The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB) on Saturday said new investments, enabled through the proposed budget, would open doors for more healthcare-related attire amid the coronavirus pandemic.
During a virtual briefing, its council member and former president Humayun Kabir said the proposed budgetary measures for fiscal year 2020-21 would increase new investments, especially in the readymade garments (RMG) sector, as traditional apparel production was on a downward trend due to the pandemic.
Newer opportunities, such as manufacturing demands for personal protective equipment (PPE), masks and other healthcare-related attire, would now be there, he added.
Other ICAB members said it would be a challenging task to implement the budget, especially regarding revenue collection as the government would need to tackle the Covid-19 situation.
If revenue collection shrank, the target of expenditure for different projects, including metro rail and other infrastructure, would be hampered, Humayun Kabir remarked.
Asked about the proposed budget, he said ICAB looked at it in a positive way.
"If the measures proposed amid the Covid-19 pandemic can be successfully implemented, then the government's purpose will have been served and thus can elevate Bangladesh in the global order," he surmised.
Another ICAB council member, Shahadat Hossain, said banks would feel the pressure, as well as the call money market, to generate funds for the implementation of the budget.
He emphasized extensive monitoring in this regard.
"The government can try to implement a money monitoring policy, which can increase the velocity of money moving around. It is just a matter of proper management," he observed.
