A group of non-government organisations have called upon the government to reconsider the budgetary allocation for people with disabilities.
Opposition lawmakers yesterday came down heavily on the government for its failure to ensure fair price of paddy and check money laundering, soaring loan defaults and black money.
The new VAT law may increase cost of many goods and services and hurt consumers, analysts said yesterday.
The budgetary measures for fiscal 2019-20 will favour the beneficiaries of “economic misrule” and hurt the middle and lower mid-income groups, the Centre for Policy Dialogue said yesterday.
Terming the proposed national budget “highly ambitious”, the BNP yesterday said the people of the country would not accept the budget as it would increase inequality.
Leading business associations yesterday urged the government to ensure easy, hassle-free and business-friendly implementation of the new VAT law.
At a time when the government should be encouraging virtual businesses, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal has proposed 7.5 percent value-added tax on them in his budget for fiscal 2019-20, making their services dearer.
Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) yesterday strongly condemned the proposed amnesty for black money in the budget for fiscal 2019-20 and termed it “unconstitutional, immoral and discriminatory”.
THE BIG FOUR
In a push to widen the social safety net, the government decided to include all registered differently abled people, and more marginalised and vulnerable ones under its protection.
The government has resorted to deficit financing, largely through bank borrowing and sale of high-cost savings certificates, increasing the interest payment burden on its shoulders and fuelling inflation.
Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal yesterday proposed doubling the subsidy for the gas sector to Tk 9,600 crore for 2019-20, from Tk 4,500 crore in the previous year.
All eyes were on fever-stricken Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal as he stepped into parliament to unveil his maiden national budget yesterday.
More than a year ago, when Mohammad Zayed graduated from a university college in the capital, his family started expecting that he would soon take over the financial responsibility.
The new budget is growth-friendly and has set ambitious goals but shied away from addressing the key challenges confronting the economy, said a number of economists in their immediate reactions.
It has become a tradition for the budget to be increased every year by 17-18 percent so this year, there was no reason to expect this to change. Generally, Bangladesh’s budget has maintained a sectoral balance in its stance, giving priority to education, agriculture, infrastructure and social sector expenditures.
The cost of mobile phone usage is going up from tonight as the national board of revenue has already sent statuary regulatory order (SRO) to all mobile phone operators soon after placing the proposed national budget for 2019-20 fiscal in the parliament.
Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal, in his budget speech, has projected the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate at 8.2 per cent in the proposed national budget for 2019-20 fiscal.
Find the pie charts for the national budget for fiscal year 2019-20 that Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal has placed in the parliament.
