Budget positive for businesses, says FBCCI
Friday, 12 June 2009
FE Report
The country's apex trade body in its instant reaction termed the proposed budget as being positive for the business people as the government has increased allocation in most of the sectors.
The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI), however, expressed concern over the size of the provision for bank borrowings in the budget to meet deficits.
"It's quite a positive budget for the business community as the finance minister tried his best to keep higher allocation in every sector," Annisul Haq, president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI), told reporters.
He said, "It's a big budget and is 15 per cent higher than the previous budget. So, it is ambitious and it would be a daunting task for the government to implement."
"The bank borrowing will rise substantially to fill up the budget deficit, which is 5.0 per cent of the total gross domestic product (GDP) and that is really of deep concern," he added.
"To make the budget proposals successful, the government will have to increase revenue collection. In this regard, the government needs help from the business people," he said.
In the budget speech, Finance Minister AMA Muhith has set the target for revenue collection at Tk 794.61 billion. Muhith proposed to meet the deficit through loans totalling Tk 205.55 billion from internal sources while another Tk 138.03 billion would be mobilized from overseas support.
"So far we heard the budget speech, most of our demands have been considered," he said adding "we'll give our full reaction Saturday after going through the budget in detail."
This year the budget consists of a new idea - public private partnership (PPP) - for infrastructure development in the country, he said and welcomed the introduction of the new concept in the budget.
A block allocation of Tk 22.00 billion in the new budget for the new PPP sector will be utilised to fund six projects, including building Dhaka-Chittagong express highway, sky railway skirting Dhaka City, underground railway in the capital and the Dhaka City elevated expressway under the communications ministry .
The country's apex trade body in its instant reaction termed the proposed budget as being positive for the business people as the government has increased allocation in most of the sectors.
The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI), however, expressed concern over the size of the provision for bank borrowings in the budget to meet deficits.
"It's quite a positive budget for the business community as the finance minister tried his best to keep higher allocation in every sector," Annisul Haq, president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI), told reporters.
He said, "It's a big budget and is 15 per cent higher than the previous budget. So, it is ambitious and it would be a daunting task for the government to implement."
"The bank borrowing will rise substantially to fill up the budget deficit, which is 5.0 per cent of the total gross domestic product (GDP) and that is really of deep concern," he added.
"To make the budget proposals successful, the government will have to increase revenue collection. In this regard, the government needs help from the business people," he said.
In the budget speech, Finance Minister AMA Muhith has set the target for revenue collection at Tk 794.61 billion. Muhith proposed to meet the deficit through loans totalling Tk 205.55 billion from internal sources while another Tk 138.03 billion would be mobilized from overseas support.
"So far we heard the budget speech, most of our demands have been considered," he said adding "we'll give our full reaction Saturday after going through the budget in detail."
This year the budget consists of a new idea - public private partnership (PPP) - for infrastructure development in the country, he said and welcomed the introduction of the new concept in the budget.
A block allocation of Tk 22.00 billion in the new budget for the new PPP sector will be utilised to fund six projects, including building Dhaka-Chittagong express highway, sky railway skirting Dhaka City, underground railway in the capital and the Dhaka City elevated expressway under the communications ministry .