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KAMAL-BUDGET-FY22, ONE
Kamal places Tk 6,03,681cr budget for FY22 in JS
DHAKA, June 3, 2021 (BSS) – Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal today placed a Taka 6,03,681 crore national budget for fiscal year 2021-22 (FY22) in the Jatiya Sangsad with a 7.2 percent GDP growth target attaching priority to the lives and livelihood of the country’s people in tandem with development amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“In the budget for the next fiscal year, in tandem with development, the lives and livelihood of the marginalised people of the country are receiving priority,” said Kamal in his budget speech.
This is the 50th national budget for Bangladesh coinciding with the golden jubilee of country’s independence.
This was also the 22nd budget placed by the Awami League government and the 3rd consecutive budget placed by Kamal.
Kamal while placing his 192-page budget speech, wearing traditional Mujib Coat over Panjabi, under the title “Bangladesh Towards a Resilient Future Protecting Lives and Livelihoods” highlighted various steps of the government to mitigate the shocks from the COVID-19 and the way forward to a sustainable economic recovery.
The total budget size for FY22 is 17.5 percent of GDP. Total allocation for operating and other expenditures has been set at Taka 3,78,357 crore, while the allocation for the Annual Development Product (ADB) is Taka 2,25,324 crore.
The overall budget deficit for FY 22 will be Taka 2,14,681 crore, which is 6.2 percent of GDP while the budget deficit in the last fiscal year was 6.1 percent.
Out of the total deficit, Taka 1,01,228 crore will be financed from external sources, while Taka 1,13,453 crore from domestic sources of which Taka 76,452 crore will come from the banking system and Taka 37,001 crore from savings certificates and other non-bank sources.
The growth rate for FY22 has been fixed at 7.2 percent remaining consistent with the government’s long-term plan and taking the post COVID-19 recovery situation into account.
“It is expected that the inflation rate will be 5.3 percent during the period,” added Kamal.
The Finance Minister in his budget speech said Bangladesh has changed in many ways in the last five decades. However, there has been no change in Bangabandhu’s everlasting ideals and his lively presence is felt in all spheres of national life.
Since this year marks the golden jubilee of independence and the birth centenary of the Father of the Nation, Kamal said the addition to these two strong streams is Bangladesh’s successful transition from LDCs to a developing country.
“Bangladesh has reached a new height in the world stage with this transition. Similarly, Insha’Allah, all our dreams including those for 2030, 2031, 2041, 2100 will be realized,” he hoped.
Kamal said Bangladesh is now at a critical juncture in its development journey. “Bangladesh a decade ago and today’s Bangladesh are not the same,”
He said Today’s Bangladesh is in the process of transformation. “We have passed a golden era in the history of Bangladesh, which is highly acclaimed.
After Bangabandhu, Hon’ble Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has brought Bangladesh to the pinnacle of success in all areas, including economy and development, social policy, culture, law and order and foreign policy.
Out of the original budget size of Taka 5,68,000 crore in the current fiscal year, the expenditure was reduced by Taka 29,017 crore in the revised budget and thus the size stood at Taka 5,38,983 crore. The size of ADP was reduced by Taka 7,502 crore from the original allocation of Taka 2,05,145 crore, and was set at Taka 1,97,643 crore.
To face the COVID-19 challenges, the Finance Minister, like the outgoing fiscal year, proposed an allocation of Taka 10,000 crore in the next fiscal year to meet the emergency requirements.
He said the budget for FY22 has been prepared keeping in consideration the strategies taken to facilitate faster recovery in various sectors of Bangladesh from shocks of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially to meet the challenges arising in the health sector and the issue of the application of vaccine.
“Allocation has been made in the proposed budget to meet the targets of each ministry and divisions to address the adverse effect of the COVID-19 pandemic,” he added.
Kamal said the pandemic is not only threatening the healthcare system, but also putting economic advancement in limbo.
“Given this situation, we are now paying our attention to combat the pandemic by enhancing the capacity of our healthcare system and tackling the economic shocks,” he said.
The Finance Minister said the government believes that, every challenge creates lots of opportunities and windows for moving forward. “So, there will be new opportunities for us from the scars of COVID-19 global pandemic and the government will take every necessary step to utilize those,”
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