Left Democratic Alliance Central Executive Committee Coordinator and Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal (BaSoD) General Secretary Bazlur Rashid Firoz criticized the budget for FY25 and described it as directionless and trapped in a cycle of crises, saying its failure to address the causes of last year's economic issues.
He said in an immediate budget reaction during an interview on Thursday.
He said: “Following the IMF's advice, a budget of Tk797,000 crore, constituting 14.20% of GDP—the smallest in the last decade—has been announced for the upcoming fiscal year. Despite this reduction, government spending will not decrease, and revenue will be raised through increased taxes and VAT on the public.
“Last year, the economy faced hardships from inflation, currency devaluation, a dollar crisis, and increased debt payments, which were not adequately addressed in the budget, likely worsening the ongoing economic crisis,” he added.
On one hand, non-performing loans are increasing, and on the other, the government has announced in the budget that it will borrow Tk137,500 crore from the country's banks. This will create adverse reactions in the economy.
He criticized the continuous imposition of increasing VAT on mobile phone calls and internet services despite the slogan of transitioning from Digital to Smart Bangladesh, noting that customers now have to pay Tk139 to get Tk100 of talk time. VAT is also being imposed on the highly publicized metro rail, which will increase public suffering.
Although there are claims of prioritizing education, agriculture, health, and employment, he condemned the conventional allocations in these sectors, stating that this will increase foreign dependency and exacerbate the suffering of the general public.
He protested against the imposition of tax and VAT burdens on the public without taking any measures to address the combined cycle of corruption, inflation, money laundering, and bank looting that has increased the suffering of the people, stating that the government's rhetoric about the budget will not solve the economic crisis.
He called for the preparation of a people-oriented budget instead of a debt-dependent deficit budget.
Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) President Shah Alam said: “No provision has been made in the budget for rationing for food security of the working population. There is no effective direction in the budget to control commodity prices and prevent corruption.
“Aziz and Benazir have revealed the truth of government corruption, this time also there is an opportunity to whiten black money and encourage corruption,” he added.
Left leaders stated that government borrowing and non-performing loans are pushing banks towards insolvency, leading to a liquidity crisis. The budget lacks direction for resolving the financial sector crisis, unemployment, and inflation at almost 10%. The projected growth rate of 6.75% and inflation of 6.5% mask the current negative growth rate, with no guidance on achieving this.
