Experts find agri subsidy inadequate

Experts on Thursday observed that the agricultural subsidy proposed in the national budget for fiscal year 2014-15 is not adequate to rein in the prices of most agri inputs and will eventually lead to a rise in food prices. A major portion of the Tk 90 billion agricultural subsidy proposed in the budget will be spent for keeping the prices of fertiliser under control while the prices of seed, fuel and other agri inputs are bound to go up that will lead to an increase in the production cost as well as food prices, they noted at a post-budget briefing at the Old Senate Conference Room of Dhaka University. The briefing, titled ‘National Budget 2014-15: Issues of Food Security & Small and Marginal Farmers’, was jointly organised by Centre on Budget and Policy and Oxfam Bangladesh, according to a news agency.