Staff Reporter :
The upcoming national budget for 2022-23 should focus on creation of jobs and inflation controlling for the survival of the marginalised people, speakers have said at a discussion.
Citizen’s Platform for SDG implementation organized the discussion titled “People’s expectations about the upcoming budget” virtually on Sunday. Representatives of different sections participated in the discussion.
Speaking at the discussion, Debapriya Bhattacharya, convener of the Citizen’s Platform for SDGs, Bangladesh, said, “The upcoming budget should not be traditional as it will be placed at a critical time. We want an extraordinary budget this time.”
Besides, the government should public policy and structure of the budget right now and there should be an opportunity for different sections of people to give their opinions about that draft, he said.
“At the same time, how much the budget has been implemented in the first six months of the current financial year needs to be made public,” he added.
He further said, “Employment should be the main goal in the next budget, not GDP growth. In addition, special importance should be given to control inflation the next.”
“Rising commodity prices, foreign trade situation and war have put new pressure on the economy in the current fiscal year. So, the budget should be prepared by deviating from the traditional budget,” he opined.
He said, the common people are struggling hard as the commodity prices have increased faster than their earnings in recent period.
“The first priority should be on creating jobs,” he said, adding that it should be clear in the budget how many jobs will be created, how many in the private sector and how many through entrepreneurship.
The government can extend the scope of open market sales of the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh and increase allocation for the social safety net, Bhattacharya said.
The budget should be inclusive so that every marginalised people are addressed and get a way out to go forward, he added.
Transgender people always live in a tight situation, as they do not get the right to live with their families. So they deserve an incentive, said Robaet Ferdous, a Professor of the mass communication and journalism department of the University of Dhaka.
The government acknowledged them in 2011, but now they need specialised SME loan to start small businesses, he said. The house owners do not allow transgender people in their space normally. So separate housing is necessary for them and the government can allocate fund here, he said.
The entrepreneurs should get incentive for giving jobs to the transgender people, he added.
Sima Muslem, Joint General Secretary of Bangladesh Mohila Porishad, said, “Women entrepreneurs and labours were worst victims of the Covid-19 pandemic. As such, separate programme needs to be included in the budget for them.”
