The traditional budget for fiscal year 2019-20, proposing an impossible revenue collection target, offers nothing new and will be hard to implement for efficiency lacks, believes the country’s renowned economists.
The size of the budget is normal and, considering the need for increasing government spending in different sectors, it is not too much, said former caretaker government adviser AB Mirza Azizul Islam.
He was addressing a “Post Budget Dialogue FY 19-20” organised by Brac Business School (BBS) of Brac University at BRAC Centre Inn in Dhaka today (Friday, 14 June 2019).
The prime way to collect revenue is through taxation by the National Board of Revenue and the budget aims to collect Tk 3,78,000 crore in revenue, of which the NBR has to get Tk 3,25,600 crore, he said.
“In light of my previous experience, I can bet on the fact that attaining it will be impossible,” said Islam, a visiting professor at Brac University.
Some 22 percent of the population lies below the poverty line and in some districts it is 40 to 50 percent but the budget gave no hint on how to reduce it, he said.
“Whether this budget will benefit the nation in the long run remains to be seen,” said another former caretaker government adviser, Dr Akbar Ali Khan, at the event.
He pointed out some weaknesses in the budget including the absence of banking sector reform proposals, ways to address rising default loans and ways to provide just prices for produce and ensure good governance.
Khan, a BBS professor, also takes its 10 percent growth target to be a fairytale.
Former Bangladesh Bank governor Salehuddin Ahmed says the budget was traditional with nothing new. The BBS professor also criticised its attempt to appease everyone.
Terming budget implementation as the Achilles heel, he said product prices just rise in Bangladesh but never decrease. He said private sector investment had remained stagnant, for which employment was not increasing.
He, however, lauded the budgetary allocation proposal for young entrepreneurs and widening of social safety net.
Mominul Islam, managing director and CEO of IPDC Finance Limited, also spoke at the program as a special guest and a question-answer session involving students was later held.