10.4% of budget allocated for interest payment

At least 10.4% of the proposed Tk400,266-crore budget for the 2017-18 fiscal year has been allocated for interest payment, Finance Minister AMA Muhith said on Thursday. The amount to be paid for interests is estimated to be Tk41,457 crore – 29.15% more than the allocation in the revised budget for the outgoing fiscal year. The amount of interest payment under the revised budget for 2016-17 fiscal year stands at Tk32,863 crore, while the allocation was Tk35,335 crore. The 2017-18 budget is the largest in the history of Bangladesh, the finance minister mentioned in his speech. The budget deficit is estimated to be Tk112,255 crore in 2017-18, which is 5% of the GDP. The deficit was Tk97,853 crore in the outgoing fiscal year’s revised budget, the minister said. He further said the government would borrow Tk60,352 crore from domestic sources to meet the budget deficit. There are plans to take borrow Tk28,203 crore from banks, Tk30,150 crore from savings instruments, and Tk1,999 crore from other sectors. The rest of the deficit will be met with foreign debt, he added.