DHAKA, June 13 (Xinhua) -- The Bangladeshi government plans to raise the customs duty on smartphones to 25 percent from the existing 10 percent in a bid to protect the local mobile handset assembling industry.
"As smartphones are used by affluent people, I propose to increase customs duty of smartphones to 25 percent," said Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal in his budget speech Thursday.
The minister also proposed reducing the duty on mobile phone charger connector pin and SIM slot ejector pin to 10 percent from 25 percent.
The Bangladeshi government Thursday unveiled a record 5.23 trillion-taka (about 62 billion U.S. dollars) proposed national budget, targeting an economic growth of 8.2 percent for the next 2019-20 fiscal year starting in July.
