TK 7,61,785 cr budget for FY 2023-24 passed in parliament

The Jatiya Sangsad (JS) on Monday passed the Tk 7,61,785 crore national budget for the Fiscal Year 2023-24 with an immediate effect from July 1.

The theme of the budget is "Towards Smart Bangladesh Sustaining the Development Achievements of a Decade and a Half" aiming to build 'Smart Bangladesh' by 2041 as envisioned by the incumbent Prime Minister amid adverse impact of the Russia-Ukraine war on the economy.

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal moved the Appropriations Bill, 2023 seeking a budgetary allocation of Tk1110840,76,97,000 which was passed by voice vote.

Earlier on Sunday, the House passed the Finance Bill 2023 with bringing some important changes including scarping of proposed annual tax payment of Taka 2,000 for every TIN holders.

Following the proposal mooted in the House by the Finance Ministry for the parliamentary approval of appropriation of funds for meeting necessary development and non-development expenditures of the government, the ministers concerned placed justifications for the expenditures by their respective ministries through 59 demands for grant.

Earlier, the House rejected by voice vote a total of 502 cut-motions that stood in the name of opposition members on 59 demands for grants for different ministries. Highest allocation was Taka 46703,92,00,000 proposed for the local government division while the lowest was Taka 32,20,00,000 for the President Offices.

A total of ten MPs from the Jatiya Party, Gono Forum, and Independent submitted their cut motions on the budget.

They are Fakhrul Imam, Rustam Ali Farazi, Mujibul Huq, Mokabbir Khan, Shamim Haider Patwari, Begum Rawshan Ara Mannan, Pir Fazlur Rahman, Kazi Feroz Rashid, Hafiz Uddin Ahmed and Rezaul Karim Bablu.

They were, however, allowed to participate in the discussion on the Commerce Ministry and the Health Service Department.

Later, Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury applied guillotine to quicken the process of passing the demands for grants for different ministries.

Opposition and independent MPs were present at the House when the Appropriation Bill was passed in Parliament and they did not object to the passage of the bill.

The finance minister on June 1 placed a Tk7,61,785 crore-national budget for FY2023-24.

This is Kamal's fifth budget and the 52nd budget of the Bangladesh government.

The proposed budget has kept the GDP growth target at 7.5% and the GDP size is estimated at Tk 50,06,782 crore.

The proposed budget will be 15.2 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), according to the budget speech of the finance minister.

Of the total proposed budget, Tk 436,247 crore is allocated for operating expenditures, and the rest Tk 277,582 crore, for development purposes.

The revenue target is set at Tk5 lakh crore, while the budget deficit is Tk2,61,785 crore or 5.2% of GDP. The average inflation in the budget was kept at 6.0%.