Dhaka, May 15 -- Officials and employees of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) observed a pen-down strike on Wednesday as part of their three-day protest against a newly issued ordinance that abolished the Internal Resources Division (IRD) and split the NBR into two separate entities.

Officials stayed in their offices on the first day of the protest but did not perform any official work from 10am to 1pm.

The strike was observed across all customs houses, customs stations, VAT commissionerates, and tax regions nationwide, said NBR officials.

However, activities related to the formulation of the national budget for the next fiscal year, services for international passengers, and export operations continued as usual, as previously announ...