Black money and stock investors' capital gains are equally taxed at 15 per cent while lawmakers can import cars tax-free as the government-crafted Tk 7.97-trillion budget got through the Jatiya Sangsad (JS) on Sunday.
Overwhelming 'ayes' drowned out 'nays' by a few from the new-look opposition in the heavily treasury-dominated House over cut motions on the demands for grants placed by government ministries.
And The Appropriations Bill 2024 was then passed unanimously by voice vote to authorize the government to spend from the budget outlay for the financial year 2024-25, beginning today (July 1st).
Two cardinal goals laid down in the budget for the next fiscal are achieving a gross domestic product (GDP) growth at 6.75 per cent and taming down the nearly-double-digit inflation within 6.5-percent bracket.
Both are taken with a grain of salt, though, by independent economists who suggested a smaller budget mainly targeted at controlling inflation-fuelled high prices to spur consumption and thus ramp up economic activity.
The national budget outlay breaks down into Tk 5.32 trillion as operating and other expenses and Tk 2.65 trillion earmarked for development spending under annual development programme (ADP).
Finance Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali has set out fiscal measures to raise revenues for funding the budget, which include taxes, foreign aid and borrowing from banks and other domestic sources.
A total of Tk 5.41 trillion worth of domestic-revenue income has been estimated for FY2024-25, which accounts for 9.7 percent of the GDP. Of the revenue, the National Board of Revenue has been tasked to collect Tk 4.8 trillion while Tk 61 billion is to come from other sources.
To get the budget through parliament the finance minister placed the Appropriations Bill incorporating 59 'demands for grants' worth over Tk 12.42 trillion by different ministries and divisions.
All the demands for grants placed for allocation to meet the expenditure in the FY25 fiscal stand passed after the rejection of 251 opposition cut motions by voice vote in the House, chaired by Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury.
Leader of the House and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, visibly jubilant, was thumping her desk after the passage of the budget, as did her deputies.
Leader of the Opposition and Jatiya Party Chairman G M Quader led his side during the passage of the budget -- the 54th for Bangladesh since the country's independence in 1971.
A total of seven lawmakers -- Mujibul Huq and Hafiz Uddin Ahmed of the Jatiya Party and independent lawmakers Pankaj Nath, Md Hamidul Haque Khandker, Md. Abul Kalam, Md Suhrab Uddin and Md. Nasser Shahrear Zahedee -- placed the cut motions that failed to sail through.
Mr Mahmood Ali, a former diplomat, placed on June 6 his first budget as finance minister with the title 'Pledge towards building a happy, prosperous, developed and smart Bangladesh' attuned to the Awami League government's vision stretching over one and a half decades to 2041.
This also happens to be the first budget of the current government that assumed power through the January election this year, from which the mainstream opposition stayed away with a call for boycott.
Though the outgoing budget for the FY24 was 12.35-percent higher than the previous one, this time it is higher by 4.6 per cent than its predecessor that lapsed Sunday.
According to the finance minister, in allocating resources emphasis has been given on the resource allocation for the Annual Development Programme for investment and development of physical infrastructure.
The total expenditure framework is divided into three divisions: Social infrastructure, physical infrastructure, and common services sector.
A total of over Tk 2.07 billion is earmarked for the social infrastructure, which constitutes 25.92 per cent of the total allocation. For physical infrastructure, the sanction is little over Tk 2.16 trillion or 27.12 per cent of the total allocation. The common services sector gets about Tk 1.69 trillion, which constitutes 21.17 per cent of the total allocation.
In his wrapping-up speech on Saturday last the finance minister told the parliament that he tried to strike a balance between two contradictory goals: to keep the growth momentum on track through expansion and to contain inflation through contraction.
He holds the hope that implementation of this budget will bring the economy back to pre-Covid level.
Economists, however, criticized the budget for 'absence of guidelines in containing the unbearable inflation and unrealistic revenue-mobilisation target'.
"This budget mirrors previous ones and fails to introduce adequate steps and direction to address the crises arising during this transitional period," the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) noted, adding that social-security benefits for the down-and-outs have not seen significant increases.
The independent policy think-tank believes suddenly increasing the revenue board's target without proper preparation is impractical. The organisation also contends that the budget targets are disconnected from reality.
Also says it: there is no clear explanation in the budget on how to reduce inflation. Bringing inflation down to 6.5 per cent from 9.7 per cent within a year is a considerable challenge.
According to the CPD, while the revenue-collection target has been set higher to meet IMF conditions, achieving it is improbable. The real indicators do not align with the GDP, inflation, reserves, and revenue targets proposed in the budget.
In total, 235 lawmakers took part in budget discussion in the House, where Treasury members have an absolute majority. None of the Treasury bench members found faults whatsoever in the budget allocation.
The Jatiya Party with its few members took part in the discussion. In his speech Leader of the Opposition G M Quader lambasted the government for its "failure" in fiscal management.
"The banking sector was ruined, and is bleeding. So, further borrowing from the banking sector would make the sector more vulnerable," he told the House.
His deputies from the JP were also critical about a surge in default loan, "unbridled corruption".
However, the Leader of the House and Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, confidently told the lawmakers on Saturday that her government is adept in addressing the budget challenges and implementation of this budget will take the country one step ahead.
She also pledged to deal with graft unsparingly, as the opposition was vocal about recent developments.
mirmostafiz@yahoo.com