Country’s 53rd Budget To Be Announced Today

The 53rd budget of independent Bangladesh is going to be presented today on Jatiya Sangsad. Finance Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali is set to unveil a proposed Taka 7,96,900 crore national budget for the next fiscal year (FY25) at Jatiya Sangsad (JS) on Thursday (June 6). This is the first budget of the fourth consecutive term of the government led by Awami League president Sheikh Hasina.

He will present the proposed budget in Parliament on Thursday (June 6) at 3 pm.

This will be the country’s 53rd budget and the finance minister will present it at 3:00pm. This budget for FY25 will be the maiden budget of incumbent Finance Minister AH Mahmood Ali.

Finance ministry sources said that the size of the proposed budget will be Tk 7,97000 crore. In the budget, the target of total income including revenue income is Tk 5,41000 crore. The finance minister will have to rely heavily on bank borrowing to meet the projected budget deficit of Tk 2,56000 crore.

Annual Development Program (ADP) of Tk 2,65000 crore has already been approved.

This year's budget speech is titled 'Commitment to building a happy, prosperous, developed and smart Bangladesh'. Budget sessions are usually long. The budget is expected to be passed on June 30.

The size of the budget is not increasing as compared to other years. Previously, the budget size was increasing at a rate of more than 10 percent from one year to another, but this time it is being increased by less than 5 percent. IMF advised to keep the budget small as money resources are scarce.

According to the sources, the inflation target in the next budget is 6.5 percent. The same target was set in the budget of the current financial year. Later though the target was raised to 7.5 percent. However, the inflation rate was more than 9 percent throughout the current financial year. Meanwhile, the growth rate of GDP in the next financial year is estimated at 6.75 percent. In the current financial year, this rate was 7.5 percent, but later it was reduced to 6.5 percent.

According to sources from the Finance Department and the National Board of Revenue, the new customs law will come into effect from today. There is an opportunity to whiten black money subject to paying taxes in the next financial year. 

It is said that the election manifesto given by Awami League before the parliamentary elections held on January 7, is being taken into consideration in formulating the first budget for the fourth consecutive term. The Finance Minister told reporters in his office on May 26 that steps will be taken in the budget for the fiscal year 2024-25 to implement the election manifesto.

The budget is expected to be passed on June 30.