DHAKA, July 1 (NNN-BSS) – The Bangladesh parliament, on Tuesday, passed a record 5.68-trillion-Taka (nearly 67 billion U.S. dollars) national budget, for the 2020-21 fiscal year (July 2020-June 2021).
Finance Minister, AHM Mustafa Kamal, placed before parliament the annual budget of Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina’s government.
Unanimous by voice vote, parliament passed the budget on the last working day of the current 2019-20 financial year, with some adjustments.
The GDP growth rate, which was announced at 8.2 percent for 2020-21 fiscal year, during the budget proposal on June 11, has been revised to 5.2 percent, due to the economic impacts of COVID-19.
In his speech, Kamal said, sufficient allocation has been made in the proposed budget, to satisfy the needs of all ministries and divisions, to address the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak.
The total outlay of the budget for the next fiscal year 2020-21 is 5,680 billion taka, up by 8.6 percent over that of the original budget of the outgoing fiscal year 2019-20.
On the expenditure side, health, agriculture and employment creation have been given priority, while allocating resources for the annual development programme (ADP) in the next fiscal year.
The total allocation for operating and other expenditures is estimated at 3,628.55 billion taka, while allocation for the ADP is 2,051.45 billion taka.
The overall budget deficit will be 1,900 billion taka, which takes six percent of GDP. Out of the total deficit, Kamal said, 800.17 billion taka will be financed from external sources, while 1,099.83 billion taka from domestic sources. (1 U.S. dollar equals 85 taka).– NNN-BSS