Ongoing economic challenges will not make it easy to reduce inflation to 6.5 percent in the next fiscal year, said Atiur Rahman, the chairperson of Unnayan Shamannay.

"If the inflation rate can be decreased to the targeted level, it would relieve people from the pressure of inflation," he said during a media briefing today on the proposed budget at the Unnayan Shamannay office.

Rahman, a former governor of the Bangladesh Bank, mentioned that the current inflation rate is nearly 10 percent, which has exacerbated people's problems.

He referred to the devastation caused by Cyclone Remal and the hardships faced by people in the 17 coastal districts, and suggested that the government should allocate special funds in the budget for cash transfers to those affected by the cyclone.