The country's main revenue-collecting agency, the National Board of Revenue (NBR), is facing a record deficit in the first nine months of the current fiscal year.

The shortfall in customs and tax collections is nearly Tk 1 trillion, the highest on record at any time.

Throughout the last fiscal year, the NBR had a deficit of Tk 926.26 billion, which was a record at the time. It was surpassed within the first nine months of the current fiscal year.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has imposed conditions to increase revenue collection. Faced with such demands from the IMF, the NBR encountered this massive shortfall. To achieve targets for the remainder of the fiscal year, the NBR faces pressure to collect an average of about Tk 73 billion in taxes each month.

A new government led by the BNP has taken over after the interim government. One of the biggest challenges for the new government is to increase customs and tax collection. However, the reality is quite different.