Muhith unveils Tk 2.5t national budget today

Finance Minister A M A Muhith is going to present the country's annual national budget for the fiscal year (FY) 2014-15 today (Thursday) to the Jatiyo Sangsad with an outlay of Tk 2.5 trillion.
The finance minister will unveil the budget at 3:00 pm through Power Point presentation, according to a PID handout.
It will be the first budget of the Awami League-led government's second consecutive term. It will be the 15th budget of Awami League in its four terms of governance, and the 8th for Mr Muhith as the finance minister.
The budget for the FY 15 will be Bangladesh's 43rd national budget. Tajuddin Ahmed, the country's first finance minister, presented the first one.
The FY 2015 budget is likely to be passed on June 29.
The budget with a 5.0 per cent deficit is anticipated to be the largest budget ever announced in terms of size.
To meet the deficit financing, an amount of Tk 432.77 billion will come from the domestic sources, of which Tk 312.21 billion will come from the banking system. The rest of Tk 120.56 billion will come from the non-banking system.
Economists think the budget will face many daunting challenges, including mobilising higher revenue for funding in the next FY. Besides, stimulating the private sector investment will be another big challenge for the government.
The size of the Annual Development Programme (ADP) is expected to be Tk 803.10 billion.
This budget is going to set a new record in relation with the gross domestic product (GDP).
Earlier budget sizes never exceeded 20 per cent of GDP, but this time it will be nearly 21 per cent.
According to the new budget, the economy will expand at 7.3 per cent with annual average inflation of 6.0 per cent, sources at the Finance Division said.
They also said allocation for safety net and welfare schemes may rise 11 per cent to Tk 138 billion in the budget. The subsidy expenditure is likely to be Tk 260.53 billion.
The budget will emphasise macro-economic stability through continued creation of investment opportunities, expanding and upgrading physical infrastructure, improving quality of social services, and strengthening institutional and regulatory environments.
Mr Muhith, in presenting his budget, will also provide a report to the nation regarding performance of various sectors, including macro-economic perspective, estimates of revenue income, estimates of expenditure, power and energy, agricultural and rural development.
Revenue earning in the budget is expected to be Tk 1.82 trillion, while NBR's revenue target collection is Tk 1.497 trillion, a 20 per cent higher that that of the outgoing fiscal year.
The target for tax-GDP ratio in the budget has been set at 13.7 per cent for the next fiscal.
The tax-GDP ratio was 13.3 per cent in the outgoing FY against the target of 14.1 per cent based on the old base year of 1995-96.
Mr. Muhith is likely to announce some measures for implementation of special economic zones to boost investment.
Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) director (research) Dr. Zaid Bakht said raising private investment is very important for the next fiscal, as it will help expand the economy.
"The economic growth will not be achieved without a big jump in private sector investment."
He said the government has been implementing many big projects over the last few years. After their successful implementation, private investment might be attracted.
Political uncertainty is also looming, and it might affect the investment, he opined.
BIDS director general Dr Mustafa K Mujeri said the government will face a major challenge in mobilising revenue through NBR.
"NBR has failed to achieve its target in the outgoing fiscal. The challenge might prevail in the next fiscal year while the economy is still picking up. In my view, NBR's target is optimistic, but it is not unrealistic."
He also said borrowing from both domestic and external sources might emerge as one of the key challenges.
Meanwhile, the ministry of finance will receive people's feedback on the budget to ensure its widespread participation.
A post-budget media briefing will take place at the Osmani Auditorium at 4:00 pm tomorrow (Friday), where the finance minister, the finance secretary, the NBR chairman and other high officials will be present.
Like previous years, all the budget documents will be made available online, so that anyone can read and download these and send their feedback.