Finance Minister AMA Muhith yesterday said he would present the detailed breakdown of the defence budget – sector-wise allocations for the army, navy and air force – during the tenure of the government as demanded by the MPs.
Usurpation of state power had developed a tradition of not detailing the defence budget, which was “not healthy at all,” he told parliament, winding up his speech on the supplementary budget for fiscal year 2013-14.
Independent MP Rustom Ali Farazi opposed the government proposal for an additional allocation of over Tk705 crore, besides the original Tk14,552 crore, for the defence sector.
He proposed that parliament should give Tk1 to the defence ministry instead of the additional funds, but his proposal was rejected by voice votes of the ruling party MPs.
Taking part in the discussion on supplementary budget, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal MP Mayeen Uddin Khan Badal first demanded that the defence budget should be detailed for transparency and accountability.
Muhith said: “I have been trying to reform the tradition [of not detailing the defence budget] for the past five years. I hope that the tradition can be reformed this term. I hope in future you will get detailed accounts of the defence budget.”
Farazi demanded that the format of the defence budget should have specific heads for all expenditures as is done for other sectors.
LGRD Minister Syed Ashraful Islam, who is also in charge of the Defence Ministry, sought the additional grant. He said the government was also in favour of transparency in defence budget.
“There is a global discussion on making the defence budget transparent and we are a signatory to it. Concealing the defence budget creates misunderstanding and results in conflicts among states,” he said, adding that the military rulers had not disclosed the defence budget and never placed it in parliament.
“I hope this [demand for grants] will be passed in the House without any reservation,” said Syed Ashraf, adding that Farazi could get information on the defence budget from the ministry.
Speaking on the observation of Jatiya Party lawmaker Kazi Feroz Rashid, the finance minister told the House that the scandals in the banking sector had been embarrassing for his ministry.
Muhith said he would publish a white paper on the scams – those of Hall-Mark, BASIC Bank and Bismillah Group – next year.
Parliament yesterday passed the supplementary budget for FY2013-14.