The government has set an ambitious 7.5 per cent economic growth target for the next fiscal year (FY), 2023-24, despite various internal and external macro-economic headwinds.
The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth target is 1.47 percentage points higher than the 6.03 per cent provisional estimation in the outgoing FY.
The government also wants to enhance the per capita income to US$2,961 in the FY 2024 from that of $2,765 in the FY 2023.
"On the whole, we expect to return to a higher growth trajectory and achieve 7.5 per cent GDP growth in the coming fiscal - by investing in the productive sectors along with stimulating productivity and domestic demand," Finance Minister A H M Mustafa Kamal said in his budget speech on Thursday.
"To achieve the growth target, we will gradually come out of the contractionary policy and invest in the ongoing and new growth-inducing projects, including the mega projects," he noted.
"For this purpose, the next fiscal year budget has set a higher target of raising the public investment to 6.3 per cent of the GDP. At the same time, investment will continue to be facilitated in the economic zones with an investment-friendly environment consisting of various facilities, such as undisputed land, improved infrastructure, uninterrupted utilities, financial incentives, ease of doing business, etc."
"Development of logistics sector and reform of financial management will reduce time, cost and complexity in investment/business processing. As a result, private investment, which has decreased slightly in the current fiscal year, is expected to increase to 27.4 per cent of the GDP in the next fiscal."
The FY 2023-24 budget has been formulated with a view to accelerating growth of the economy, Mr Kamal added.
The country's remittance and export earnings have already been affected with lower growth, and the higher inflation and depleting foreign exchange reserve have severely hit the macro economy.
The shocks have already undermined the GDP growth in the FY 2023, as the BBS has estimated a 6.03 per cent expansion.
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