The government should focus on restoring macroeconomic stability, containing inflation and keeping the foreign exchange market stable this year, economists said in a webinar today.

The Economic Development Research Organisation (EDRO) organised the webinar titled "Bangladesh Economy and the National Budget of FY 2022-23".

Ahsan H Mansur, executive director of the Policy Research Institute (PRI), said this year the government's main focus should be restoring macroeconomic stability, containing inflation and making the foreign exchange market stable instead of higher GDP growth rate.

If macroeconomic stability restores, then the other development goals will be achieved in the future, he said.

Moreover, it should focus on quality implementation of budget to get better outcome of people's money, he added.

People of all segments are protesting the money whitening opportunity, but the government is adamant though it is not acceptable in any political aspect, said Towfiqul Islam Khan, senior research fellow of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD).

Considering the present flood situation in Sylhet, the social safety net allotment should be increased, he said.

More specifically, allocation for open market sales should increase.

He also recommended widening the tax-free income limit to give a cushion to the middle-income people.

Khan also proposed stopping amnesty to black money and withdrawing value-added tax on laptops.

The priority should be given on bringing macroeconomic stability and inflation control, he added.

Prof Syed Abdul Hamid, a professor of the Institute of Health Economics at Dhaka University, and Md Tanjil Hossain, executive director of EDRO and Associate Professor at the Department of Economics at Jatiya Kabi Kazi Nazrul Islam University, also spoke.