Staff Reporter :
Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader on Saturday said that the proposed budget for fiscal (FY) 2019-20 is pro-people and there is no negativity in it.
“The proposed budget for FY 2019-20 will ensure security and growth. It is a unique charter to fulfill the aspirations of the people. However, the BNP is unable to grasp the aims of this budget plan,” he said.
Obaidul Quad, also Road Transport and Bridges Minister, said this at a press conference organised by Awami League at the party President’s Office at Dhanmondi in the city. He maintained that BNP’s inability to comprehend the importance of this public-oriented budget is leading them to incorrectly criticize it.
“Over the last decade, Awami League has announced the budget ten times, and this is our 11th budget. However, every time the budget has been proposed, BNP has disapproved it,” he said.
Obaidul Quader said, “Despite their criticism, Bangladesh has garnered many achievements gradually and is now on the way to development.”
“Although the proposed budget is sustainable for only a year, it was presented in consideration of fulfilling long-term goals such as: vision 2021, vision 2041, sustainable development goals, and requirements for becoming a middle income country. Therefore, BNP’s criticism is allegorical and so-called,” he said.
Earlier, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said that the proposed budget would increase discrimination between the poor and the rich citizens.
Emphasizing that there are no drawbacks in this budget, Obaidul Quader said 14.2 per cent of total allocations have been kept for social safety net programmes that will benefit around 11.4 million people.
“The budget has looked out for the youth, the marginal, and the rural population will be benefited from this budget,” he said.
He said, “The budget is challenging; but we will overcome all the challenges as we have done before.”
Replying to a query on whether the implementation of the budget will be challenging, Quader said implementation of a proposed budget is always a challenge.
“But the new government has accepted the challenge with a new spirit,” he said.
The proposed national budget for fiscal year 2019-20 was announced on Thursday. The budget amounts to Tk 523,190 crore, the biggest-ever in the country’s history.
