Tk 1,32,200cr budget giving priority to energy, agriculture, education

The national budget for the fiscal year 2010-11 may stand at around Tk 1,32,200 crore giving priority to energy, agriculture, education and social welfare, and measures to curb price hike, official sources said. Finance Minister AMA Muhit is now giving a last minute check on budget documents before sending those to the government security printing press.(The New Nation)

The National Economic Council on May 25 approved a Tk 38,500 crore Annual Development Programme (ADP) for the next fiscal giving priority to power generation and transport sector development.

The revised ADP for the outgoing fiscal has been fixed at Tk 28,500 crore.

Of the Tk 38,500 crore allocations, Tk 19,700 crore or 51 per cent funds would come from local resources, while Tk 18,800 crore or 49 per cent from external resources to implement 910 projects.

Official sources said the next budget will impose more tax burden on people through raising holding tax, duty on luxurious car, air conditioner and many more. To meet the financial needs the budget will take loan from both internal and international sources.

The sources said the new budget has targeted revenue earnings of Tk 92,850 crore of which Tk 78,000 core will come from NBR and the rest from non-NBR sources. Rest of the money of total expenditure will be colleted from loan and assistances.

The deficit in the upcoming budget will stand at Tk 34,514 crore which is 4.4 per cent of the Gross Domestic production (GDP). Tk 23,680 crore will be taken as loan from international sources while Tk 10,434 crore will be colleted from donor agencies.

Of the Tk 23,680 crore from internal sources, Tk 15,680 crore will be colleted from banking system like treasury bond and bills and the rest Tk 8,000 crore will be supplied from the national saving projects.

Bangladesh Bank sources said during the July-February period the government took Tk 8070 crore as loan from saving tools which is three times higher than the corresponding period of the previous year.

However, this fiscal the government paid more than it took as loan from the banking system.

In the next fiscal the government will need to pay Tk 17,980 crore as interest of loans amounting to US$50 billion taken from both internal and external sources.

Meanwhile, during the first nine months of the outgoing fiscal the budget deficit stands at Tk 4,612 crore. The deficit in the same nine-month period in the last fiscal year was Tk 10,908 crore. The total revised budget deficit for the outgoing fiscal has been estimated at Tk 31,039 crore.