Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal said the next budget will serve as a bulwark against the Covid-19 fallout which will help save people's lives and the country’s economy.
The minister made the remarks while talking to The Business Post over the phone regarding Thursday’s (June 11) 2020-21 fiscal year budget announcement.
“We are going to place the budget in parliament in a critical period when people's lives are of utmost importance and the budget’s main priority is to keep people alive”, the minister said.
On Thursday (June 11), he will present a budget proposal with an outlay of Tk568,000 crore for the fiscal year 2020-21 in parliament.
This is going to be Mustafa Kamal's second budget and the country’s 50th.
The minister said the next budget will serve as the driving force for the country's economy which accommodates immediate, short, medium and long term plans under incentive packages as a step towards overcoming the negative impact the country faced due to the coronavirus outbreak, he added.
“We have to face the situation with patience and courage in this critical period. This is a nation of heroes. This nation has faced many catastrophes and went through many moments of crisis but has always overcome these calamities only through the combined force of the people”, he further said.
Like the rest of the world, the pandemic has wreaked havoc on the country’s economy and needs a jump-start, and this next budget is designed to do so, he said.
According to documents collected for revenue collection, the finance division has estimated revenue of Tk3,78,003 crore for the next financial year.
The budget deficit will rise to Tk189,997 crore which is six percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product and 33.45 percent of the total budget.
To meet the deficit, the government will borrow Tk109,980 crore from domestic sources, includingTk84,980 crore from the banking sector, Tk20,000 crore from savings certificates and Tk5,000 crore from other sources.
The government will also borrow Tk76,004 crore in credit from external sources.
Due to the coronavirus epidemic, the most talked-about sector, health, is getting an allocation of Tk29,246 crore, an increase of 23.44 percent from the revised budget allocation for the outgoing financial year.
The agriculture sector is getting Tk29,983 crore, including an additional subsidy of Tk9,500 crore.
