Finance Minister AHM Musatafa Kamal has declared an incentive package of Tk 1,000 crore to help the tourism industry to recover from the pandemic losses. In his budget speech in Parliament on Thursday, the minister said the country’s tourism industry was hit hard during the COVID-19 pandemic. He said 10 government-funded projects are under implementation for the development of potential areas for tourism in Bangladesh. Also read: Budget FY23: Women, children get higher allocation Besides, the government has taken steps to set up Sabrang Tourism Park, Naf Tourism Park, and Sonadia Eco-Tourism Park in Cox’s Bazar district with international standards accommodation and recreational facilities to enrich the tourism sector. “To achieve economic prosperity through the development and growth of tourism, steps are being taken for the physical infrastructure development and beautification of the tourist areas of different districts and upazilas by branding 36 districts having tourism potential,” said Kamal. Documentaries and television commercials are being prepared featuring Bangabandhu’s contribution to the development of the tourism industry and for the preservation of the attractive spots where there are precious memories of the Liberation War, he added.

The allocation for the Defence Ministry in the proposed budget for fiscal year 2022-23, has been increased by Tk 2669 crore, a  7.1 percent increase, from that of the outgoing fiscal 2021-22. Tk 40,360 crore has been proposed for the Defence Ministry and other services under the ministry in the national budget for the 2022-23 fiscal year. Read: Budget FY23: Education allocation to rise by less than 2 pc of GDP An amount of Tk 37691 crore was proposed for the Defence Ministry and other service under the ministry in the national budget for the 2021-22 fiscal year. Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal made the announcement during his budget speech at the National Parliament Bhaban on Thursday. Besides, he also proposed Tk 45 crore for Armed Forces Division which was almost unchanged from the outgoing fiscal’s budget.  

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Thursday said the new national budget was prepared only to widen the scope for the ruling party leaders and activists to plunder more public money in the coming year. “Every year we come up with our reaction to the budget, but we don’t want to give any reaction to it this time…who’re placing this budget? They’re not representatives of the people,” he said. Speaking at a council of Dhaka north city unit BNP’s four wards under Kafrul Thana, Fakhrul also said the budget for the fiscal year 2022-2023 was placed by those who have no right to present it. “They (govt) prepare the budget only for indulging in looting. They make a calculation on how much money they will plunder in the future. By unveiling a Tk 678,064 crore budget (for the financial year 2022-2023) they will now make an estimate on how much they'll plunder from there,” he observed. Read: Quader welcomes new budget as pro-poor, business-friendly The BNP leader said he is unwilling to talk much about the national budget as it will only widen the scope of plundering for the ruling party leaders and activists. Fakhrul said the entire nation is passing through a bad time as those who usurped power and snatched all the rights of the country’s people. “Not only that they established a reign of plundering in the country.” Earlier in the day, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal unveiled the Tk 678,064 crore national budget for the financial year 2022-2023 with a special focus on economic recovery from uncertainties caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war. This is the country’s 51st budget and the 23rd of the Awami League government in five terms. Read: Universal Pension Scheme from new fiscal year The proposed expenditure for the new fiscal year is 14.24 per cent higher than the revised budget for the outgoing fiscal year (Tk 5,93,500 crore).  That amount of money is equal to 15.23 per cent of the total GDP of Bangladesh. The size of the budget given by Kamal in the outgoing fiscal year was 12 per cent more than the revised budget in the fiscal year 2020-21 and was equal to 16.4 per cent of GDP.  

With an apprehension that Covid-19 can spread further anytime, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal proposed Tk 5,000 crore as block allocation in the next fiscal year to implement the emergency measures to combat the pandemic. While presenting the proposed budget for the FY2022-2023 fiscal year, the finance minister said the government is laying emphasis on how to combat such a complex pandemic situation as the country experienced during Covid-19. “To this end, the government is planning to develop the capacity to respond and control such pandemic quickly, conduct research in this sector and develop the institutional capacity, technical knowledge and skilled manpower to up-scale the overall capacity,” he said. Read: Budget FY23: Education allocation to rise by less than 2 pc of GDP In the last two fiscal years, Kamal said a sufficient budget has been allocated to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to implement the important activities to combat COVID-19 and for the development of the health sector. To meet any emergency expenditure, he said they earmarked Tk. 10 thousand crores as block allocation in the outgoing fiscal year. “Although the infection of COVID-19 coronavirus has reduced drastically, the fear of its reappearance still persists as the outbreak of COVID-19 is still evident in many countries. Bearing in mind the COVID-19 related health hazards, we are also proposing a block allocation of Tk 5 thousand crores for the coming fiscal year,” the minister said. He said some of the projects taken in the last fiscal year to combat COVID-19 will continue in the next fiscal year. Read: Budget FY23: Kamal says e-commerce business boomed, but riddled with scams Kamal said COVID-19 Emergency Response and Pandemic Preparedness’ project is being implemented with support from the World Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), and the ‘COVID-19 Response Emergency Assistance’ project is being implemented with the help of the Asian Development Bank. “The Prime Minister has given the directives to establish a high-quality institute in the country for manufacturing all types of vaccines including that for coronavirus. Accordingly, the 100 percent state-owned Essential Drugs Company has taken steps to set up a state-of-the-art vaccine manufacturing plant at Gopalganj, with financial and technical assistance from the Asian Development Bank,” he mentioned. The minister said they will eventually transform this plant into an international standard vaccine research and production center so that the country does not rely on overseas sources for vaccines.

With ebbing Covid-19 pandemic under control the Parliament on Thursday got back its old atmosphere when the finance minister presented his budget proposals for FY2022-23.  Though the Covid health protocols were still in force the members looked relaxed as they listened and watched the audio-visual presentation of the national budget.  Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal presented the budget for the fiscal year 2022-23 in Parliament in the afternoon.  This is the 51st budget of Bangladesh and the fourth budget of him. Kamal placed a proposed budget of Tk 678,064 crore for the new financial year with the challenge of reversing the lost pace of development due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The proposed expenditure for the new fiscal year is 14.24 per cent higher than the revised budget of the outgoing fiscal year (Tk 5,93,500 crore).  That amount of money is equal to 15.23 per cent of the total GDP of Bangladesh. The size of the budget given by Kamal in the outgoing fiscal year was 12 per cent more than the revised budget in the fiscal year 2020-21 and was equal to 16.4 per cent of GDP. Earlier, after approval of the budget at a special Cabinet meeting at the parliament building, President Abdul Hamid signed it for authentication.  Also read:Budget FY23: Prices to go up and down He arrived at the Parliament House from Bangabhaban. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Finance Minister Mustafa Kamal walked together from the Prime Minister's Office at the Parliament building to the House.  The finance minister was carrying a maroon coloured briefcase. The Russia-Ukraine war has destabilized world markets in the wake of the COVID-19 epidemic.  The rising US dollar is putting pressure on the economy as food and fuel prices continue to rise.  The World Bank warns that many countries could fall into recession as inflation rises. The finance minister has prepared this year's budget plan to take the country back to the pre-pandemic development trend despite various pressures. Usually the day of presentation of the budget wears a festive mood throughout the parliament building.  But the picture of the last two years was different.  The entrance to the parliament building area was restricted.  And in the main building a small number of officers and employees  performed their duties. Even in the session, the mood of that festival was not seen for two years.  There were strict warnings everywhere.  Public gatherings were controlled to avoid infection. It has been a different picture this time. Nearly all the seats in the House were occupied by lawmakers unlike last year’s turnout of about 160 members in Parliament. However, this time the number of MPs in the session room was much higher than the last two times.  For the last two years, the members of the Legislative Assembly were listed and placed in the Parliament.  This time all the MPs who got negative certificates in the Coronavirus test were in the House. There were 260 legislators in the parliament chamber.  The MPs, however, were all wearing masks. Sanitizers were kept at all the entrances including the MP lobby starting from the entrance to the parliament building.  Everyone entering the Parliament building has to take a temperature test for fever.  President Hamid sat in the gallery in his designated place and watched the budget presentation.  At the beginning of the session, the speaker informed the Parliament about the presence of the president. The 'Covid Negative' certificate is mandatory for entry into the budget session which started on June 5. Also read: Budget FY23: Laundered money to be legalized by 7-15 pc tax During the last two years of the budget session, journalists were not allowed to enter the session hall.  Last year, permission was granted to enter the parliament building only.  This time there is no such restriction. The finance minister took 48 minutes to deliver his budget speech in 2020.  Last year, the budget was presented for more than an hour, but he read it for 15 minutes only.  The rest of the time his budget proposal was presented in PowerPoint and audio-visual presentations. This time too he presented the budget in audio-visual presentation with the welcome speech with the permission of the speaker.  At the beginning, the finance minister spoke for about five minutes.  At the end he stood and talked for about two minutes.  In all, he spoke for only seven minutes in a budget presentation of 2 hours and 10 minutes. The finance minister stood up and prepared to present the budget.  Later the speaker said he can sit and read if he wants.  Mustafa Kamal started by reciting verses from the Qur'an. After the presentation of the budget, the finance minister raised the Finance Bill-2022 in the Parliament.  The speaker then adjourned the House till 12 noon on June 12. As in the last two years, no guests were invited to witness the budget presentation. Earlier, diplomats and important people of the state would be present during the presentation of the budget.   Kamal arrived at the parliament building with a maroon briefcase at 11:30 am to complete all the formalities before presenting the budget. According to the decision of the Working Advisory Committee of the Parliament, after the presentation of the budget, there will be a general discussion on the supplementary budget for the financial year 2021-22.  The supplementary budget will be passed on June 13.  After that, the members of parliament will discuss the budget of the new financial year. The finance bill for the new fiscal year will be passed on June 29.  The budget will be passed on June 30 and it will be effective on the first day of July.  Although the budget session has been short for the last two years, this time Parliament will sit on all days except Friday and Saturday.  Last year, the Parliament session lasted 12 working days.  The previous year saw the shortest session in history with nine working days. Every year, budget documents are distributed to the media personnel from the public relations branch on the seventh floor of the parliament building.  Last year, budget documents were distributed in the lower tunnel in the South Plaza of Parliament.  This year, like in 2020, the documents were given from the media center outside the parliament building.  The finance minister will answer various questions at a customary post-budget press conference at Osmani Auditorium at 3 pm on Friday. 

Women empowerment and child development sector will receive an allocation of Tk 4,290 crore, for fiscal year 2022-2023 which was Tk 4,190 crore in outgoing fiscal year 2021-2022. Proposing the allocation, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal said they have given importance to five areas in the forthcoming budget to implement the strategic objectives of the government for women’s empowerment and child welfare. Also read:Budget FY23: Laundered money to be legalized by 7-15 pc tax These include food assistance for vulnerable mothers (VGD) programmes, mother and child benefit programmes on life-cycle basis, child development centres and adolescent empowerment programmes, technical, vocational, income-generating and productive training for women and prevention of violence against women. Regarding women empowerment, he said they will give importance to the skill development of young women, especially in professional and technical fields. “We will consider on a priority basis activities such as adopting effective and robust institutional strategies for gender equality and women empowerment, allocating adequate funds and manpower to bring the gender issue into the mainstream and increasing skilled manpower in technology.” “In continuation of the 7th Five Year Plan, we are implementing various activities for establishing a gender inclusive society and empowering women following the strategies worked out in the 8th Five Year Plan,” he said. Besides, micro-credit activities are being carried out to improve the socio-economic condition of rural poor and helpless women for poverty alleviation and affording opportunities for self-employment. “Loan disbursement is going on in 488 upazilas of 64 districts on a revolving basis with the allotted funds,” said Kamal. In child development, they are also giving importance in the forthcoming budget on providing essential healthcare, ensuring availability of food and nutrition, ensure access to education, training and development for the children. Necessary steps will be taken to impart healthcare knowledge among adolescents. “We are taking into account the nutrition-sensitive approach and the priority of poor families including children in social security programmes,” he added.

The Education and Technology sector get 5 per cent higher allocation in the proposed national budget for 2022-23 fiscal year, placed by Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal in Parliament on Thursday. The allocation was increased to Tk 99,978 crore from Tk 94,878 crore in the budget for 2021-22 fiscal year. The allocation is 14.7 per cent of the total proposed budget. However, the allocation for only education except technology is Tk 81,449 crore in the 2022-23 fiscal year increasing from Tk 71,974 crore in the 2021-22 fiscal year. The allocation against education still remains less than 2 percent of the country’s GDP. Read: Budget FY23: Kamal says e-commerce business boomed, but riddled with scams In the proposed budget, Tk 31,761 crore was allocated against the Primary and Mass Education Ministry, while Tk 39,961 crore against the Secondary and Higher Education Division, Tk 9,727 against Technical and Madrasa Division, Tk 16,613 crore against the Science and Technology Ministry and Tk 1,916 crore against the ICT Division. In the budget speech, the finance minister said the government is relentlessly working to build Sonar Bangla as envisaged by the Father of the Nation by giving the highest importance to the education sector and has adopted education as one of the main strategies for development.  He said the government has taken special initiatives in the education sector to compensate the loss during the Covid-19 pandemic. Read: Budget FY23: Kamal sees rising inflation as a major challenge “Our education programme was disrupted since the first week of March 2020 due to the spread of coronavirus infection. However, the government took various steps to continue the academic schedule by keeping the education activities free from the negative effects of the pandemic,” he said.

Finance Minister AHM Mustaf Kamal has emphasized on agricultural modernization in a bid to enhance food production and easing labour dependency in this sector. The government has been providing farmers up to 50–70 per cent subsidies on agro-machinery, he said in his audio-visual budget speech in Parliament on Thursday.  He said about 71,502 of such machinery have been distributed including combined harvesters, reapers, clippers, and power tillers since 2010. This has helped the farmers cope with agricultural labour scarcity and lower their production costs. Also Read: Finance Minister starts unveiling Tk 678,064 cr national budget Moreover, “we have taken up a project at a cost of Tk3,020 crore titled ‘‘Mechanization of Agriculture Work through Integrated Management’ which has targeted to distribute 51,300 units of agro-machinery of 12 categories between 2020-2025,” the minister said. Synchronized cultivation has been introduced to take the maximum benefits of farm machinery by transplanting rice seedlings and harvesting in a synchronized manner. 

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal listed six major challenges including containing inflation and enhancing domestic investment for the fiscal year 2022-2023 as he unveiled the budget in an –audio-visual format fully for the first time on Thursday.    Financing additional subsidy required for the increased price of gas, power and fertilizer in international markets and utilizing funds available through foreign assistance and ensuring timely completion of high priority projects are also listed as the challenges based on discussions, proposals and analysis. The finance minister said ensuring timely completion of projects in education and health sectors; increasing collection of local Value Added Tax and raising the number of individual tax-payers and maintaining stability in the exchange rate of taka and keeping foreign exchange reserves at a comfortable level are also among the major challenges. Kamal expressed his optimism that Bangladesh will be able to return to the path of development in the next fiscal year by effectively addressing the adverse situation arising from the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Also read: Budget FY23: Power and energy receive reduced allocation of Tk. 26,066 crore While placing the national budget for the fiscal year – 2022-2023 on Thursday, he told parliament that they had brought back the country’s economy into the mainstream by overcoming the Covid-19 pandemic under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The priority of this year’s budget is to improve the livelihood of people at all levels, continue with uninterrupted economic development and employment generation, and contain inflation in parallel to addressing economic effects originated from COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine conflict, said the finance minister. “The resilience of our economy depends on the strength of bouncing back by the communities combined with bold and courageous leadership,” he said. Kamal said they have to be very pragmatic in addressing these challenges as any failure to address them properly may destabilize the macroeconomic stability. “Our major strategy would be to enhance the supply while reducing the growth in demand. Therefore, import-dependent and less important government expenditures will be stopped or reduced,” he said. Kamal said the pace of implementation of the low-priority projects will be lowered while enhancing the implementation of high and medium priority projects. He said the sales price of fossil fuel, gas, electricity and chemical fertilizers will be adjusted gradually and on a small scale. “The automation process regarding tax collection will be expedited with a view to gearing up revenue mobilization activities and VAT and income tax coverage will be expanded. Import of luxury and dispensable goods will be restrained and under/over-invoicing will be cautiously monitored. The exchange rate of Taka against the US dollar will be kept competitive,” Kamal said.