Muhith to unveil nat'l budget today

Staff Correspondent: Finance Minister AMA Muhith is going to place in Parliament today (Thursday) a possible Tk 400,266 crore national budget for the next fiscal year (FY18) targeting a 7.4 percent GDP rate.

The Finance Minister will start placing the budget in the House from 1:30 pm.

Officials at the Finance Ministry said the possible budget size of Tk 400,266 crore for the next fiscal year is Tk 54,665 crore or 17 percent higher than the original budget size of the outgoing fiscal year, while about Tk 83,0096 crore or about 26 percent higher than the revised budget outlay of the outgoing fiscal year.

The overall budget also includes a Tk 153,331 crore Annual Development Programme (ADP) while the rest will be for the non-development expenditure.

The new budget will be the country's 46th national one and the 18th of the Awami League government while Muhith's 11th. Muhith also placed two national budgets during HM Ershad's regime in the early 80s.

The centre of attraction or concern in this upcoming budget is the possible imposition of flat 15 percent VAT rate which will come into effect on July 1.

But, officials at the Finance Ministry informed this correspondent that the VAT rate might be slashed by 1 percent at the last moment which could be finalised at the Cabinet meeting before placing the budget.

According to the officials at the Finance Ministry, the overall revenue collection target for the next fiscal year is likely to be set at Tk 288,066 crore of which Tk 248,000 crore is likely to come from the NBR sources.

The target for containing inflation in the next fiscal year has been set at 5.5 percent.

Like previous year, the Finance Minister will present the budget through PowerPoint which will be made available on the website of the Finance Division-www.mof.gov.bd.

The budget documents will also be available on www.bangladesh.gov.bd, www.nbr-bd.org, www.plancomm.gov.bd, www.imed.gov.bd, www.bdpressinform.org and www.pmo.gov.bd.

Any person or organisation at home and abroad can send feedback, opinion or recommendation by filling up a form after downloading it from the websites.

Meanwhile, the Finance Minister will address a post-budget press conference at the Osmani Memorial Auditorium at 3pm on Friday.




Risingbd/Dhaka/June 1, 2017/Mukul