The Chairman of the National Board of Revenue (NBR), Md. Abdur Rahman Khan, commented that Bangladesh has fallen into a debt trap.

He made this remark on Monday (8 December) at a seminar held at the National Economic Council (NEC) conference hall in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Dhaka.

The seminar was organized by the General Economics Division (GED) of the Bangladesh Planning Commission on the occasion of publishing and presenting Bangladesh State of the Economy 2025 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Progress Report 2025.

Policymakers and experts at the seminar expressed deep concern over the country’s debt situation.

NBR Chairman Md. Abdur Rahman Khan said, “We have already fallen into a debt trap; unless we acknowledge this truth, we cannot move forward.”

He added that a few years ago, the tax-to-GDP ratio was above 10 percent, but now it hovers around 7 percent. The key issue must be clearly identified. One major reason for the low tax-to-GDP ratio is that revenue cannot be collected from all sectors of the GDP.

Abdur Rahman Khan also mentioned that during the interim government, the NBR will split into two divisions under two secretaries to continue its work.

Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr. Ahsan H. Mansur also spoke at the seminar. He stated that the merger process of five troubled banks is progressing rapidly. The deposit guarantee has been increased from 100,000 BDT to 200,000 BDT, and distribution to depositors may begin within one or two weeks.

The governor added that, through this initiative, 7.6 million families, including customers of the five banks, will get their deposits back. He also expressed hope that the new bank could turn a profit in its first or second year.

CPD fellow Mostafizur Rahman remarked that falling into a debt trap will not be good for the country, as it will require taking new loans to repay old ones. He noted that in the revenue budget, the largest expenditure category was salaries and pensions for government employees, followed by agriculture and education. However, now debt interest payments have taken precedence over sectors like agriculture and education.

The chief guest of the event was Anisuzzaman Chowdhury, Special Assistant on Finance to the Chief Adviser. Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H. Mansur was a special guest. Also present were the Chief Adviser’s Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam and others.