Make budget tight, control inflation

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday directed the finance ministry to formulate a contractionary budget for the upcoming fiscal year to control inflation.

During a meeting with officials from the finance ministry, Bangladesh Bank, and the National Board of Revenue (NBR) at the Gono Bhaban, PM Hasina mentioned that developed countries like the United States and Japan increased their policy interest rates to curb inflation and suggested similar measures in Bangladesh.

She asked for prioritising pledges made in the government's election manifesto while preparing the next budget and directed the continuation of the existing austerity measures for different ministries and divisions.

The PM also directed the NBR to broaden its tax net rather than putting pressure on taxpayers and to take various measures to increase revenue collection.

She discouraged the import of luxury items and expressed dissatisfaction over the import of items like plastic flowers.

Hasina asked the finance ministry to consider increasing the number of beneficiaries of social safety net programmes.

According to meeting sources, finance ministry officials assured the premier that pressure on the country's foreign currency reserves would ease and inflation would fall starting in December.

The meeting saw a presentation on the next budget prepared by the finance ministry.

According to the presentation, the government plans to design a Tk 7,96,900 crore outlay in the new budget with a focus on tight spending as economic headwinds are expected to persist.

The draft budget is 4.6 percent bigger than the original budget for the current fiscal year.

The next Annual Development Programme (ADP) allocation will be Tk 2,65,000 crore, an increase of 0.76 percent.

Finance Minister AH Mahmood Ali, State Minister for Finance Waseqa Ayesha Khan, Finance Secretary Khairuzzaman Mozumder, Bangladesh Bank Governor Abdur Rouf Talukder, and NBR Chairman Abu Hena Md Rahmatul Muneem attended the meeting.