Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal today (Thursday) places 2021-2022 fiscal's proposed national budget with a financial outlay of Tk. 602,880 crore and a 7.2 percent gross domestic product (GDP) growth projection amid Covid-19 pandemic situation across the country.
The theme of the upcoming proposed national budget is 'Priority on lives and livelihoods, tomorrow's Bangladesh'. We hope the government will place the budget for the upcoming fiscal year taking the ongoing and post Covid-19’s devastating impact on all sectors into account. Besides, we also think our government will keep the wheels of the country’s economy moving alongside saving lives by implementing the upcoming budget.
We hope the government will place the budget
for the upcoming fiscal year taking the impact
of Covid-19 on all sectors into account
We have come to know that a massive vaccination of the population for protection against Covid-19 infection will be the major focus of the upcoming budget. Keeping the massive vaccination in mind the revenue target for the next fiscal has been set Tk 389,078 crore, which is 11.02% of the GDP, according to a report. Reportedly, of the total amount, Tk 330,078 crore will be contributed by the NBR.
The trade and business, tourism sector, transportation and restaurant business have been badly affected by the ongoing pandemic. Priority will be given to health, agriculture, food, disaster management and employment in the coming budget to offset the impact of coronavirus in the quickest possible time. There will be Tk 10,000 crore special allocation for facing the impacts of COVID-19 in the budget. The social safety net will be expanded with Tk 125,000 crore which is 30 per cent higher than the current fiscal.
The government has already approved the Annual Development Programme (ADP) involving Tk 225,324 crore for 1,426 projects for the upcoming fiscal year with focus on transport and communications, power, housing, education and health sectors. Therefore, we think the upcoming budget will address the welfare of the people from all walks of life. Also, we hope the new budget will create more avenues for livelihoods to cope with the economy-crippling pandemic.
