This budget is framed realistically within the means and for easing people's life, sans growth hypes of yesteryears, interim government's high-ups said to defend its maiden budgetary measures with curtailed spending on fund-guzzling development schemes.
At a post-budget press meet Tuesday at the Osmani Memorial Auditorium in Dhaka, Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed said the proposed national budget for 2025-26 is "realistic, pragmatic and implementable" in the present context.
He noted that the interim government inherited a financial sector in near-collapse when it assumed office in August 2024.
"The country was in the ICU (Intensive Care Unit) especially the financial sector," he told inquisitive finance reporters.
"You will hardly find another case in the world where banks' sponsors siphoned off nearly 70 per cent of funds, including depositors' money."
The press event was attended by other key members of the interim cabinet, including Commerce Adviser Sheikh Bashiruddin, Agriculture and Home Adviser Lt-General (Retd.) Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, Planning Adviser Dr Wahiduddin Mahmud and Power and Energy Adviser Dr Fouzul Kabir Khan, Cabinet Secretary Dr Sheikh Abdur Rashid, Finance Secretary Dr Md. Khairuzzaman Majumder, NBR Chairman Md. Abdur Rahman Khan and Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Ahsan H. Mansur.
The finance adviser said the country had been "on the edge of an abyss," particularly in financial governance, when the interim administration took over.
"What would have happened had we not intervened? We've made efforts to bring the economy back into a relatively stable position."
He acknowledges that repatriating stolen money takes time.
"Look at the Philippines -- it took them 18 years to recover the looted assets of Ferdinand Marcos. But the process has begun here," he mentioned, without disclosing specific details.
On budgeting strategy, Dr Ahmed notes that resources are limited, but demand is enormous. "In economics, there's the theory of Pareto Optimality -- improving one person's welfare often requires compromising another's. We tried to strike a balance."
He said the focus now shifted from a narrative of high growth to inclusive wellbeing.
"For years, we heard about GDP growth. But who really benefited from it? Our goal this time is to improve people's standard of living, enhance purchasing power, and allow businesses to breathe."
Despite multiple structural challenges -- inflation, revenue shortfalls, energy crises, and a troubled banking system -- the budget size remains unchanged.
"We didn't prepare a revolutionary budget, but we laid the foundation for realistic transformation," Dr. Ahmed said.
Planning Adviser Dr Wahiduddin Mahmud points out a key concern -- debt servicing -- stemming from debt buildups over the years heretofore.
"A significant portion of this budget is earmarked for interest payments, both domestic and external. We're caught in a debt trap, and we must find a way out."
To underscore prudence that went into the budgeting he said the current Annual Development Programme (ADP) inlaid in the budget for the forthcoming financial year 2025-26 includes over 1,100 projects with very few new ones.
"Most of the so-called 'new' projects were actually initiated by the previous government and were already in the Green Book," he told the journalists.
Efforts are underway to rationalise spending, given the prevailing context.
"We've already trimmed down the Mongla Port project, implemented by a Chinese firm, by Tk 5.0 billion -- from Tk 40 billion," he said as an example of austerity.
"We're essentially clearing the garbage left behind by the previous regime."
Dr Mahmud also criticised the Payra Port project, which lacks essential transmission systems despite having two coal-based power plants.
"We can't scrap it altogether due to prior investments."
To improve transparency, the government is drafting a Public Procurement Act, the planning adviser said.
"Right now, only three to four firms dominate government construction. This act will bring accountability."
He also announced that the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED) would become more active than in the past, for oversights on public-works projects.
"They [IMED officials] will physically visit ongoing projects to monitor progress, and misuse," he said.
Agriculture and Home Adviser Lt-General (Retd) Jahangir Alam Chowdhury said bumper harvests of Boro rice, potatoes, and onions this year created surpluses on the market, leading to lack of fair prices for the farmers.
However, for a lack of cold storage, farmers are often forced to sell at depressed prices.
"We're constructing 100 small cold storages tailored for vegetables, including cauliflower, which require specialised temperature conditions," he mentioned.
Four additional storage facilities are being developed specifically for seed potatoes, which require different temperatures.
Finance Secretary Dr Md. Khairuzzaman Majumder said the government is seeking to reduce its dependence on the banking sector to avoid crowding-out effect on private investment.
"Last year, bank borrowing was initially projected at Tk 1.37 trillion. After consultation with the central bank governor, we revised it down to Tk 990 billion," he told the press meet.
jasimharoon@yahoo.com
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