United News of Bangladesh

Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury is now unveiling the national budget – with an outlay of Tk 9.38 lakh crore – for the fiscal year 2026-27 in Parliament. He began presenting the annual financial statement at 3:05pm on Thursday after obtaining permission from Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad. Diplomats and distinguished citizens are attending the budget session. Invited guests are listening to the finance minister’s budget speech from the VVIP and other visitors’ galleries. Cabinet approves proposed national budget for FY27 Cabinet Secretary Nasimul Ghani, Chief of Army Staff General Waker-Uz-Zaman, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral M Nazmul Hassan, Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Hasan Mahmood Khan, Attorney General Ruhul Quddus Kazal, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister ABM Abdus Sattar, and Additional Press Secretary to the Prime Minister Atikur Rahman Rumon sat in the front row of the gallery to the Speaker’s right. Economist Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, Dhaka South City Corporation Administrator Abdus Salam, Dhaka North City Corporation Administrator Safiqul Islam Khan, along with other senior government officials, were also present. Foreign diplomats, including British High Commissioner in Dhaka Sarah Cooke and European Union Ambassador Michael Miller, along with ambassadors and high commissioners from various countries, sat in the gallery to the Speaker’s left. Prime Minister’s advisers Ismail Zabihullah, Mahdi Amin, Zahed Ur Rahman, Rehan Asif Asad and SM Ziauddin Hyder were also in the VVIP gallery. Finance Minister enters House with budget briefcase Earlier, President Mohammed Shahabuddin authenticated the budget around 2:30pm, said his Press Secretary Sarwar Alam. Before that, the Cabinet approved the proposed national budget at a special meeting held at the Cabinet Room of the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban with Prime Minister Tarique Rahman in the chair. The finance minister, and other ministers and state ministers attended the meeting that began at about 10:00am and ended around 1:00pm. This year’s budget is expected to focus on controlling inflation, generating employment, encouraging investment, strengthening economic stability and supporting lower-income and disadvantaged groups, according to the finance minister and government officials. The government has set an overall revenue mobilisation target of Tk 6.95 lakh crore to finance the expenditure programme. Of the total revenue target, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) is expected to collect Tk 6.04 lakh crore. Another Tk 25,000 crore is projected to come from non-NBR tax sources, while non-tax revenue receipts are estimated at Tk 66,000 crore. A significant portion of the budget will be spent on debt servicing. The government has allocated Tk 1.27 lakh crore for interest payments, including Tk 1.05 lakh crore for domestic debt and Tk 22,500 crore for foreign loans. The proposed budget projects an overall deficit of Tk 2.43 lakh crore. To finance the deficit, the government plans to borrow Tk 1.09 lakh crore from external sources and Tk 1.12 lakh crore from the banking system. The remaining Tk 15,000 crore is expected to be mobilised through national savings certificates. With this, the BNP government is going to present a national budget in Parliament after for 20 years following its return to power with a majority in the 13th parliamentary election. The last budget presented by a BNP government was for FY 2006-07, when then Finance Minister M Saifur Rahman placed the budget in Parliament during the administration of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia. Bangladesh’s budget journey began in 1972 when Finance Minister Tajuddin Ahmad presented the country's first national budget worth Tk 786 crore. Since then, successive governments have used the annual budget as the principal instrument for implementing economic and development policies. The FY27 budget comes in a changed political environment following the July 2024 uprising and the subsequent political transition that paved the way for the 13th parliamentary election and the formation of an elected government. Last year, the budget was presented outside Parliament by Finance Adviser Salehuddin Ahmed of the interim government, led by Prof Muhammad Yunus, and broadcast through state-run Bangladesh Television (BTV). The proposed new budget is expected to be passed by Parliament on June 30 and will take effect from July 1, the first day of the new fiscal year.