United News of Bangladesh

The Cabinet on Thursday approved the proposed national budget for the fiscal year 2026-27 at a special meeting held at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban. The meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman in the Cabinet Room of the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban, said Prime Minister’s Additional Press Secretary Atikur Rahman Rumon. Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury and other ministers and state ministers attended the meeting that began at about 10:00am and ended around 1:00pm. The finance minister is scheduled to place the proposed budget in Parliament at 3:00pm after it receives presidential authentication. The proposed budget, the first under the current government, has an outlay of Tk 9.38 lakh crore. 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.

Distinguished Fellow of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya on Saturday said as there are no significant initiatives for recovering defaulted loans, bringing back laundered money, or expanding the tax net there’s no real surprise in the proposed budget. Recovering embezzled money, laundered funds and defaulted loans during the previous regime could serve as an innovative source of revenue in the upcoming national budget, he said. He made the remark while speaking at a pre-budget shadow parliament session organised by Debate for Democracy at the Bangladesh Film Development Corporation (BFDC). The upcoming budget seems to follow a conventional path with little scope for newness, he said. Debapriya highlighted both the achievements and challenges of the current government’s economic management. He said the government’s major success in recent times has been reducing the pressure of foreign debt by repaying $5 billion, which had been steadily increasing year after year under the previous government. Speakers call for urgent action on economic corridor to unlock growth potential “The immediate past government left the country in a precarious situation with heavy foreign debt,” he said. Debapriya praised the current government’s efforts in managing the external sector, including remittance inflows, export earnings, debt servicing, reserve accumulation, and exchange rate stability. Criticising the existing development projects, he said that many are overvalued and nearly 40 percent of the expenditures are fictitious. “The projects responsible for financial outflow in the past continue unabated,” he added. Debapriya also stressed the need for proper management of revenue expenditure to build trust among taxpayers. “Our tax system remains inequitable,” he said, adding that while some macroeconomic stability has been achieved in the external sector, private sector investment and domestic economic stability are still far from satisfactory.” Debate for Democracy Chairman Hasan Ahmed Chowdhury Kiron presided over the session.

The parliament passed the Tk 7,61,785 crore national budget for FY 2023-24 -- with the goal of achieving 7.5 percent GDP growth rate and keeping annual inflation at around 6 percent. Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal moved the Appropriations Bill 2023, seeking a budgetary allocation of Tk 11,10,840 crore which was passed by voice votes. READ: Budget will help to build Smart Bangladesh: Speakers Earlier today, the parliament passed the Finance Bill 2023 with some changes. Following the proposal mooted in the House by the Finance Ministry for the parliamentary approval of the appropriation of funds for meeting necessary development and non-development expenditures of the government, the ministers concerned placed justifications for the expenditure by their respective ministries through 59 demands for grants. READ: Proposed budget for FY 2023-24 fails to address macroeconomic challenges, says CPD Earlier, the parliament rejected, by voice votes, a total of only 503 cut-motions that stood in the name of opposition members on 59 demands for grants for different ministries. A total of 10 MPs, including from Jatiya Party and Gono Forum, submitted their cut-motions on the budget. They are: Kazi Firoze Rashid, Rustam Ali Farazi, Mujibul Huq, Fakhrul Imam, Pir Fazlur Rahman, Shamim Haider Patwari, Begum Rawshan Ara Mannan, Hafiz Uddin Ahmed, Mokabbir Khan, and Rezaul Karim Bablu. READ: It’s anti-people designed to plunder national wealth: BNP on National Budget for FY24 They were, however, allowed to participate in the discussion on Commerce Ministry and Health Services Division. Later, Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury quickened the process of passing the demands for grants for different ministries without giving a lunch break. Opposition and independent MPs were present in the House when the Appropriation Bill was passed, and they did not raise objection to passing the bill. READ: Supplementary budget for outgoing fiscal passed in JS Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal on June 1 placed a Tk 7,61,785 crore budget for Bangladesh for FY 2023–24, which is 15.2 percent of the GDP, with a philosophy of ensuring a hunger- and poverty-free, knowledge-based, and 'Smart Bangladesh' by 2041. 7.5% GDP growth rate with an expectation of keeping annual inflation at around 6% The allocation for operating and other sectors is Tk 4,36,247 crore, while Tk 2,63,000 crore will go to the Annual Development Programme.  The total revenue is estimated at Tk 5 lakh crore. Out of this, Tk 4,30,000 crore will be collected by the National Board of Revenue and Tk 70,000 crore from other sources. Read more: Unrealistic budget won’t help overcome economic crisis: Fakhrul The overall deficit in the proposed budget for FY 2023-24 will stand at Tk 2,61,785 crore, which is 5.2 percent of GDP. Out of the total deficit, Tk 1,55,395 crore will be financed from domestic sources and Tk 1,02,490 crore from external sources.

The country is likely to get a Tk 593,314 crore budget for 2021-22 fiscal, Tk 25,314 crore higher than the running one, aiming to face the COVID-19 pandemic challenge and recovering the economy.

The government has chalked out a series of programmes to enter a new era of taxation from 2020-21 FY in the run-up to achieving Vision 2041 and reaching the Sustainable Development Goals 2030. "We must gear up revenue mobilisation and streamline the financial sector of the country," a senior official at the Finance Ministry said. To this effect, he said, the government has no other choice but to set up a strong, functional and transparent Income Tax Department.

Speakers at a webinar urged the government to start the activities of 'The Department of Children’ which was proposed in the new budget.

The private sector, affected during the COVID-19 induced shutdown, did not get priority for sustainable recovery in the proposed budget, economists say.