The economy has been in a rough patch since 2022 like never before in the past decade and a half

Every media outlet is already flooded with news about the annual budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year to be placed at the parliament tomorrow

For air conditioner and refrigerator manufacturing industries, the government plans to extend the existing facility to June 2026, according to the finance ministry.

The development comes after Bangladesh Bank relaxed the rules and allowed banks to receive funds from the OBUs amounting to up to 40 percent of their regulatory capital to settle payment obligations.

With an aim to restore macroeconomic stability, reduce inflation, and contain pressure on foreign currency reserves, Finance Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali is going to place a Tk 7,96,900 crore budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year tomorrow.

For instance, the outlay for the health sector was Tk 25,028 crore in 2021-22, representing 4.8 percent of the budget of Tk 518,188 crore. It was five percent in the previous fiscal year when the government spent Tk 21,647 crore under a Tk 460,160 crore budget.

The subsidies and incentive expenditures in the upcoming budget are going to be more than that of the current fiscal year.

The national budget of FY2024-25 is set to be announced at a time when Bangladesh’s economy is going through a difficult phase.

Businesspeople in Bangladesh have called for improving the ease of doing business and reducing the cost of production to establish a conducive trade and investment ecosystem.

The national budget for the fiscal year of 2024-25 is going to be presented in parliament on Thursday with monumental tasks ahead for the government to collect more revenues and contain stubbornly high inflation.

The government has not addressed the stability issue through its fiscal policy for two years in a row although the economy is in turmoil owing to both external and internal pressures. A noted economist, however, thinks it can bring the situation under better control through the budget in the next fiscal year beginning on July 1.

Actual budgetary expenditure

Fighting raging inflation and putting the economy back on track have not been taken seriously as evidenced from the government’s delayed response, which set the scene for one of the worst economic crises in its history and an unprecedented prolonged period of higher consumer prices, said an economist. 

The government is not moving at full throttle in bringing discipline to the banking sector, implementing reforms wholeheartedly, taking measures against syndication, and bringing money launderers under the rule of law, said a top economist.

The government is expanding the size of the national budget every year. However, it has fallen short of attaining its targets over the years, be that in terms of revenue collection or development expenditure.

In FY22, the spending on public services increased to 15 percent of the total actual expenditure, nearly double the rate in FY09. Similarly, spending on the transport and communication sector surged to 12 percent from 4.7 percent in FY09.

The government is thinking about allowing again undisclosed money to be legalised and laundered money to be brought back home through formal channels in the next budget.

The bureaucratic system in the country needs to be dismantled, and the people need to be empowered to prepare a people-friendly budget, said speakers at a seminar yesterday.

Power generation companies, including rental ones, may see an end to a zero-duty benefit on their import of machinery, equipment and spare parts from next fiscal year as the government moves towards generating more revenue curtailing the practice of handing out tax exemptions.

Bangladesh does not have a dedicated nutrition budget. On top of that, ministries don’t utilise the full funds allocated to them for nutrition related activities, said speakers at an event yesterday.