The budget and people’s aspirations
“This year’s budget will reflect the aspirations of the people of all classes and professions. The budget will be the same as in the past, but the government will have to pay attention to some important sectors. The government will also consider the current global economic recession while formulating the budget.”President of parliamentary standing committee on commerce ministry AHM Mostafa Kamal (Lotus Kamal) said this on a TV talk show titled ‘Tritiya Matra’ on Channel i on Thursday night. The show was anchored by Zillur Rahman.In response to a query of the anchor, Kamal said, “This year’s budget will be better than the last four years. During the previous fiscal years, the budgets were formulated under pressure. It will depend on demand and supply whether the volume of the budget would be big or small.”
He said, “Instability in the local and international politics will be considered while formulating the budget. The government will formulate the budget considering the people of every profession including rickshaw puller, teacher, government official, garment worker and day-labourer. I cannot understand why the finance minister expresses frustration over budget.”AHM Kamal said, “The government will pay importance to some sectors. These are garment, electronics, industries, poultry, Padma Bridge and education sector. When we came to power the annual revenue collection was Tk 49,000 crore; whereas at present annual revenue collection is Tk 1,12,000 crore. Revenue collection rate is increasing every year.”He also said, “We have to catch the tax dodgers. Some NBR officials are responsible for this tax dodging. But all officials are not dishonest, a few are. National revenue is the main source of income. Steps have to be taken against the tax dodgers.”
Kamal said, “Budget is being implemented every year. There is no negative impact in implementing the budget. We have done well in economy during the last four fiscals. Inflation rate has decreased to 7 percent from 9.5 percent. Export volume has increased by 7 percent. Within a very short time Bangladesh will supersede Europe. When the government came to power per head income was $476, which has increased to $900. Remittance has also increased.”About the political instability, Kamal said, “Political instability is of two kinds. One is planned and the other is natural. At present, country’s economy is being damaged through creating political instability in a planned way. Factories and industries of the country are being destroyed through enforcing hartals.”
He said, “The government has to provide subsidy to some important sectors. Successes have been achieved in agriculture and industrial sectors. But the government is continuously providing subsidy to the power sector. The power sector gets Tk 20,000 crore from the budget. It is true there were some irregularities during last year. Some organisations like Hallmark Group or Bismillah Group have eaten up a portion of the budget. These corruptions could have been prevented if media had played a powerful role like today.”
