for domestic baby food manufacturing will become cheaper, with import tariffs reduced from 15% to 10% for industrial raw inputs.
High-Tech & Clean Energy
Laptops & Computers: In a historic move to supercharge the country's technology and software landscapes, the government has completely withdrawn all import duties, regulatory duties, supplementary duties, and VAT on laptops, desktop computers, monitors, servers, and printers.
Electric Vehicles (EVs): Green transit is receiving a substantial economic push. The tax burden for electric vehicles valued up to $25,000 has been slashed from 93% to 64%, while those priced up to $50,000 will see duties drop to 80%. Major tax breaks have also been extended to plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), EV charging station infrastructure, and BRTA registration fees.
Solar Equipment: Favorable customs terms have been implemented for solar power equipment and Point-of-Sale (POS) machines.
Healthcare, Jewelry, & Entertainment
Kidney Dialysis & Cancer Drugs: To reduce medical burdens, the 15% VAT and 5% advance income tax on imported dialysis filters have been completely lifted. According to the finance minister, this policy change will lower the out-of-pocket expense of each individual dialysis session by up to Tk 800. Tariff rollbacks have also been extended to general pharmaceutical raw materials, alongside specialized zero-duty windows for nine fresh inputs used in cancer drug manufacturing.
Gold Jewelry: The source tax on the supply of gold has plummeted from 5% to 0.5%. This slashes the effective VAT burden down to just Tk 2,500 per bhori on gold valued at Tk 250,000, down from a steep previous benchmark of Tk 12,500.
Musical Instruments & Cinema Gear: Creative arts get a major boost as the 5% regulatory duty on imported guitars, pianos, violins, and related musical gear has been completely deleted. Additionally, import duties on cinematographic cameras, projectors, and their replacement parts have been dialed back from 15% to 5%.
Skincare: Strategic modifications in tax and custom structures mean that everyday imported personal care items like face washes and lipsticks are expected to see a price decrease.
