There is no provision for the protection of the disadvantaged and the poor in the proposed budget for the financial year 2024-25, said the experts, said Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD).
They also said that in the current economic climate, there has been no relief from the expected measures to protect people who have been left behind and there is no direction in the budget to restore economic stability and no hints of the sectors that needed reform.
They were speaking at a post-budget press conference titled “National Budget 2024-25 and Prevailing Situation What did the Disadvantaged Citizens Get?” organized jointly by the CPD, Citizen’s Platform for SDG in cooperation with the European Union in the capital on Monday.
Debapriya Bhattacharya, distinguished fellow of the CPD, said focusing on these things would have helped the poor; inflation control measures, investment, foreign trade balance, growth and employment generation. But no relief is visible on the stability of inflation in this budget.
“Moreover, the economy of the country is now under pressure and at this time the people of the country have to be protected – both socially, economically and physically. Lastly, no political commitment to reforms is visible in this year's budget.”
“In this budget, there are at least five cases of violation of the declared policy of the current government. The manifesto given by the ruling party in the last national elections is not reflected in the budget,” he added.
He also said that the budget strategies and allocations are not consistent with the Perspective Plan and the sections of the nearly ended 8th Five-Year Plan.
The policies or commitments reiterated in this budget do not correspond to the budget’s own allocations, he also said.
He said that professionalism in budget formulation is declining compared to earlier budgets in terms of both use of data, reasoning techniques and budgeting language.
Debapriya said that the banking and the energy sector of the country are now two infected lungs of the country’s economy and it becomes difficult to breathe when people’s lungs are infected, the economy cannot breathe when there is a crisis in these two sectors.
Regarding Debapriya's comment, Dr AKM Enamul Haq, dean, Business Studies and Economics Faculty of East West University, said that the big question now is whether capacity payment is a subsidy or not.
“It is a fixed payment signed through a contractual obligation and it is neither a cost of production, nor a part of marginal cost,” he added, saying that power sector statistics are always fluctuating, not consistent.
He also said buying expensive technology from Germany to set up waste to energy projects is a wrong decision.
“Bangladesh is a rainy country; this type of project is not viable here and this will result in more subsidies. We are not taking loans for the right projects,” he added.
Regarding the banking sector, Masrur Riaz, CEO of Policy Exchange Bangladesh (PEB), said that the three biggest problems of Bangladesh’s economy are energy, reserves and banking.
“These are problems that can destroy the economy of any country. It is still possible to recover if we make the right decision at the right time. However, among the three macroeconomic challenges, we are the most silent regarding banking and banking governance,” he added.
He also said that he does not think that the budget alone can address them but it was possible for the budget to give some signals.
“To fix banking governance, political solutions are needed now, not technical ones,” he added.
Responding to a question, Debapriya said that the low tax payers will not benefit from the existing individuals’ tax slabs.
Moreover, since inflation is increasing and the value of money is decreasing, it can be said that the tax-free income has now decreased, though it remained unchanged as per number.
Transparency International Bangladesh Executive Director Dr Iftekharuzzaman, said the banking sector is now on the edge of the cliff. Because, the bank loan defaulters who are leading the way are now in the center of state power.
He said the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has their hands tied. “The problem with the ACC is that they have both internal and external pressure. The forces that put that pressure on ACC are those who support corruption.” Adding that it is not possible for ACC alone to control corruption as it needs support from the parliament, judiciary and other agencies.
He also said that there is a loophole in this budget as it lacks accountability. He termed the budget as a pro-corruption budget as no questions indemnity has been given to whiten black money for just 15% tax.
Towfiqul Islam Khan, senior research fellow of the CPD, presented the keynote at the event.
He said that there is no action on direct tax exemptions like garments, energy, microcredit and there is no direction for the future.
He also said that the undisclosed money can be legalized with 15% tax but if anyone buys a flat in Gulshan area, he can get away with 2.38%, meaning anyone can get away with 2%-3% tax and the indemnity has been given without any question.
Regarding the implementation of the budget, Dr Md Khairul Islam, regional director of WaterAid, said that the efficiency and impartiality of the administration and bureaucrats is necessary to implement the budget.
