Finance Minister AMA Muhith yesterday expressed hope to get a stable political environment ahead to achieve an economic growth of 7.3% set in the national budget for the next fiscal year.
He urged all not to destabilise the situation for the sake of achieving the revenue target, boosting investment and attaining the growth target.
“We will not be able to achieve the revenue target if political parties resort to violence,” he said, replying to a question at a post-budget press conference in the capital.
Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury, Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal and Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu, among others, were present at the event.
The finance minister’s budgetary measures unveiled on Thursday are being considered to be encouraging private investment as well as helping mobilise local resources to support development projects, particularly of big infrastructures.
Economists and businessmen in their instant reactions to the measures apprehended that the ambitious budget would be difficult for the government to implement as the revenue target is high while investment would not take place as expected due to fears of political unrest anytime.
There are apprehensions among them that given the political situation, major opposition parties like the BNP might launch agitation programmes anytime demanding fresh election.
“Every year I am giving ambitious budget and it is being achieved excellently,” the minister replied to a questioner. “There’s no problem of being high ambitious if it can achieve success.”
He expressed the confidence that revenue collection would peak up easily to provide enough fund for implementation of the development projects.
Muhith faced a volley of questions about whitening undisclosed money, ambitious budget targets, and manipulation of GDP growth rate, poor allocation on agriculture,poor utilisation of foreign assistance and increased tax on gold import under baggage rules.
He explained that one of the positive outcomes of formulating and implementing big national budgets is the government’s spending capacity has doubled since 2009.
He said the government would be able to implement the Tk250,506 crore budget without any significant deficit as there will be no shortfall in foreign aid flow. Since the fiscal 2009-10, there has been no shortfall in foreign aid other than the slow disbursement, he added.
The minister ruled out any possibility of heavy borrowing from the banking system to meet the tentative deficit of around 5% of the GDP. “The deficit has been lower than 5%in the budgets I placed in the past, and that is an appropriate deficit.”
The finance minister cleverly fired putting the gun on the prime minister’s shoulder in response to a question why the tax-free income threshold was not proposed to be increased.
It has not been increased as the prime minister did not want it, he said. “We do not see any country like Bangladesh that changesthe ceiling over the years.”
Muhith said the government proposed small increase of taxes on mobile phone sets as the number of mobile set users is huge in a poor country like Bangladesh.