Finance minister preparing budget increasing expenditure

Considering the present economic situation and to keep the economic momentum upbeat, the government will increase the size of the budget in the next fiscal year 2023-24, said Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal.

“Risk has to be taken to keep the economy normal and the government will take the risk,” he said while addressing a virtual pre-budget discussion with the editors and senior journalists of electronic and print media on Tuesday.

Bangladesh Bank Governor Abdur Rouf Talukder, National Revenue Board Chairman Abu Hena Md Rahmatul Muneem, Finance Department Senior Secretary Fatima Yasmin, and editors of different newspapers and media outlets took part in the discussion.

The finance minister said, “In the pre-budget discussions, everyone talks about reducing the VAT and tax, but no one talks about how the government’s revenue will increase. The economy cannot be one-way. If the income is not increased, if only spending is reduced, how will the country run? We have to think about the balance of how to increase revenue collection in order to increase expenditure.”

He said, “Before formulating the current budget, many people suggested reducing expenditure; but taking risk the government ultimately announced the budget increasing the expenditure. The government will continue trading on the same path in the next financial year also.”

Kamal called upon the businessmen to allocate more to their CSR fund from the business profit in order to spend for the advancement of the poor.

Notable, the government announced a Tk 6,78,064 crore budget for the current financial year 2022-23 with an aim to maintain ongoing development and achieve higher growth by successfully dealing with the economic situation after the global pandemic.

According to sources from the Ministry of Finance, a Tk 7.5 lakh crore budget is being prepared for the next fiscal year 2023-24.

At the discussion, Financial Express Editor Shamsul Haque Zahid said, “The price of fuel, oil, and gas is decreasing in the international market. So there is scope for adjusting the oil prices. If the price of oil is reduced, this will have a positive impact on the economy.”

He said providing special facilities to big business organisations should be stopped. Rescheduling of large default loans should be stopped by establishing good governance in the banking sector.

He also said that there will be a lot of problems in the media sector if the newspapers are not paid the arrears due from government advertisements.

Naimul Islam Khan, emeritus editor and publisher of Amader Notun Somoy, sought a separate fund to pay the arrears of government advertisement bills to the newspaper.

He said that the irregularities and corruption of various banks should be curbed. There is fear in the public mind about the irregularities in the banking sector in the country. But the banks and authorities concerned are not clarifying the situation. An explanation should be given regarding the condition of the banking sector.

Bangladesh Pratidin Editor Nayeem Nizam said that the corporate tax rate of newspapers is more than the garment sector. The price of newsprint has doubled, and the running costs of newspapers have gone up a lot. The government should take measures so that the newspaper industry does not face any crisis.

Shaikh Siraj, the news editor of Channel i, said, “The economy of the country is surviving despite the Covid pandemic and Ukraine-Russia war based on agriculture. Therefore, the allocation should be increased to advance the agriculture sector.”

“Marginal farmers still do not get direct bank loans, which forces them to take loans from various NGOs at higher interest rates. Direct bank loans have to be provided to farmers at low-interest rates,” he demanded.