Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed has said the primary goal of the proposed national budget for 2025-2026 fiscal year is to improve the living standard of people.
He made the remarks while addressing the post-budget press conference held at Osmani Memorial Auditorium in capital on Tuesday a day after unveiling Tk7.90 trillion budget.
“We have prioritised making everyday life more comfortable for citizens — improving the standard of living, not just economic statistics,” Dr Salehuddin said.
He said that the budget is both people-friendly and business-friendly as it focuses on economic inclusion rather than growth for the few.
“We didn’t try to radically transform everything overnight. That’s not realistic. Instead, we’ve laid out a budgetary plan for the next three years,” he said.
As the nation adjusts to a new economic direction, the FY26 budget appears to mark a transition from political rhetoric to economic responsibility as it focused on sustainable progress and public welfare.
The post-budget briefing was also attended by
Planning Adviser Wahiduddin Mahmud, Power and Energy Adviser Muhammad Fauzul Kabir Khan, Commerce Adviser Sheikh Bashir Uddin, NBR Chairman Abdur Rahman Khan, Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr. Ahsan H Mansur, Home and Agriculture Adviser Lieutenant General (retd) Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, among others, attended the press briefing.
While addressing, Planning Adviser Wahiduddin Mahmud said the proposed national budget is highly realistic and fully implementable.
He noted that while public demand remains high, structural limitations continue to hinder revenue collection.
“This budget is more grounded in reality than other budgets placed in the past,” said Wahiduddin. “Our demands are many, but we cannot collect sufficient revenue due to structural issues in the economy.”
Speaking about the concerns raised by critics who labelled the budget as ‘conventional,’ the adviser said, “We have increased allocations for social sectors like education and health. A budget is not static — it's part of a continuous process.”
He further noted that the development projects included in the new budget are largely carryovers from the previous government.
“Earlier, many projects were approved without considering funding sources. Of the current projects, around 20-30 are new; the rest are ongoing.”
“We are now prioritising essential projects and discarding unnecessary ones. Once a project begins, it will not be abandoned midway. We are not aiming for a long list of mega projects — only three have been retained due to their national importance: Khulna-Mongla railway line, Matarbari deep seaport, and improvement of rural road infrastructure.”
