UNB, Dhaka :Finance Minister AMA Muhith on Thursday said the size of the national budget for the upcoming 2016-2017 fiscal is likely to be of Tk 3.4 lakh crore.”The size of next budget may be of some Tk 3.40 lakh crore and there may be a target of over 7 percent GDP growth,” he said while addressing a pre-budget discussion at NEC auditorium in the city.The minister said in the next budget, there will be separate allocation for mega projects under the name of the ‘Capital Programme for Mega Projects’.Finance Secretary Dr Mahbub Ahmed said the GDP growth was 6.55 percent in the 2014-’15 fiscal. “But this year we can achieve 7 percent GDP growth.” Saying that macroeconomic condition is stable and normal, he said the reserve now stands at 28.1 billion dollar.Noted economist Dr Wahiduddin Mahmud said a number of mega projects are being taken for social transformation, which is very important. “But there is uncertainty about when the projects are kicked off and implemented.” He said the size of theupcoming budget should be large. The budget size should be increased as per capacity as prices of fuels and other raw materials stand at lowest level in the international market now. Pointing at the finance minister, he said there is scope for announcing a big budget, which is exactly needed now. “You have resources (for big budget) as well. There is scope and challenge for the big budget simultaneously,” he said.Jamal Uddin of Bangladesh Orthoniti Samity suggested increasing the budgetary allocation for railway sector adding that trains are safe. State Minister for Finance and Planning MA Mannan, Chairman of National Board of Revenue Md Nojibur Rahman, and BIDS Senior Research Fellows Dr Sazzad Zahir and Dr Nazneen Ahmed were, among others, present in the discussion.
