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Bangladesh’s credit rating hangs on tax issues

Sajjadur Rahman
Bangladesh's credit rating faces some delay due to an unsettled tax format to be imposed on the Standard & Poor’s and Moody's Investors Service, the two prominent credit rating firms in the world.
Bangladesh Bank (BB) has agreed in principle to award the work orders to the Standard & Poor's and Moody’s Investors Service, following their responses to BB proposal, officials said.
“We have sent the tax issues of these firms to the National Board of Revenue, but we are yet to get a reply," a senior BB official concerned with the country rating issue told The Daily Star yesterday.
The official said, "BB cannot price the work because they did not receive tax assessment for the work."
NBR chairman Abdul Mazid however said he is yet to know the issue.
The central bank initiated
the move for Bangladesh's first-ever credit rating following arbitrary credit ratings for the country by donors and individual enterprises and foreign countries, in May.
To execute the job, BB invited three rating agencies, of which the Japan Credit Rating Agency did not respond.
The other two firms --Standard & Poor's and Moody's Investors Service --have responded to the central bank's proposal to conduct credit rating for Bangladesh, a move what the officials believe will help the country attract more foreign investment and receive international aid easily.
The BB official said, "The central bank is ready to issue the work orders to these interested firms, but the tax issue is delaying the matter.”
Earlier, a five-member
technical evaluation committee comprising officials from BB, the commerce ministry and Institute of Chartered Accountants assessed the proposals of Standard & Poor's and Moody's Investors Service.
The two agencies will conduct Bangladesh's credit rating independently, and the BB will assess the reports of these two firms separately for a better rating of the country, a BB executive director (ED) said.
"We need such a credit rating for the country so that any foreign organisation or country cannot form a wrong impression about on Bangladesh based solely on their own perceptions," the BB official said.
BB Governor Salchuddin Ahmed in May said he has seen some ratings that unnecessarily branded Bangladesh as a
high-risk country.
BB officials believe that the country rating will also help Bangladesh mobilise resources in the capital market. They said foreign investors and multilateral lenders evaluate the credit rating of a country before making investments or providing loans.
Citibank NA, Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) and Standard Chartered bank will offer advisory' services to the BB in the total process of completing the task, officials said.
Although credit ratings for business organisations are common globally, * sovereign country credit rating is a bit new. However, besides developed countries, some Middle East and African countries have their own country credit ratings.
Credit ratings generally reflect a country's overall economic situation, but sociopolitical issues also get high focus.
Sajjad@thedailystar.net