DHAKA, June 12, 2020 (BSS) – Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal today affirmed the government capacity to implement the proposed high amount budget despite COVID-19 onslaughts saying the fiscal document was drafted keeping in consideration the impending challenges.
“We’ve formulated this budget going beyond the convention against the backdrop of the novel coronavirus pandemic,” he told a post budget press conference through virtual media.
The minister added that the government was equipped with required infrastructures and manpower for translating into action the budgetary proposals while Bangladesh earlier had succeeded in overcoming many challenges as well.
“We can expect that we can implement the budget the way we framed it this time,” Kamal said.
Kamal was accompanied by Agriculture Minister Dr M Abdur Razzaque, Planning Minister MA Mannan, Prime Minister’s Economic Affairs Adviser Dr Moshiur Rahman, Energy Adviser Dr Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury at the virtual media briefing.
Bangladesh Bank Governor Fazle Kabir, Finance Division Secretary Abdur Rouf Talukder, National Revenue Board (NBR) Chairman Abu Hena Md Rahmatul Muneem and Planning Commission’s General Economics Division (GED) member Prof Dr Shamsul Alam, joined the briefing, among others.
Kamal yesterday placed a Taka 5,68,000 crore national budget for the coming fiscal at Jatiya Sangsad setting a target of attaining a 8.2 percent GDP growth expecting to keep up the economy’s momentum, offsetting the impact of the pandemic.
He reiterated remarks of his budget speech saying, a prime target of this year’s “non conventional” budget was to save peoples life, combating the COVID-19 onslaughts.
“The Prime Minister (Sheikh Hasina) issued directives to ‘spend first’ to save people,” Kamal said adding sources of required money would be explored subsequently in view of current extra-ordinary situation.
He added: “This time we’ll spend money first and then make our earnings.”
Kamal said health sector drew the top priority in the proposed budget due to the pandemic “there will be no crisis of money for it” while the health authorities also received premier’s assurance that everything required would be done.
“But the condition is that the health department (DGHS) will have to ensure due treatment facilities and simultaneously enhance its service standard, ensuring speed in their actions,” he said.
The finance minister said around Taka 10,000 crore was proposed for the health ministry “with a purpose to fight corona pandemic and it’s a huge amount”.
He, however, urged the affluent people to stand beside the marginal people whose livelihood was hit hard by the pandemic.
“Under this circumstance I seek support from the countrymen especially from the affluent section to help the government in implementing this budget,” Kamal said, again referring to the extra-ordinary nature of this year’s budget.
Premier’s economic affairs adviser urged the private sector to come forward towards improving the health services alongside the public sector.
The finance minister said for logical reasons the budget this year laid extra emphasis on food, employment generation and rural infrastructures as well.
Kamal, however, expected the pandemic would not prolong for a protracted period, paving ways further for implementing the budget, adding that even the International Monitory Fund (IMF) projected Bangladesh’s GDP growth rate to be 9.5 percent in FY21.
Supplementing Kamal, the planning minister said the health and the agriculture sectors were prioritised in the proposed budget keeping ways to design newer projects on emergency basis in required cases.
Asked for comments if the NBR could attain its target amid the pandemic, Kamal said the crisis prompted the government to explore several new areas for revenue generation.
“Side by side we expect that if we can continue with our automation operations, it will be possible to attain our revenue collection target,” he said.
Kamal, however, said the pandemic delayed the introduction of the Electronic Fiscal Device (EFD) machines but hopefully the devise could be launched soon.
The NBR chairman said that the revenue board was prepared to achieve the target set in the budget expecting the 5 percent tax enhancement on cell phone calls alone to mobilize a huge amount of revenue.
He said an expanded tax net was simultaneously expected generate money.
The finance minister said the budget laid emphasis on agriculture also as a priority sector in terms of tax facilities and allocations so none was exposed to starvation for lack of food,
He said Sheikh Hasina particularly in recent period repeatedly asked all to explore their roots and “this means that we will have to activate more our agricultural sector”.
The agriculture minister told the briefing the government this time took a special initiative not to keep even an inch of land beyond cultivation to evade any possible food scarcity in the country.
Razzaque said Taka 9,500 crore was kept as a special allocation to make available fertilizers, seeds, pesticides and other agricultural inputs in grassroots.
The finance minister said that the pandemic created for Bangladesh a scope to draw foreign direct investment (FDI), prompting his ministry to suggest tax exemptions in this budget in various sector alongside simplification of the tax law.
He said 17 economic zones were now ready for investment and expected the infrastructures to draw large-scale investments to generate newer employments.
Kamal said the budget proposed the bank interest rate to be lowered to 9 percent for boosting credit growth in the private sector to rejuvenate the economy.
Replying to another question on siphoning off money abroad, the incidents of money laundering under false declaration reduced a lot over the 18 months. “We want that not even a single penny of the country is laundered abroad for which we’ve given special emphasis on automation,”