An economic think-tank suggests executing budgetary measures like tax cuts, preventing hoarding and closely monitoring pricing to tame inflation fuelled largely by global price rises.
The South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (SANEM) also recommends measuring out the total food stock in public and private silos and other reserves under a contingency planning to ensure prompt supply in crunch time.
It seeks such a detailed action plan in the budget to contain growing inflation to avoid an additional pressure on low-and fixed-income people.
Due to current supply-chain disruptions caused by the Russia-Ukraine war, it says, the government can reduce taxes on essential food imports and strengthen market monitoring to stabilise prices.
The research entity also exhorts the government to indentify and punish money-launderers instead of facilitating them to bring the bucks back home.
The suggestions were made by the SANEM leaders at a press conference arranged Monday to give its thoughts on the proposed FY2023 budget.
SANEM executive director Dr Selim Raihan and research director Dr Sayema Haque Bidisha delved into different aspects of the upcoming budget at the programme.
The government has set a target to keep inflation within 5.6 per cent in the next fiscal but how it will be done has scantily been specified, cites Dr Raihan.
"There is no detailed plan in the proposed budget on how the government will tackle food inflation amid further global supply-chain disruption, energy price rise and intensified effects of the pandemic."
To contain food inflation triggered mostly by external reasons, he suggests that tax cuts in food import should be executed in the budget.
He also pushes for continuous drive against hoarding, better market price monitoring and widening social safety-net programmes to stabilise food prices.
Besides, SANEM recommended measuring grain and other food stocks under the state management and the private sector so that decisions can be made before any supply crunch hits the market.
Citing a remittance downtrend for months, Dr Raihan says dollar's exchange rate has been increasing fast while its kerb-market rate is higher than bank rate.
For that reason, he argues, expatriates are sending their money through informal channels for better rates.
Under the circumstances, SANEM suggests the government lower incentive on remittances to 1.0 per cent from the proposed 2.5 per cent in next fiscal.
Referring to 2.5-per cent corporate tax cuts, Dr Raihan says the proposed budget will mostly benefit large industries while there is little hope for small and medium enterprises hit hard by the pandemic.
The SANEM also urges the government to lower cash assistance to the garment industry and divert the funds to new promising sectors for export diversification.
Opposing amnesty to launderers to bring back laundered money from abroad, Dr Raihan says, "The authorities concerned should take legal action against money launderers instead of facilitating them." Dr Bidisha in her presentation suggests that feasibility studies be done on long-term projects and projects with higher allocations in a bid to determine financing priority and reduce unnecessary spending.
Urging the government to zoom safety-net coverage, she says a fair chunk of allocation will be spent on pension, interest and stipend payments while the rest is not enough to cover all eligible support-seekers.
Given high inflation, Ms Bidisha says, it is needed to raise per-capita allocation for core programmes like old-age allowance which is only Tk 500 now.
Allocation to open-market sale has been slashed to Tk 17.20 billion from Tk 19.43 billion in FY2022 which will put pressure on needy people. Besides, the SANEM suggests evaluating execution rates of annual development plan in different ministries for efficient use of budgetary allocations.
ahb_mcj2009@yahoo.com
© 2026 - All Rights with The Financial Express
