With the annual budget for FY23 finally having the veil lifted from it, it appears the government is indeed taking the raft of recommendations from experts into cognizance.
A progressive budget that seeks to undo a lot of the short-to-medium-term damage that the last two years of the Covid-19 pandemic dealt on our economy, it also seeks to ramp up efforts towards mitigating the long-term effects that climate change has had and can have in the future.
The budget is getting an allocation of Tk30,531.99 crore, or 8.07% of the total budget, for 25 ministries aimed at preventing the adverse impacts of climate-induced hazards and for adaptation and mitigation; which is a Tk5,000 crore from the outgoing fiscal year. Targetting areas such as agriculture, food security, environment and forestry, and others.
This was absolutely the right call to make.
However, the withdrawal of the 5% supplementary tax on any and all plastic bags and wrapping material comes off as nothing short of being contradictory when it comes to retaining environmental integrity.
Pollution is a clear and present danger to Bangladesh, one that we have grappled with for decades, and while it has steadily decreased thanks to the decreased use of polythene bags, achieved through rigorous regulation and taxation, the proposed withdrawal of the tax stands to undo all of that progress.
To that end, the finance minister’s statement that the withdrawal can boost business in this sector comes off as tone-deaf. This proposition needs to be binned, needless to say. And this includes the proposed import tax on solar panels which has always been exempt from any tariffs.
It is good to see the government finally giving the issue of climate change the attention it deserves in the national budget, and even though there are a few missteps in the budget as currently outlined, overall it is still a step in the right direction.
