Budget fails to address health, poverty, unemployment, CMSMEs issues: analysts at CPD event

The proposed budget for fiscal 2021-22 has failed to address the issues of health, poverty, unemployment and for the Cottage, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (CMSMEs), speakers said today.

Even during such a pandemic time, the allocation in the health ministry was lowered whereas the allocation was needed to be increased to protect the public health and human lives during the severe time of Covid-19, they said at a virtual discussion on budget organised by the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD).

The programme was also attended by minister, member of parliament, business chamber leaders, government high ups and labour leaders.

For instance, the proposed allocation to the health ministry is 0.9 per cent of the GDP and only 5.4 per cent of the total proposed budgetary outlay for the upcoming fiscal year.

Total budget allocation for health has increased only by 12 per cent from Tk 29,247 crore in FY21 to Tk32,731 in FY22, which was lower than the 14 per cent average annual increase in total budget allocation for health between FY11 and FY22.

"Increase in total budget allocation for health in FY22 followed a linear trend line, indicating that the rise was business-as-usual and nothing out of the ordinary, even though the healthcare sector is reeling from the shocks of COVID-19," according to a study by the CPD.

The share of the health sector in ADP FY22 (7.7 per cent) has increased from 6.4 per cent in ADP FY21. However, given the pandemic situation, the increase remains below what is needed, the study said.

It includes only two continuing projects related to Covid-19 titled "COVID-19 emergency response and pandemic preparedness" and "COVID-19 response emergency assistance" co-financed by World Bank and Asian Development Bank.

No new project has been proposed to particularly address Covid-19, said the study of the private think tank.

Also, no Covid-related project was found in the list of 'Unapproved projects without allocation', the CPD said.