Three mega projects will get special focus in the upcoming development budget with the view to providing cheaper electricity, easing Dhaka dwellers’ transportation problem and enhancing international trade for Bangladesh.

Low GDP growth demands political stability so as to boost investor confidence

The FY2026 budget must be more than a mere fiscal statement.

Prof Yunus will visit Tokyo from May 28-31. The two countries will also sign at least seven memoranda of understanding.

The budget for fiscal 2025-26 is likely to be smaller than the current year’s outlay, but subsidy spending is expected to remain almost unchanged at Tk 1,15,741 crore.

From horse-drawn carriages to helicopters, weddings in Bangladesh have taken flight -- literally. What was once a luxury reserved for the ultra-rich has become an aspirational trend among the middle class in recent years.

In a move to develop an effective public transport system in the country’s major cities, the interim government may reduce customs duties on the import of public buses.

Planned changes in budget must result in more targeted, impactful interventions

The interim government is likely to introduce a transparent system for social safety net schemes in the upcoming budget, increasing the number of beneficiaries by around 10 lakh while slashing one-third of the existing programmes.

Finance Adviser Salehuddin Ahmed speaks to The Daily Star

For the first time, the planning ministry has used a digital budget planning system to categorise spending based on economic codes

The railway ministry, the power division, and the primary and mass education ministry will see the biggest chop.

Interest payments and subsidies have absorbed nearly half of Bangladesh’s total budget expenditure in the first seven months of the current fiscal year, underscoring growing fiscal stress and raising concerns over public finances.

Controlling inflation should be a top priority for the interim government.

The government is planning a series of measures in the upcoming national budget to alleviate the tax pressure on individuals and businesses, including raising the tax-free income threshold and relaxing certain compliance requirements.

Strengthen budget transparency to build public confidence

Bangladesh’s approach to budgeting for health and education has come under sharp scrutiny, as decades of allocations have primarily gone towards construction. Meanwhile, the core of these sectors, service delivery, has been historically neglected.

Bangladesh’s upcoming national budget, set to be unveiled by the interim government in June, could mark a rare departure from past fiscal cycles.

In a country weighed down by high inflation, dwindling fiscal space and weak investments, now is not the time for illusions.

Bangladesh’s national budget is now shrinking in relative size even as the government struggles to deliver on its development commitments.