UNB, Dhaka :
Finance Minister AMA Muhith on Sunday dropped a hint at slightly changing the GDP growth projection of 7.3 percent in the current fiscal year considering the overall situation.
“….considering the overall situation, there might be a necessity to bring a slight change to the GDP growth projection of 7.3 percent in the current fiscal year,” he said.
The Finance Minister was placing in parliament two separate reports on implementing progress, income-expenditure flow and macroeconomic analysis of the first two quarters of the national budget for the current fiscal year.
He said, the final decision on the GDP growth projection of the current fiscal year would be taken at the Coordination Council meeting to be held this March after considering the global and domestic situation.
Comparing some salient features of the macro-economy during this July-December period of the current fiscal compared to the same period of the previous fiscal, Muhith said the collection of tax revenue under the NBR has increased to 13.2 percent, the overall public expenditure has declined by 0.1 percent to Tk 76,798 crore from Tk 76, 854 crore, export earnings increased by 1.6 percent to $ 14.9 billion while the import expenditure increased by 18.3 percent to $ 22.3 billion, the foreign currency reserve increased to $ 22.3 billion on December 31, 2014 while the point-to-point inflation in
last December came down at 6.1 percent. Noting that the global fuel price has come down by 42.6 percent in December 2014 compared to December 2013, the Finance Minister hoped that such downward trend would help the government stay in a comfortable position while dealing with subsidies.
Regarding budget deficit, he said the overall budget deficit during the July-December period of the current fiscal year came down to 0.7 percent of the GDP compared to 0.9 percent of GDP from the last year.
The budget deficit of the current fiscal year has been estimated at Tk 67,552 crore which is also 4.4 percent of the GDP. He said the net sale of the national savings certificate has increased by 240.5 percent.
The Finance Minister said compared to the other savings tools of the market, comparatively attracting interest rates are raising the sale of the national savings certificates which could raise the government’ s expenditure on interest in the future.
He also expressed his belief that due to the downward trend of food inflation, government bank borrowing from the banking system into a limited level, favourable monetary supply situation, continuous growth in agriculture sector, satisfactory food stock and fuel price down in global market would further reduce the pressure of inflation in the coming days of the current fiscal.
Muhith also highlighted various aspects in his statements including the revenue collection scenario till the second quarter, public expenditure till the 2nd quarter, budget deficit, monetary and credit situation, inflation, external sector, progress on the implementation of committed issues in budget.
While winding up his speech, Muhith said the recent unexpected activities without patriotism have been deterring the immense potentials of the country as well as the normal life of common people.
“We believe the crisis created without the association of people would not be prolonged. Flourishing patriotism, tolerance and good thinking irrespective of party affiliation and opinion alongside conscious resistance of common people would end all the crises,” he added.
Finance Minister AMA Muhith on Sunday dropped a hint at slightly changing the GDP growth projection of 7.3 percent in the current fiscal year considering the overall situation.
“….considering the overall situation, there might be a necessity to bring a slight change to the GDP growth projection of 7.3 percent in the current fiscal year,” he said.
The Finance Minister was placing in parliament two separate reports on implementing progress, income-expenditure flow and macroeconomic analysis of the first two quarters of the national budget for the current fiscal year.
He said, the final decision on the GDP growth projection of the current fiscal year would be taken at the Coordination Council meeting to be held this March after considering the global and domestic situation.
Comparing some salient features of the macro-economy during this July-December period of the current fiscal compared to the same period of the previous fiscal, Muhith said the collection of tax revenue under the NBR has increased to 13.2 percent, the overall public expenditure has declined by 0.1 percent to Tk 76,798 crore from Tk 76, 854 crore, export earnings increased by 1.6 percent to $ 14.9 billion while the import expenditure increased by 18.3 percent to $ 22.3 billion, the foreign currency reserve increased to $ 22.3 billion on December 31, 2014 while the point-to-point inflation in
last December came down at 6.1 percent. Noting that the global fuel price has come down by 42.6 percent in December 2014 compared to December 2013, the Finance Minister hoped that such downward trend would help the government stay in a comfortable position while dealing with subsidies.
Regarding budget deficit, he said the overall budget deficit during the July-December period of the current fiscal year came down to 0.7 percent of the GDP compared to 0.9 percent of GDP from the last year.
The budget deficit of the current fiscal year has been estimated at Tk 67,552 crore which is also 4.4 percent of the GDP. He said the net sale of the national savings certificate has increased by 240.5 percent.
The Finance Minister said compared to the other savings tools of the market, comparatively attracting interest rates are raising the sale of the national savings certificates which could raise the government’ s expenditure on interest in the future.
He also expressed his belief that due to the downward trend of food inflation, government bank borrowing from the banking system into a limited level, favourable monetary supply situation, continuous growth in agriculture sector, satisfactory food stock and fuel price down in global market would further reduce the pressure of inflation in the coming days of the current fiscal.
Muhith also highlighted various aspects in his statements including the revenue collection scenario till the second quarter, public expenditure till the 2nd quarter, budget deficit, monetary and credit situation, inflation, external sector, progress on the implementation of committed issues in budget.
While winding up his speech, Muhith said the recent unexpected activities without patriotism have been deterring the immense potentials of the country as well as the normal life of common people.
“We believe the crisis created without the association of people would not be prolonged. Flourishing patriotism, tolerance and good thinking irrespective of party affiliation and opinion alongside conscious resistance of common people would end all the crises,” he added.
