The interim government is expecting 5.25 per cent growth of the gross domestic product (GDP) at the end of the current fiscal year.
The original budget of the fiscal year 2024-25 set a target to attain 6.75 per cent GDP growth.
The government's revised growth target is significantly higher than the one the World Bank projected in October at 4 per cent, driven by subdued investment and industrial sector activities.
Also, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in late October, while unveiling the World Economic Outlook, cut down Bangladesh's growth projection to 4.5 per cent for the current fiscal year, down from its April projection of around 6.6 per cent.
Officials said the government on Monday at a meeting of the coordination committee on fiscal, monetary, and currency exchange and resource management had decided to cut down the current fiscal's budget by Tk 300 billion.
The original outlay for the current fiscal year is Tk 7.97 trillion. Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed chaired the meeting held online and also prepared an outline of the budget for the new fiscal year where containing inflation was put at the top of the priority list.
Officials said the interim government was likely to prepare a Tk 8.3 trillion budget for the next fiscal year.
The GDP growth target for the fiscal year 2025-26 may be set at 5.5 per cent, compared to the present fiscal's 6.75 per cent.
Also, the government might set a target to keep inflation at 6.5 per cent in the new fiscal year, officials said.
Neither the finance adviser nor the Finance Division officials briefed newsmen after the meeting.
A senior Finance Division official told The Financial Express the government would not increase the next budget's size a lot, but at the same time "won't let economic growth and investment get affected due to the excessive tightening".
Asked about the possible measures to be taken to contain inflation, the official said fiscal and monetary tools would be used to keep commodity prices under control.
He said commodity prices were going down worldwide while exchange rates were expected to remain stable.
Moreover, he said, remittance inflow was "very well" and the government was expecting double-digit growth this fiscal year. Also, the government was expecting a significantly positive growth in goods export, the official added.
He further said the government was expecting $4 billion of budget support this fiscal year from the multilateral and bilateral development partners, adding the first assistance might be added to the exchequer by this month.
"These will help keep the forex reserve position very well," the official said.
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