FY24 budget is unjust, illogical, if not immoral: Debapriya

Eminent economist Debapriya Bhattacharya has criticised the government's move to impose a minimum charge of Tk 2,000 on individuals for certain government services irrespective of whether they have taxable income or not.

"It is unjust, illogical, if not immoral," said the distinguished fellow of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD).

"If a person is not liable for tax, how can you really tax the person? This is a desperate attempt to increase direct taxes," he added.

Bhattacharya said the commitment to the International Monetary Fund has been embedded in the budget policy framework.

It has been mentioned that the government will go for aligning the exchange rate and go for an interest rate corridor approach, he said.

It will also change the monetary policy approach from credit targeting to inflation and there are also attempts to improve the revenue intake, particularly proposing on direct taxes, he added.