The proposed National Budget FY24 would potentially contribute to building a Smart Bangladesh in line with its main slogan to develop and prosper the entire nation by 2041 by creating a smart economy, said Bangladesh House Building Finance Corporation (BHBFC) chief Professor Dr Md Salim Uddin on Tuesday.
To serve this purpose, the government has placed the largest budget of Tk 7,61,785 in the national parliament, he said, at a seminar titled “Post-Budget Discussion and Seminar on National Budget 2023-24” arranged by the Government Commerce College in Chittagong as the chief guest.
Due to the post-Covid-19 situation and Russia-Ukraine war, the prices of consumer goods have proliferated rapidly, he said, adding that, the abnormal price hike of various capital equipment and raw materials of the industrial sector has violated the supply chain severely.
Moreover, the increase in import costs has led to a rise in inflation as the government has to spend additional dollars to meet the additional import costs, he stated.
“Inflation is estimated at 6 per cent and GDP target at 7.5 per cent in the proposed budget. For this purpose, the government has kept more development allocation in the proposed budget for essentials, public important and nearly completed mega projects like Dhaka-Chittagong Rail Link, Bangabandhu Tunnel, Matarbari Deep Sea Port, Payra Port, Ruppur Nuclear Power Plant.”, Salim Uddin opined.
Besides, Bangladesh Bank recently announced the monetary policy where a 9 per cent interest limit was lifted to reduce the flow of credit to the private sector and achieve the inflation target of 6 per cent in the FY 2023-24, he said.
The biggest challenge of controlling inflation would be possible by implementing the monetary policy and the government's fiscal policy properly, he observed.
The programme was presided over by the college’s Principal Prof Susen Kumar Barua where Vice Principal Prof Md Alauddin Al Azad and Teachers’ Council Secretary, Md Abdur Rahim were present as the special guests, the press release said.
Earlier on June 1, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal presented the Tk7,61,785 crore proposed national budget for the 2023–24 fiscal year in the national parliament with 7.5 per cent GDP growth.
