The report that the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) and the Petrobangla, two government-owned statutory corporations, have defaulted on payment of import duty and taxes to the tune of Tk 330 billion is highly disconcerting. Responsible for the bulk of the energy import, the Petrobangla has accumulated a total of Tk 216.90 billion in such liabilities between 2021 and 2025 and the BPC owes a defaulted amount of Tk 116.47 billion. The combined unpaid taxes and duties are huge and the National Board of Revenue (NBR), desperate in need of raising tax collection, has to bear the brunt. But the unrealised revenue from the two entities has its snowballing impacts on the national budget and the economy in general.
True, an energy-deficient country at times has to meet some emergency and the 'provisional release' facility is used for overcoming a crisis but this cannot be a permanent system for customs clearance of imported liquefied natural gas, refined petroleum products such as diesel, octane and jet fuel. If the private importers can pay all the duties before getting their fuels released, so should do the entities in the public sector. But taking advantage of the concessionary arrangement, the public energy corporations are avoiding payment of duties year after year. Why? The position of the BPC and Petrobangla is indefensible much as an official of the Petrobangla may cite the chronic liquidity crisis for non-payment of import duties and other taxes. The next part of his argument in defence of the two energy corporations is even more ludicrous when he points out similar unpaid duties of power plants and fertiliser factories. The accumulated amount of those state-run entities is Tk250 billion, he claims.
Thus the disquieting figures come to Tk580 billion from these public sector enterprises. If this amount found its way into the government exchequer, the NBR could narrow the gap between its collection and the target. One intriguing point here is why such non-payment duties did not come under the scrutiny of the agencies involved. How can the inter-agency default culture involving huge revenue grow when the country is in need of narrowing the deficit in budget preparation? This is no revelation but such things are going on under the nose of various agencies, including the NBR, in a manner that defies logic. Without putting together the arms of various agencies, the hope of bringing financial discipline in various organs of the government is impossible.
The news is that the BPC posted a 9.46 per cent rise in profit in 2024-25. On the other hand, Petrobangla spent $3.27 billion to settle import bills of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and repay other liabilities of international oil companies and Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) between April and October 2025. But neither paid the import duties. When state corporations and enterprises claim they have made profit, it has to be taken with a grain of salt. The national flag carrier often does it and some others also follow suit. But they do so without their revenue liabilities. How the BPC does it should also be put under the scanner. If the governance is weak and accountability missing, corruption proliferates and financial discipline continues to remain elusive.
