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Parliament on Monday passed the Tk 7,61,785 crore national budget for the fiscal year 2023-24, with an aim to keep continuing the government's ongoing development and achieve a higher growth target.
As Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal tabled the budget, it was passed by voice votes in the House with Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury in the chair. The budget will be effective from July 1.
On June 1, Kamal placed the budget with the theme "Towards Smart Bangladesh Sustaining the Development Achievements in a Decade and a Half."
This budget has kept the GDP (gross domestic product) growth target at 7.5 per cent. While curbing inflation poses a major challenge to the government in FY24, the average inflation in the budget has been kept at 6 per cent.
The finance minister moved the Appropriations Bill, 2023, seeking a budgetary allocation of Tk 1110840,76,97,000 which was passed by voice vote.
Following the proposal mooted in the House by the finance ministry for the parliamentary approval of appropriation of funds for meeting necessary development and non-development expenditures of the government, the ministers concerned placed justifications for the expenditures by their respective ministries through 59 demands for grant.
Earlier, the House rejected by voice votes a total of 502 cut-motions that stood in the name of opposition members on 59 demands for grants for different ministries.
The highest allocation was Tk 46703,92,00,000 proposed for the Local Government Division, while the lowest was Tk 32,20,00,000 for the President's Office.
A total of 10 MPs from Jatiya Party, Gono Forum, and independent submitted their cut-motions on the budget. They are Fakhrul Imam, Pir Fazlur Rahman, Rustam Ali Farazi, Shamim Haider Patwari, Rawshan Ara Mannan, Mujibul Huq, Mokabbir Khan, Kazi Feroz Rashid, Hafiz Uddin Ahmed, and Rezaul Karim Bablu.
However, they were allowed to participate in the discussion on the commerce ministry and the Health Services Division. Later, Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury applied guillotine to quicken the process of passing the demands for grants for different ministries.
On Sunday, the House passed the Finance Bill 2023, bringing some important changes, including scarping of the proposed annual tax payment of Tk 2,000 for every TIN holder.
In the FY24 budget, Tk 4,75,281 crore has been allocated for operating expenditures, while Tk 2,77,582 crore for development purposes. Besides, the GDP size is estimated at Tk 50,06,782 crore and the budget will be 15.2 per cent of the GDP.
The revenue target has been set at Tk 5,00,000 crore, which is Tk 67,000 crore more than the FY23. The government aims to collect Tk 4,30,000 crore through the National Board of Revenue (NBR) and Tk 70,000 crore from other sources.
The budget deficit is Tk 2,61,785 crore which is 5.2 per cent of the GDP. Out of the total deficit, Tk 1,55,395 crore will be financed from domestic sources and Tk 1,06,490 crore from external sources.
