BNP for budget to save lives, livelihoods

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party on Tuesday said that the new budget should not be growth-centric but should be based on a three-year action plan giving highest priority to the lives and the livelihoods affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The new budget should be used for restoring the health sector from the point of collapse marked by crises of equipment, doctors, and mismanagement and corruption all around, said BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.

He was speaking in a virtual press conference from his Banani residence in Dhaka.   

Stressing the need for adopting the policy announced by BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia in the Vision 2030, he said that  a 5 per cent GDP allocation should be dedicated to the health sector in place of the current 0.88 per cent.

Noting that the state’s money is the people’s money, he said that initiatives should be specified in the budget to prevent the accumulation of subsidies and incentives at the hands of certain quarters with political blessings.

He recommended the introduction of a new system by combining the monetary and revenue policies in the proposed three-year action plan and thereby addressing the problems of unemployment and falling income.

The BNP leader said that a TK 87,000-crore emergency financial incentive package proposed by the BNP on April 4 to deal with the coronavirus crisis should be taken as a basis for formulating the budget.

Fakhrul said that budgetary allocations should substantially be increased to ensure the basic needs like heath, food, social welfare and education.

He also said that the new budget should have a strategic plan to ensure fair competition among the manufacturers and to create scopes for product diversification.

Noting that a huge number of people became jobless and vulnerable to food insecurity because of the COVID-19 pandemic, he suggested providing cash to the affected people to retain the aggregate demand.   

Fakhrul demanded an allocation, equivalent to 6 to 7 per cent of the GDP, for the social safety net instead of the current 1.01 per cent.

The BNP secretary general sought soft loans to agriculture, poultry and livestock saying that cash incentive should also continue for the readymade garments sector.

The BNP leader asked for 1.5 per cent of the GDP as the allocation for the agriculture and food sectors while 0.73 per cent for industry.

He suggested an active monetary policy to ensure cash flow on the market.

Fakhrul called for adoption of sector-specific recovery plans with emphasis on employment generation, poverty eradication and reduction in discrimination.

He said that maintaining the supply of daily necessary commodities during a crisis period is the responsibility of the state and this responsibility should not be shifted to the market.

Cash support is also needed for the unemployed and the employed poor so that they could overcome social insecurity, he said.

The BNP leader said that the ongoing higher education system was failing to generate new knowledge and produce skilled and active citizens while the ongoing crisis deserved special attention on virtual communication.

He demanded 5 per cent of the GDP as the allocation for the education, technology and research sectors.

Responding to a question from a reporter, Fakhrul said that the ruling Awami League never bore with dissenting opinions as they had no accountability to anyone and that the BNP, being a party accepted by the people, had been placing their budget thoughts every year.

‘But, maybe, it will be said that we have placed a totally unrealistic and unacceptable proposal,’ he added.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net