UNB, Dhaka :
Finance Minister AMA Muhith on Tuesday said 7 percent GDP growth rate in the current fiscal year is unlikely to be achieved due to the disturbances the country suffered over the last couple of months for political unrest.
“In December last, we had great expectations for 2014-15, and I had the firm belief that Bangladesh would at least come out of the 6 percent-plus digit of growth. I had the firm belief till January that the growth will surely be around 7 percent, but, now I’m not sure,” he said.
The Finance Minister was speaking at a pre-budget meeting with the representatives of different NGOs at the NEC conference room in the city’s Sher-e-Bangla nagar area.
The targeted GDP growth rate for FY 15 was 7.3 percent.
State Minister for Finance and Planning MA Mannan and Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Atiur Rahman, among others, spoke at the pre-budget meeting. Secretaries concerned were present.
Muhith said, the government has recently approved a revised budget of around Tk 2,38,000 crore for the current fiscal year while the programmes for the next year would be based on that.
About the next budget’s focus, the Finance Minister said the emphasis was on energy and transportation over the last five to six years and this time the focus would be shifted on social development,
health, education and sanitation. Muhith, however, said energy and transportation would continue to have the larger stakes of the allocations.
He reiterated that the size of the next budget would be around Tk 3 lakh crore where the budget deficit would remain below five percent of the GDP.
Citing Bangladesh as the lone country in the world where poverty is declining alongside discriminations, Muhith said, “I’m quite certain there’ll be no poverty in the country by 2018.”
In this connection, he said when the poverty rate in the country was 30 percent, the extreme poverty rate came down to 17-18 percent. Then with the decline of poverty rate to 24 percent, the extreme poverty rate came down at 9-11 percent.
The Finance Minister said, a certain percentage of population would always remain dependent on the state like the old, invalid and the disabled.
About the madrasah education system, the Finance Minister noted that the Alia Madrasahs are doing well as those syllabuses are modern.
But, in the case of the Qawmi Madrasahs, he observed that it is very difficult for the government to exert influence on them as such madrasahs refuse to take fund from the government.
“The system of Qawmi Madrasahs is terribly dangerous in Bangladesh and we’ve to find ways how to draw people away from Qawmi Madrasahs,” he added.
About the concern of some NGO representatives over the Metro Rail, Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant and Rampal coal-fired power plant projects, Muhith said the Metro Rail project is ‘going to happen’ as it is necessary.
He also hinted at considering something in the next budget for plain land ethnic groups and providing assistance to mobile health service providers.
During the pre-budget meeting, the NGO representatives demanded materializing the gender responsive budget, enhancing allocation in education and health sectors, formulating master and structural plans on the environment and rail transport sector, reestablishing the new Detailed Area Plan (DAP), forming women’s bank for women’s empowerment, enhancing allocations in safety net programmes, giving proper attention to urban poverty, slum dwellers, providing stipend to female students in urban areas.
Former UGC chairman and current honourary chairman for Center for Urban Studies Nazrul Islam, BAPA chairman Abu Naser Khan and NGO activist Khushi Kabir, among others, raised their demands at the pre-budget meeting.
Finance Minister AMA Muhith on Tuesday said 7 percent GDP growth rate in the current fiscal year is unlikely to be achieved due to the disturbances the country suffered over the last couple of months for political unrest.
“In December last, we had great expectations for 2014-15, and I had the firm belief that Bangladesh would at least come out of the 6 percent-plus digit of growth. I had the firm belief till January that the growth will surely be around 7 percent, but, now I’m not sure,” he said.
The Finance Minister was speaking at a pre-budget meeting with the representatives of different NGOs at the NEC conference room in the city’s Sher-e-Bangla nagar area.
The targeted GDP growth rate for FY 15 was 7.3 percent.
State Minister for Finance and Planning MA Mannan and Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Atiur Rahman, among others, spoke at the pre-budget meeting. Secretaries concerned were present.
Muhith said, the government has recently approved a revised budget of around Tk 2,38,000 crore for the current fiscal year while the programmes for the next year would be based on that.
About the next budget’s focus, the Finance Minister said the emphasis was on energy and transportation over the last five to six years and this time the focus would be shifted on social development,
health, education and sanitation. Muhith, however, said energy and transportation would continue to have the larger stakes of the allocations.
He reiterated that the size of the next budget would be around Tk 3 lakh crore where the budget deficit would remain below five percent of the GDP.
Citing Bangladesh as the lone country in the world where poverty is declining alongside discriminations, Muhith said, “I’m quite certain there’ll be no poverty in the country by 2018.”
In this connection, he said when the poverty rate in the country was 30 percent, the extreme poverty rate came down to 17-18 percent. Then with the decline of poverty rate to 24 percent, the extreme poverty rate came down at 9-11 percent.
The Finance Minister said, a certain percentage of population would always remain dependent on the state like the old, invalid and the disabled.
About the madrasah education system, the Finance Minister noted that the Alia Madrasahs are doing well as those syllabuses are modern.
But, in the case of the Qawmi Madrasahs, he observed that it is very difficult for the government to exert influence on them as such madrasahs refuse to take fund from the government.
“The system of Qawmi Madrasahs is terribly dangerous in Bangladesh and we’ve to find ways how to draw people away from Qawmi Madrasahs,” he added.
About the concern of some NGO representatives over the Metro Rail, Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant and Rampal coal-fired power plant projects, Muhith said the Metro Rail project is ‘going to happen’ as it is necessary.
He also hinted at considering something in the next budget for plain land ethnic groups and providing assistance to mobile health service providers.
During the pre-budget meeting, the NGO representatives demanded materializing the gender responsive budget, enhancing allocation in education and health sectors, formulating master and structural plans on the environment and rail transport sector, reestablishing the new Detailed Area Plan (DAP), forming women’s bank for women’s empowerment, enhancing allocations in safety net programmes, giving proper attention to urban poverty, slum dwellers, providing stipend to female students in urban areas.
Former UGC chairman and current honourary chairman for Center for Urban Studies Nazrul Islam, BAPA chairman Abu Naser Khan and NGO activist Khushi Kabir, among others, raised their demands at the pre-budget meeting.
