Prices of shelled cashew nuts are likely to increase as the government has proposed increasing import duty and regulatory duty for the item in the national budget for fiscal year 2024-25.
Finance Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali proposed imposing a 5% import duty and a 10% regulatory duty on shelled cashew nuts.
At present, importers have to pay 3% import duty on the import of cashew nuts in line with the SAFTA Agreement, according to which Bangladesh offers zero-duty benefits on the import of some products and minimal duty for some others.
Finance Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali presented the proposed budget for the 2024-2025 fiscal year amounting to Tk797,000 crore (Tk7.97 trillion) in parliament on Thursday.
This was his first budget unveiling and the first budget after the reelection of the Awami League government in January.