Admittedly, I don’t understand the budget thing at all. Like many others, the price of some things increased and some decreased; Look at it carefully. Let’s see if there is any change in the income tax structure. But I understand this, just like a family has a plan for the whole year, there is an income-expenditure account, there are many ambitions, travel plans, expenses for treatment are allocated; So is the country.
Budget means the income-expenditure account of the country for the whole year. Here the priority of the government is fixed. We also set priorities when calculating household income and expenditure. During family time we make a lot of ambitious plans, like traveling to maybe Mauritius, eventually going to Cox’s Bazar. Similarly, there are many ambitious plans in the country’s budget, which are not implemented in the end.
There is a big gap between budget proposal and budget implementation. The more efficient the government, the smaller the gap. Munsiana is here. Sakhawat Ali Khan, a journalism teacher, has a story about budgeting. Sakhawat Ali Khan was once going in a rickshaw talking about the budget. The rickshaw puller said, I understand that if you give a budget, the price of goods will increase. He was curious, what happens if you don’t give the thing that increases the price of things? But the matter is not so simple. Whether the prices of goods rise or fall, whatever the discussion-criticism; The government has to present the budget on time.
The previous budgets of the current government were very ambitious. This time it is not. This is a good sign. There is no point in consuming ghee on loan. But the economy is also like a cycle. Shrinking the economy will also slow growth. Production will decrease, investment will decrease, employment will be blocked. Even common people will be under pressure. The government has various social security programs for the poor. But those who do not blush with shame, the middle class is in a pitiful state. They can’t stand in line, can’t go to the market.
Once before the end of the budget presentation, a procession would go out with the banner ‘This budget is against the people, this budget is not accepted’. Now there is no culture of protest, nor is there an opportunity. Protests from the streets have now moved to the virtual world. The main protest is on social media Facebook. After that, his wave is in the media. We try to understand the pros and cons of the budget by looking at the responses of those who understand the budget, i.e. economists. Everyone is curious about CPD’s official response and Finance Minister’s post-budget press conference, especially on the day after the budget proposal.
This budget is the first for two reasons. This is the first budget of the fourth term of the ruling Awami League government. This is also the first budget of AH Mahmud Ali as Finance Minister. Although an economics student, AH Mahmud Ali is a career diplomat. The responsibility of handling the economy during the crisis has fallen on the shoulders of this former foreign minister. Although there is an understanding of the crisis in the budget, there is no clear roadmap for the solution, no creative plan. Traditional budgeting has tried to keep the vacancy size small. Although the size is smaller, it is bigger than before. However, the rate of increase in the size of the budget has decreased. Where earlier it used to increase by 10 percent or more, this time the size has increased by 5 percent.
According to figures, the size of the budget is 7 lakh 97 thousand crores. Out of this, the target income is 5 lakh 41 thousand crores. That means there is a deficit of Tk 2 lakh 56 thousand crores. Efforts will be made to meet this shortfall by taking loans from domestic and foreign sources. I was talking about the similarity of the budget with the annual accounting of the family. But there is also a contrast. In the world, people calculate their income first, then calculate their expenses accordingly. If you can afford it, take a loan, and try to save.
But in the country’s budget, the expenditure is calculated first. Then the income sector is taken out in that proportion. Neither the borrower nor the state is bad for anyone. Poor people take donations or alms. Able people take loans, it can be said that they can take good. No one will give you a loan if you can’t afford it. The same is true of countries as of individuals. No one will give you a loan if you don’t have the capacity, not even beyond the capacity. The IMF is giving loans to Bangladesh, but it is not giving kindly.
Every time before disbursing the loan installments, their delegation comes, sees, thoroughly evaluates the loan only then releases the loan. However, it is not good to take additional loans even if you have the capacity. The economy of Bangladesh, which is moving at a good pace, is gradually falling into the debt trap. A large amount has to be spent on debt and interest payments. There are many ways to increase income, but it is easier to reduce expenses than to increase income. But we don’t do or want to do that simple thing. This attitude of ‘Sarkarka Mal Dariya Me Dhal’ is in our core. Finance Minister talks about restraint. And we see a festival of waste around us. There is no road on either side, a bridge in the middle of the field, there are innumerable bridges or culverts in Bangladesh. These bridges or culverts are built only to fatten the pockets of the contractors and commission the engineers; Which is of no use to the people, will never come.
I saw in the newspaper that the package of equipment bought 12 years ago was not opened in a hospital in Faridpur. You will find numerous such events around. Although the tendency of bureaucrats to travel abroad for unnecessary work like learning how to dig a pond has decreased, it has not stopped. The crisis of the economy will not be cut by the words of the finance minister. We must be careful at every step. Every penny should be counted. Transparency and accountability must be ensured.
When the finance minister is presenting the budget in the parliament, the news comes that the defaulted loans have increased. In the span of three months, the amount of defaulted loans has increased by Tk 36 thousand 367 crore to Tk 1 lakh 82 thousand 295 crore. In spite of so many discussions about defaulted loans, how did the defaulted loans increase by 36 thousand crores in three months? Who will answer this question? No matter how nice your pitcher is, it’s worthless if there’s a hole in the bottom. No matter how much you say, if you can’t stop the culture of defaulting loans, the culture of money laundering; No problem will be solved.
The main problem of Bangladesh now is inflation, which has made life unbearable for common people. In the last budget, there was an aspiration to keep inflation within 6 percent. But it has increased to about 10 percent now. Sustained high inflation has leaked into the throats of the common man. The government knows it too. As in the election manifesto, the budget also addresses concerns about inflation. There is a desire to reduce. In the post-budget press conference, the finance minister expressed hope that inflation will come down within the next six months. But how to reduce, there is no roadmap.
Rather, it is feared that the pressure on the common people will increase due to various measures of the government. As an effort to increase income, the tax burden will increase in both direct and indirect sectors. The government has taken steps to reduce tax exemptions to comply with IMF conditions. Tariffs have been proposed on many products with zero duty. The cost of talking on the telephone will go up, the metro rail fare will also go up. All in all, there is no good news in the budget for the common man. Trying to raise incomes without increasing the tax base will also end up squeezing the middle class.
The previous budgets of the current government were very ambitious. This time it is not. This is a good sign. There is no point in consuming ghee on loan. But the economy is also like a cycle. Shrinking the economy will also slow growth. Production will decrease, investment will decrease, employment will be blocked. Even common people will be under pressure. The government has various social security programs for the poor people. But those who do not blush with shame, the middle class is in a pitiful state. They can’t stand in line, can’t go to the market.
It is scary to see the thick documents of the budget. I don’t understand, I don’t want to understand. We just want an end to wastage, an end to defaulted loans, an end to money laundering. And let inflation come down. So that we can eat and live.
June 9, 2024
Author: Barta Pradhan, ATN News.
HR/ASM
