BD to be poverty-free by 2030, says minister

FE Report | Published: May 31, 2015 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00

Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal has expressed his confidence that the country will be free from poverty and emerge as one of leading world economies well before the stipulated time in 2030 and 2050 respectively.
He said the government is trying to formulate a budget to make changes for heading towards that goal.
"We will certainly be equal to Malaysia and other countries as we are in transition," he said as the chief guest while addressing a certificate-giving ceremony of a training programme on the budget at the conference room of the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industries (MCCI) in Dhaka on Saturday.
Organised by the Economic Reporters Forum (ERF), the ceremony was addressed by MCCI president Syed Nasim Manzur as special guest and was chaired by ERF President Sultan Mahmud. ERF secretary general Sajjadur Rahman also spoke on the occasion.
The planning minister said a bottom-up approach helps a country to get a more successful budget than top-down approach as the former involves people in budget preparation.
The minister called upon the journalists to guide the government through their understanding and knowledge of different aspects of the economy through reporting during preparation of the budget.
The MCCI president said the business community plays a significant role in preparing the budget but the journalists' role is about creating mass opinion.
He lauded the media for pre-budget reporting on different tax measures facilitating industries which would also help make the next fiscal budget well-taken.
About 50 economic reporters of different media houses took part in the daylong training programme. Member-secretary of the Planning Commission Arastoo Khan, Director General of the Tax Academy Ranjan Kumar Bhowmik, first secretary of VAT Dr Mohammad Abdur Rouf, First Secretary of Customs Mohammad Ehteshamul Hoque and Head of Reporting Prothom Ali Showkat Hossain Masum attended the training session as resource persons.
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