Parliament passed the supplementary budget of Tk 13,987.27 crore on Monday for the fiscal 2020-21 to meet the higher expenditures under 19 different ministries and divisions.
Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal placed the supplementary budget in the House on 3 June along with the national budget.
A total of Tk 568,000 crore was allocated in favour of 62 ministries and divisions in the budget of 2020-21 fiscal.
In the supplementary budget, the expenditure for 19 ministries and divisions was increased by Tk 13,987.27 crore while the expenditures for 43 ministries and divisions was reduced by 42,481.87 crore.
As a result, the budget allocations for these ministries and divisions were reduced by Tk 29,017 crore and the total allocation now stands at Tk 538,983 crore.
After criticism from various lawmakers while proposing the cuts in Parliament in response to the demand for sanction, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal said in his remarks in Parliament on Monday, “I am against irregularities and chaos. The hard-earned money of the people of the country will go abroad. We all want these to stop. It is closing. The situation is not the same as before. Earlier, sand used to come in the name of cement. One would come by the name of the other. We reduced under-invoicing, over-invoicing. I will not say it is completely closed. I can't see it in the Newspapers.”
The Finance Minister said “You will see 15 laws in the next six to 12 months to stop these. We will work for reform and we will make new laws.”
He added “We will make arrangements so that banks and financial institutions can work responsibly.”
Different ministries, divisions and institutions sought increased amount under 19 demands for grant. As many as 190 cut-motions were moved by 11 members.
Discussions, however, were held on two cut-motions – on financial institutions division and health services division.
These cut motions were brought by Jatiya Party MPs Kazi Firoz Rashid, Mujibul Huq, Fakhrul Imam, Rowshan Ara Mannan, Shamim Haider Patwary, Liaquat Hossain Khoka, BNP MPs Md Harunur Rashid, Rumin Farhana, Md Mosharof Hosen and Gonoforum MP Mukabbir Khan and Independent MP Md Rezaul Karim Bablu.
However, those cut-motions were rejected by voice votes.
The Local government Division got the highest allocation of Tk 2890.45 crore while the Rural Development and Cooperatives Division the lowest Tk 1.40 crore.
The Prime Minister's Office got Tk 482.03 crore as per the supplementary budget allocation while the Cabinet Division Tk 9.70 crore, the Election Commission Secretariat Tk 79.09 crore, the Financial Institutions Division Tk 205.59 crore, the Planning Division Tk 242.75 crore, IMED Tk 6.74 crore, the Statistics and information Management Division Tk 142.84 crore, the Primary and Mass Education Ministry Tk 1005.15 crore, the Heath Services Division Tk 2850.48 crore, the Housing and Public Works Ministry Tk 489.37 crore, the Religious Affairs Ministry Tk 384.51 crore, the Industries Ministry Tk 565.37 crore, the Textile and Jute Ministry Tk 1905.68 crore, the Fisheries and Livestock Ministry Tk 332.78 crore, the Water Resources Ministry Tk 1039.99 crore, the Transportation and Highways Division Tk 676.62 crore and the Shipping Ministry Tk 676.66 crore.
