Dhaka, Feb. 10 -- Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed said Sunday he was forced to raise value-added tax (VAT) to cover the additional expenses incurred due to funding the 2024 uprising victims' treatment costs.

He said each critically injured student was given Tk 3.5 million, while some 300 police vehicles were burnt, which resulted in extra costs of over Tk 5.0 billion.

"Where can I get the money? I was forced to raise VAT to cover these expenses," the adviser said, replying to a query about the reason for increasing VAT on many products in the middle of the financial year.

Salehuddin was addressing a view-exchange meeting titled "The role of remittance in Bangladesh economy" organised by the Bangladesh Secretariat Reporters' Forum (...