foreign aid
Foreign aid for national budget drops: Finance Minister
The foreign assistance for the national budget has declined to US$ 2.23 billion in the current fiscal year from US$ 3.26 billion in the last fiscal year (2021-22).
Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal on Tuesday placed this statistics in Parliament while replying to a scripted question from Awami League lawmaker Morshed Alam (Noakhali-2).
In the written answer, the minister said the government received assistance equivalent to some US$ 3.26 billion from different development partners for the budget in the last fiscal year. But there is a possibility to get the assistance equivalent to US$ 2.23 billion in the current fiscal year.
Also read: 1st quarter performance of FY22-23 budget satisfactory: Finance Minister
Responding to questions from ruling party MPs Kazim Uddin Ahmed (Mymensingh-11), the Finance Minister said there is currently no plan to increase the interest rate on family savings certificates. But the interest rate on savings certificates may be revised considering the investment situation.
In response to a question from Mamunur Rashid Kiran (Noakhali-3), Mustafa Kamal said the National Board of Revenue (NBR) has been working to accomplish 100 percent of the revenue collection target.
The NBR expects that the target will be fully achieved by the end of the fiscal year, he said.
UK’s foreign aid may be suspended for 2 more years under PM Sunak: Reports
According to The Telegraph, the new British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is considering keeping the nation’s foreign aid budget frozen for two more years.
British foreign aid spending is limited to 0.5 percent of national income. Since the country’s public finances had taken a significant hit as a result of the coronavirus pandemic two years prior, the British government reduced its spending on international aid.
By 2024–2025, according to Sunak, who was the finance minister at the time, foreign spending should revert to its previous level of 0.7 percent of GDP.
Read More: Rishi Sunak as UK PM: What are the expectations?
The Telegraph, however, reported that officials are considering extending the cut in foreign aid funding by a further two years, until 2026–2027.
The report also noted that there was room for even larger cuts and the possibility of indexing future foreign aid spending for three years to inflation.
The report is released at a time when the UK is planning expenditure reductions and eliminating tax breaks due to the increasing cost of housing, food, fuel, and heating.
Read More: Rishi Sunak becomes UK's 3rd PM this year by King Charles III
Hasina seeks policy support from US to expand bilateral trade
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday stressed the need for having adequate policy support from the USA government to expand bilateral trade between the two countries.
“It’s important that both the countries provide adequate policy support to further expand bilateral trade,” she said while addressing the virtual launching of the US-Bangladesh Business Council in a pre-recorded video message.
The Prime Minister mentioned that Bangladesh buys a considerable amount of industrial raw materials and consumer items like cotton, soybean and wheat from the United States. “All these items enjoy zero tariff in Bangladesh,” she added.
Regarding development, she said the United States has remained as a strong partner in Bangladesh’s journey towards democracy and development. “It’s [US] the largest destination of our exports, the largest source of foreign direct investment, a longstanding development partner and an important source of technology and training.”
The Prime Minister said while Bangladesh’s dependence on foreign aid has come down substantially, the need for foreign direct investment increased to create jobs for millions of youths.
Also read: Will work together with Bangladesh, global partners against Covid-19 pandemic: Miller
Australia launches review of foreign aid priorities
The Australian government has launched a review of its foreign aid priorities.