The proposed national budget for the 2019-2020 fiscal year will only benefit the high-income people, Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, distinguished fellow of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), said Friday, reports UNB.
“This isn’t a budget for the poor. The election manifesto (of Awami League) was that the next budget will be for the poor but it’s not reflected in the one unveiled Thursday,” he said while giving formal reaction to the proposed national budget at a hotel in the city’s Gulshan area.
On Thursday, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal placed a Tk 5,23,190 crore budget, the biggest-ever in Bangladesh’s history, for the next fiscal.
Debapriya noted that the middle-class did not get much importance in the budget even though they are the driving force of the economy. He urged the government to bring transparency in some parts of the proposed budget, which he said “lacks clarity”.
Debapriya noted that the proposed budget is important for three reasons – the 7th five year plan, the Awami League election manifesto and SDG implementation. “Many sectors didn’t implement even half of the projects under the five-year plan,” he said.
Debapriya noted that the subsidy was higher in agriculture and BPC in the previous budget but the proposed budget has higher subsidy for power and gas.
“Allocation for the agriculture sector is not enough,” he said. The economist noted that there was a decline in the sector’s contribution to the economy. “The contribution of the industrial sector increased. But SME’s contribution was low in the industrial sector.”
He said that one of the key concerning matters is whether prices of oil, fertiliser and daily essentials will increase. The other is the devaluation of money. “Macroeconomics is under pressure. Better steps could have been taken in the proposed budget to improve the situation,” he said.
Speaking about budget deficiency, he said it was below five percent. “The government will take Tk 47,000 crore from the banking sector which can affect the sector further. The government is taking loans on interest – a move that can lead to a precarious situation in future,” the economist said.
“If an independent commission is formed, it’ll ensure transparency in the banking sector, but a vested quarter doesn’t support it and the proposed budget goes in favour of the evil force,” he added.
