Improving Municipal Finance Through Revenue Generation of Dhaka City: Problems and Potentials

Urban local bodies (ULBs) in developing countries are in dire need of resources not only for investment but also for maintenance of the existing services. The ability of the ULBs in Bangladesh to raise revenues is far too short because of the fact of the over all poverty of the population. The resources of the ULBs are inadequate and infrastructure is poorly constructed. It also failed to make the reluctant inhabitants to pay taxes. ULBs have outstanding dues and poor collection status leaving out the low-income areas. This study looks into the limitation in the Dhaka City Corporation that hampers them from generating sufficient revenue from the various sources. From the findings of the research, it may be concluded that governance of the ULBs need extensive uplift to put the whole system in to track. With meager resources and funding from the government there is a serious need of sustainable municipal finance strategies without further delay. To overcome this situation, the study has put forward some suggestions toward enhancing local initiative in improving municipal finance so that the financial problem could be solved.