Box:     Total outlay                 Tk 1,32,170 Cr
            Revenue Income         Tk    92,847 Cr
            Revenue Expenditure  Tk   93,670 Cr
            Deficit                          Tk    39,323 Cr

Emphasis on: Power and infrastructure development, boosting agricultural production, development of SME sector, attracting investment, creation of employment, expansion of ICT sector
New dimension: District-wise budget  

DHAKA: The government Thursday placed in parliament a Tk 1,32,170 crore budget with a target of 6.7 percent growth in the 2010-11 fiscal year, introducing a new national development paradigm for equitable uplift of all districts of the country.

Finance Minister AMA Muhith presented the proposed budget with the focus on power and infrastructure development, increase in agricultural production, protection of local industries and development of the SME sector, employment generation, expansion of ICT sector and increased revenue earnings.

In order to increase the revenue income, the government redefined and expanded the tax and VAT net. Besides, steps have been planned for reform in the tax department and simplifying income tax-collection process.

With an aim to increase investment, the government kept room for whitening the much-talked-about black money in sectors such as energy and power that cry for massive funds for development. However, the tax rate for whitening the black money has been increased.    

Finance Minister Muhith started announcing the second national budget of the Awami League-led grand alliance government at 4pm. The opposition BNP lawmakers were absent when he tabled the budget.

Earlier in the day, the Cabinet approved the proposed budget at 2pm in a meeting at the Parliament Secretariat.  

The revised budget for the ongoing fiscal (2009-10) was also placed along with the budget for the new fiscal that commences next month.

In conjunction with the budget, two reports on development concepts were placed before Parliament titled ‘Road Map for Development of Power and Energy Sector’ and ‘District Budget: Unified budget’.

The government made some budget commitments that include continuation of stimulus packages to face the impacts of global economic recession with an allocation of Tk 2,000 crore.  

Besides, the Finance Minister proposed a ‘Bangladesh Infrastructure Financing Fund’ to strengthen public-private partnership and increase investment, formation of the 6th five-year plan, and bringing all the ministries under a midterm budget structure in the 2011-2012 budget.  

Size of the Budget

This year’s budget is 19.6 per cent higher than the revised budget that stood at Tk 110,523 crore. The actual size of the current budget was Tk 113,819 crore.   

The proposed budget for 2010-11 has targeted a revenue income of Tk 92,847 crore, showing a budget deficit of Tk 39,323 crore, which is five per cent of the total gross domestic product or GDP. The deficit for the current fiscal was Tk 34,358 crore.  

Revenue Earning and Expenditure

The revenue income in the proposed budget has been targeted at Tk 92,847 crore which is Tk 13,386 crore higher than the current fiscal. The total revenue target for the current fiscal was Tk 79,461 crore.

From the sectors under the National Board of Revenue (NBR), the total revenue earning is projected Tk 72,590 crore while Tk 3,452 crore has been targeted from non-NBR sectors. Apart from tax, the revenue income from other sectors has been earmarked Tk 16,805 crore.      

The total non-development expenditure in the budget has been proposed Tk 93,670 crore.

The Budget Deficit  

As the Finance Minister expanded the budget size, the deficit increased at the same time. The overall deficit is projected Tk 39,323 crore.

The government has planned to make up for the deficit through external and internal sources- foreign loan and grants will cover Tk 15,643 crore while the remaining Tk 23,680 will be sourced from domestic borrowing. The domestic banking system will fund Tk 15,680 and non-bank source will provide Tk 8,000 crore.

Annual Development Programme

The proposed budget announced a Tk 38,500 crore Annual Development Programme (ADP), 35 per cent higher than the current fiscal.

The ADP for the current fiscal was Tk 30,500 which appeared Tk 28,500 crore in the revised budget as it could not be implemented.  

The new ADP contains over nine hundred projects, a hundred more than the previous one. Of these, 816 projects were taken from the revised ADP. The new ADP proposed a block allocation of Tk 1588 crore.

The Revised Budget 2009-10

The total budget allocation for the current fiscal was Tk 113, 819 crore which stood at Tk 110,523 crore after the downsizing. The budget had projected a revenue income of Tk 79,461 crore.    

The deficit in the current fiscal was Tk 34,358 crore which was five percent of the GDP. In the revised budget, it stood at 4.5 percent.

Original ADP allocation was Tk 30,500 in the budget for current fiscal which was trimmed to Tk 28,500 in the revised budget.

BDST 20 HRS. June 10, 2010.
SR/FA/MUA