Inflation to remain stable this fiscal, says Muhith

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FE Report
Finance Minister AMA Muhith said Thursday inflation will remain 'stable' during the current fiscal, but declined to give any projection for the next fiscal year.
"The rate of inflation will remain stable in current fiscal, but I don't want to give the next year's projection," Mr Muhith said during a pre-budget meeting with editors and representatives of different print and electronic media at the Secretariat.
The finance minister, however, strongly defended the government decision to provide MPs (members of parliament) with duty-free car import facility, saying the lawmakers should certainly have their own transports.
"Since MPs have to move from one place to another for serving the people, they should own cars, as the same is available for some government officials and judges," he said.
Although the government had planned to provide MPs with cars from the state coffers, it could not be accomplished due to some complexities, including inadequate space of the government transport pool, a lengthy public procurment procedure and maintenance problem.
The finance minister's observation came after media representatives came down heavily on the recent government decision of giving duty-free car import facility to the MPs.
Responding to a remark on the alleged trading with the duty-free cars by MPs, the finance minister said necessary steps have been taken to stop the malpractice.
Referring to the rising prices, especially of food, a number of senior media-men drew the finance minister's attention to enact appropriate policies in this connection.
Also criticising the slow progress in the implementation of power and energy-related projects, they said no effective measures have yet been taken to address the prevailing crisis.
Editor of the daily Independent Mahbubul Alam stressed development of roads and capacity building for the sake of enhancing the country's connectivity.
Deputy Editor of the Financial Express (FE) Shamsul Haque Zahid drew the finance minister attention to the government's mechanism for adjustment of increased subsidy for purchasing electricity from rental power plants at high rates in the next budget.
"The government will need to pay Tk 13 to Tk 14 per unit of electricity from rental plants whereas, the sales price will range between Tk 3.0 and Tk 4.0 per unit," Mr Zahid said.
Responding to it, the finance minister said: "The government is considering the use of furnace oil… We will definitely require raising the volume of subsidy."
Citing the recent directive of the Bangladesh Bank to all scheduled banks not to provide loans for tobacco farming, the FE deputy editor said it seems contradictory to the government policy towards the industry.
There should be a clear policy on tobacco as the sector has been contributing a significant amount in tax to the exchequer, he mentioned.
About the proposed introduction of tax cards, Mr Zahid observed that before introducing the same it was important to assess whether or not sufficient utility services could be ensured to the increased number of tax-card holders.
Channel i head of news Shaikh Siraj observed that the farmers would benefit little from the procurement prices of paddy and rice - which have been fixed at Tk 17 and Tk 25 per kg respectively - mainly due to a significant increase in the irrigation cost this year.
Mr Siraj also underscored the need for a prudent government policy, especially for ensuring fair prices of crops for local farmers.
The daily Bhorer Kagoj editor Shyamal Dutta observed that many of the country's crises was the result of 'management problem.'
The media representatives, among others, also identified traffic congestions, weakness in statistics department as major areas of concern.