bdnews24.com :
Economists, bankers and businessmen have recommended setting realistic targets for the upcoming 2014-15 budget.
At a pre-budget discussion organised by the Economic Reporters’ Forum (ERF) on Saturday, they suggested that targets for revenue collection, annual development plan and the overall budget size should match the economic realities prevailing in the country.
Former caretaker government adviser AB Mirza Azizul Islam, economist Debapriya Bhattacharya, former central bank governor Salehuddin Ahmed and business leader Abdul Awal Mintoo were present among others at the event.
They recommended bringing discipline in financial management, prioritising increasing investment, redistributing and increasing allocations to education. “In my estimate the budget size should be Tk 2.35 trillion. If it reaches 2.5 trillion, it will become unrealistic,” AB Mirza Azizul Islam said.
He suggested reducing the government’s private sector borrowing and utilising foreign aid.
“Right now there is $18 billion foreign aid in the pipeline, which is equal to what Bangladesh has used in the last 10-11 years. If you pull out money from the banking sector instead, the cost of loans goes up. Also, borrowing from the banks means we are putting our future at risk,” he said.
He recommended cutting down on public administration and military budget.
“We all know how productive the public administration is. But the budget allocation in this sector cannot be decreased this time. It has to be done in phases.” Former central bank governor Salehuddin Ahmed stressed on a ‘performance budget’ rather than an ‘incremental’ one.
“It’s hard for a country like Bangladesh, but we should tread that path. Emphasis should be given to those sectors which perform better,” he added. The former Bangladesh Bank chief stressed the need to organise the financial sector.
“Or else it would affect the real sector…everybody knows where the problem lies. Measures have to be taken according to that. There shouldn’t be any political or bureaucratic matters in the financial sector,” he said.
Economist Debapriya Bhattacharya, who is with the private think-tank Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), said that the market and the administration have no faith on the figures provided in the budget.
“It’s questionable now whether the government wants to achieve the targets it sets,” he said.
