Finance Minister A M A Muhith said Wednesday the government will start decentralisation of budgetary process from next year as part of its policy to decentralise both government and power.
"The main goal of the present Awami League-led government's future activities is to decentralise power," the minister said.
He said these while briefing reporters after a meeting with the International Business Forum, Bangladesh (IBFB) leaders at his secretariat office.
The ministry is working to prepare district budgets for seven districts next year, and the districts will implement those budgets themselves, Muhith said.
"It is an established truth that if a development-related decision is taken at the local level, the work can be implemented easily and properly."
The minister said the country is fortunate, as it could successfully maintain a satisfactory economic growth despite recession across the world.
Muhith lauded the private sector for its role, saying that it has been the catalyst for economic growth, because the economy's 80 per cent is operated by private sector.
The IBFB leaders placed a set of suggestions for betterment of the country's business environment, including reduction of interest rate and bringing transparency in tax realisation.
They proposed to reduce yield rates of the government savings certificates and bonds, saying that commercial banks were not being able to reduce interest rate of their savings schemes due to higher yield rates of government savings instruments.
But the minister strongly opposed the proposal. He said if the yield rates of those savings instruments are cut, none would buy those.
The government undertook many initiatives to reduce the bank interest rate, but those initiatives produced no results, he concluded.
While a business leader proposed the minister to take initiatives for brining normalcy in the country's political arena, the minister said this was not his area of business.
