Although this year's budget promises to reduce inflation to 6.5 per cent, there is no clear direction to achieve this goal.
Besides, in the absence of special initiatives for investment and job creation, it will be difficult to achieve economic stability.
Dr AB Mirza Azizul Islam made the observations at a programme on Saturday.
The tax administration lacks good governance and efficiency. As a result, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) is not able to collect taxes as per the target.
Even half of the Taxpayer's Identification Number (TIN) holders in the country do not file income tax returns. The NBR may enquire about the matter, he also said.
Repayment of the existing foreign debt will be a challenge, the economist said.
"The information given by the Bangladesh Bank about defaulted loans is not correct. Hiding information is an obstacle to good governance."
Mr Islam, also finance adviser to the former caretaker government, was speaking as the chief guest at the Shadow Parliament debate competition on the proposed budget for 2024-25 in the city.
He said excessive credit dependence on domestic banks for budget financing will disrupt entrepreneurship development and employment.
"There are reasons to be concerned and worried about the current situation of reserves. But the situation like Sri Lanka has not happened yet."
In addition to regional disparities in poverty alleviation, disparities between urban and rural areas are increasing.
Marginalised groups are deprived of the benefits of social security programmes due to political considerations and the dominance of local influential in determining the beneficiaries of social security programmes, according to the economist. The event was organised by Debate for Democracy with its chairman Hasan Ahmed Chowdhury Kiran in the chair.
Mr Kiran said the budget for the fiscal year 2024-25 has been presented at a very difficult time amid various challenges, including rises in commodity prices, a shortage of reserves, high value of the dollar, chaos in the financial sector, money laundering and widespread corruption.
Although various crises are mentioned in the proposed budget, there is no strategic clarity to overcome them, he also said. "There is no proper action to prevent money laundering; checking corruption, reducing wastage and controlling inflation. But the budget showed a table of additional tax collection on regular taxpayers without increasing the pressure on tax evaders."
Bangladesh University of Business and Technology debaters defeated Comilla University in the competition titled "Proposed Budget Will Help to Maintain Economic Stability".
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