He made the remarks in a reaction on budget at the Chittagong Circuit House.

The minister said budget has been implemented under the leadership of Sheikh Hasina for the last 11 years. The country has moved forward. Poverty has been reduced to half, and per capita income has more than tripled.

“We’ve become one of the countries in the world with the highest GDP growth rate. This year's budget will also be implemented,” he said.

Mahmud said Prime Minister Hasina has set a growth target of 8.2 percent in this budget.

“I saw in newspapers that this target is being criticised as too high. A few days ago, the IMF said that if the outbreak of the coronavirus suddenly disappears and if the global depression ended, Bangladesh's economic growth rate could exceed 9 percent. If the IMF's estimate is considered, the 8.2 percent growth target is certainly not ambitious,” said the minister.

The nation moves forward, he said.

Also read: Budget traditional, lacks guidelines to address Covid-19 issues: CPD

Noting that the finance minister has announced a bold budget led by the prime minister even in the midst of the coronavirus epidemic, the Awami League joint general secretary said, "We are seeing a lot of comments and analysis in the newspapers."

“There are some identified experts, they always give opinions. As we have seen for the last 11 years, whenever budget is announced, the CPD has never been able to appreciate it. Every time they say, the budget is ambitious, not feasible. But for the last 11 years, 93 to 96 percent of the budget has been implemented every time,” he said.

The Budget

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal on Thursday set out an ambitious target of 8.2 percent growth for the next fiscal with a comprehensive plan that includes four main strategies.

Also read: Budget implementation big challenge for govt: Economists

"The Asian Development Bank has made a forecast of 7.8 percent growth this year based on our performance in the first eight months. But unfortunately, all calculations about the global economy have turned upside down under the impact of the COVID-19 global pandemic," he said.

Kamal placed a Tk 568,000 crore budget proposal in Parliament, which is 17.9 percent of the GDP.

The revenue collection target for the coming fiscal year has been set at Tk 378,000 crore.