The government saw a budget surplus of Tk 11,865 crore in the first quarter of the current FY due to lower spending
Geysers and room heaters are not just appliances; they bring comfort and warmth to families.
Only 40 percent of social safety net budget catering to poor, vulnerable groups
The health ministry continues to struggle with utilisation of funds allocated in the national budget, like it did in the past few years.
The government is going to unveil a Tk 7,61,785 crore budget for the next fiscal year on Thursday, setting containment of high inflation as a major target.
Even though poor people are struggling to make ends meet amid runaway inflation, the government allocation for social safety net programmes may not increase much in the next fiscal year.
Three issues would be dictating the upcoming fiscal year’s budget, the last of the Awami League government’s present five-year term: the International Monetary Fund’s conditions, the persistently high inflation and next year’s national election.
The record subsidy allocation of Tk 82,745 crore is set to be topped up with another Tk 27,360 crore in the revised budget in the face of demands from ministries even after the notable price hike of gas, electricity and fuel.
While the government is distracted by elections, the financial economy will suffer
Budgeting is perhaps the single most important tool that helps us manage our money wisely during volatile economic times.
The national budget for the next fiscal year will be the third since the start of the Covid-19 crisis in March 2020. Can we expect it to address the current realities, contexts and challenges of Bangladesh?
In a rare show of anger and frustration, some ruling party and opposition lawmakers blasted the finance minister in parliament yesterday for his complete silence on the widespread irregularities in the banking sector during his budget speech.
It is hardly a subject that is discussed in the public domain nowadays, but one recalls “Digital Bangladesh” being the centrepiece of the ruling party's electoral campaign in 2008 and onwards. The aim was to transform the bureaucracy-ridden system, making it faster, more efficient and of course less prone to graft. But such a grandiose mission, till now, remains largely unaccomplished.
Our finance minister has proposed a mega budget of Tk 4,00,266 crore for FY2017-18, of which Tk 1,53,331 crore is earmarked for Annual Development Programme (ADP).
Proposed budget is not for the development of the people, BNP says in its budget reaction.
Finance Minister AMA Muhith says the government plans to introduce pension scheme for the private sector by the end of its tenure in 2019.
I must say that the budget is too ambitious in terms of size. It's 15.5 percent larger than the current FY's initial budget and 29 percent higher than the revised one.
The finance minister proposes changes to duties and taxes on different products, which will result in increase and decrease in their prices.
To ensure deposition of VAT by traders outside district towns, the government has planned to make it mandatory for trading units outside the district towns to use Electronic Cash Register (ECR) and point of sale (POS) system.