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Budget Analysis: Buy More Plastic, Wear More Undergarments

[su_note note_color="#fffffd" text_color="#6ba6ed"]Editor’s Note: This is second of a ten parts series we are running on National Budget 2015-16. Thank you SmartKompare for teaming up with us and supporting the series. Visit SmartKompare and choose personal loans for you.[/su_note]

There are hundreds of good things in this year’s budget and bad things too. One of the good things of course is that: our women will be able to go to best buy shops more often to buy more plastics. Our honorable Finance Minister proposed a decrease of value added tax on a number of imported goods in the budget for fiscal year 2015-2016: plastic stands top.

Why plastic? That’s of course not a good question to ask. We could brag about plastic, it’s good and bad for hours but it would not make slightest of difference. Plastics will be coming in billions, Best Buys will be everywhere making big bucks and our environment and health will suck at the end of the day.

There are hundreds of advantages of plastic products. They are easy to use, look cool, easy to handle, and you love them. But can we ignore health hazards of some plastic products? And we are sure our importers will bring those in volumes because they are cheap. Many of the plastic products that our households uses including baby bottles, food cans, pots, food cages have chemical bisphenol A (BPA) which is extremely hazardous to health. Although experts are not agreed on this matter but there are concerns over using plastics with said chemical and it has been said that it has certain contribution to disorders like infertility and cancer which is yet to confirm.

However, these are just mere concerns, folks don’t worry. Plastics are going to be cheap, go and get a beautiful box for your baby!

Then there comes another very essential item which is also going to get special treatment: undergarments. Want to wear more of it? This year is for you. Our boys have been complaining why girls wear so small cloths, don’t worry, get some undergarments for you and start challenging sisters.

Unlike plastic, this decision deserves upvotes. Kudos to our Finance Minister for such a timely decision, now mango people of this nation will be able to enjoy a little luxury of using high quality undergarments. There is a business potential in it as well. You can start importing these things and sell at a premium price, and yes, do it online. You better start an ecommerce of undergarments, something like goponjinish.

Along with plastic and undergarments, commodities like glucose, white chocolate, biscuits, toasts, jam, jelly, mosquito coil, toilet paper, different attires for men and women, toothpaste, spectacle, sanitary napkin and local toys will also get special treatment.

Mohammad Ruhul Kader is a Dhaka-based entrepreneur and writer. He founded Future Startup, a digital publication covering the startup and technology scene in Dhaka with an ambition to transform Bangladesh through entrepreneurship and innovation. He writes about internet business, strategy, technology, and society. He is the author of Rethinking Failure. His writings have been published in almost all major national dailies in Bangladesh including DT, FE, etc. Prior to FS, he worked for a local conglomerate where he helped start a social enterprise. Ruhul is a 2022 winner of Emergent Ventures, a fellowship and grant program from the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. He can be reached at [email protected]

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