Leading business organisations on Saturday called for an immediate resolution to the ongoing shutdown of the National Board of Revenue (NBR), warning that the halt in revenue services is causing trade losses of approximately Tk2,500 crore each day.
The protest, led by the “NBR Reform Unity Council”, entered a new phase from Saturday morning as officials launched a complete shutdown, excluding services for international passengers. All offices under income tax, customs and value-added tax (VAT) divisions remained closed across the country.
Revenue officials are demanding the removal of the NBR chairman, cancellation of what they described as “repressive transfer orders”, and inclusion of their representatives in the ongoing NBR reform committee.
Speaking at an emergency press conference at the InterContinental Hotel in Dhaka, BGMEA President Mahmud Hasan Khan Babu accused the government of failing to understand the gravity of the situation. “Why is the meeting scheduled for Tuesday? This must be resolved today,” he urged.
The briefing was organised by leaders of 13 major trade bodies, who voiced deep concern over stalled customs clearance, port congestion, delayed delivery of raw materials and rising logistics costs. They warned that extended lead times and cancelled orders could severely undermine manufacturing and exports.
However, the business leaders rejected the demand to remove the NBR chairman. “A skilled, harassment-free and functioning revenue board is in everyone’s interest,” said Anwar-Ul-Alam Chowdhury Parvez, President of the Bangladesh Chamber of Industries, while reading from a joint statement.
He called for an urgent tripartite dialogue involving the Finance Ministry, Commerce Ministry and Bangladesh Investment Development Authority, to be coordinated by the chief adviser’s Office. He urged the protesting officers to resume work immediately and unconditionally.
Other speakers at the event included Mahbubur Rahman of ICC Bangladesh, Syed Nasim Manzur of LFMEAB, Kamran T Rahman of MCCI, and Showkat Aziz Russell of BTMA. They stressed that revenue operations, particularly customs, do not shut down in any functional economy and urged all parties to act in the national interest.
On Thursday, Finance Adviser Dr Saleh Uddin Ahmed held a meeting with NBR members and called on the protesters to withdraw their programme. He scheduled the next meeting for July 1.
Meanwhile, the NBR Reform Unity Council held a press briefing at 2:30 pm on Saturday, announcing that the full shutdown would continue into Sunday—deepening concerns among business leaders.