Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)-The government’s revenue earnings from the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) fell further by 8.0 percent in February compared to January this year.
The revenue falls as the trading volume was on the decline mood due to ongoing political unrest.
The government bagged tax worth BDT 86.97 million in February against BDT 94.52 million in January, 2015, registering a decline of 8.0 percent over the month, according to statistics from the DSE.
Of the total revenue in February, BDT 53.60 million came from the brokerage commission and BDT 33.36 million came from the share sales by sponsor-directors and placement holders, the DSE data shows.
The government’s earnings from DSE declined in the last five consecutive months in a row as trading volume was on the decline at a stress amid bearish trend in the stock prices.
The DSE, on behalf of the government, collects tax as brokerage commission and sponsor and placement shares sales at the rate of 0.05 percent and 5.0 percent respectively and deposits the amount to the government exchequer.
“Tax collection is related to trading volume and investors were cautious about taking fresh position amid prolonged political unrest in the country since early January,” said a DSE official.
The daily average turnover on the DSE came down to BDT 2.67 billion in February against BDT 2.78 billion in January, that contributed to lower tax collection as tax is calculated on turnover value, he said.
However, in the first eight months of the current fiscal year (FY), the government’s revenue earnings from DSE rose 14.54 percent compared to same period last fiscal.
In the first eight months (July’14 to February’15) of the current fiscal year, DSE paid tax worth BDT 1,222.16 million against BDT 1,067.05 million in the same period last fiscal year, the DSE data shows.
BBN/BB/SS-03Mar15-8:20pm (BST)