Yet when Mirza Azizul Islam will present his first budget for the caretaker government today, he will have to address a number of new and old tensions in the economy -- inflation now close to the double-digit level from its continuous upward climb, a flagging revenue and foreign aid inflow, fumbling power situation, again slowing agriculture and weak implementation capability of the government.

His options are few to tackle the nagging problem of inflation that so easily touches everyone's life. But he still has some left with fallouts in other areas. He can go for cuts in duty on commodities that are mostly consumed by the people in general. But then he would surely face some revenue erosion.

However, Aziz will be in a better position in this regard than his predecessors -- the current situation is just ideal to go harsh on plugging revenue loopholes for better collection to offset the loss in any duty and reforms can be easily accomplished. Simultaneously, he can go for increasing duty on some 'non-essential items' now enjoying zero duty.

But these will be only one part of the adviser's task. Next, he will have to make inflation bearable for the poor through a massive safety net programme -- indications are already there that dollops of funds will be allocated in that direction.

But doing these two, he will have to keep his eyes open so that aggregate fiscal balance is not disturbed -- a deficit less than 4 percent of the GDP and domestic financing less than 2 percent should be regarded as prudent by any standards. So, Aziz will need a perfect blending of tax and expenditure policies to fight the inflation dragon.

He has already shown some pragmatism rather than idealism in his tax policy -- the provision for legalising legally-earned undeclared income is just one of them that may result in a one-shot increase in the state's income. Indications are also there that the tax net will be widened and exemption loopholes plugged. But he has to do something dramatic to turn things around -- he has to simultaneously make the tax department more taxpayer-friendly and harsh at the same time, and he has to find the places for reforms.

On the spending side, Aziz will be lucky to be free from the tremendous pressure that the political finance ministers undergo for padding up development programme with unnecessary projects. Lawmakers will not be making beelines in front of his office demanding for roads and school projects that will never be implemented but the money to be pocketed by the party men. He will not have to buy votes for his party -- he does not have one -- by sacrificing financial prudence and going for a budgetary overhang that will remain only in figures on papers.

Some might term his already announced Annual Development Programme (ADP) ambitious as it inflates 23 percent from the revised one of this year. But there actually is a sea difference from the previous years' expansions. When compared to the original ADP of this year, the increase is only 1.9 percent. And the expansion is well consistent with the budget deficit target of 3.5 percent. The real difference in this year's development programme lies in the fund allocation -- a huge Tk 3,633 crore, or 31 percent higher than last year's, goes to power sector that so lamely limps along for lack of any direction in the last five years when the four-party alliance was in power. If nothing else, the future growth that could see Bangladesh as a middle-income country would depend on availability of adequate and quality power supply. And then the much grinded term 'rural development' can be given a new meaning now -- until now it mostly meant development of the party loyalists -- by channeling funds to the real needs and not to bridges that can stand unfinished for decades without the villagers ever raising a finger to them.

But what is still unclear is how the finance adviser is going to address the lax implementation capability of the line ministries -- already it has been reported that the administration has further slackened off now and piling files are just one evidence. The fact that this year Bangladesh is witnessing the lowest ADP implementation in years -- only 44 percent of the funds used in 10 months, which is 5 percent lower than last year -- is just another. Here, the caretaker government can show some spunk to sort out the age-old implementation problems -- we are all familiar with the same jargons of frequent change in project directors, delay in land acquisition and delay in negotiation with donors. Aziz can now take the bull by the horn and throw the mucks off the ring once forever. His proposal to appoint the same project director for the entire duration of the project plus six months is a step in the right direction.

A new reality for the policymakers this year may be the rediscovered importance of the agriculture sector -- a weak Boro has already sent projected growth figures on a downward course of varying degrees as estimated by different organisations and institutions. Notwithstanding the shrinking role of the agriculture in GDP -- it now counts for about 17 percent of the GDP -- the sector still employs over 50 percent of the population, and the finance adviser has to think ways of revamping the sector by pumping more money into it. Big diesel subsidy has already been incorporated in the proposed budget for the next year, it has been reported. Some other form of input subsidy may also be there. But more important now is keeping the supply chain intact, making inputs available so that predicaments like the recent fertiliser and diesel crisis at the farmers' level do not happen. The informal supply chain to the rural areas has to be brought into confidence simply because of its importance in serving the unreachable.

Despite a good industrial performance this year, Aziz will have to invent more ways to pump new life into the sector as fears of a rollback are echoed from different quarters. Banks are already saddled with more than Tk 10,000 crore in idle money and they say options are now limited for investment. Entrepreneurs are not coming forth with projects. Meantime, the risk of the capital market getting overheated is rising as new scripts are slow to hit the market. Confidence building will be just one side of the game now, but putting a relaxed interest regime and allowing more financial products will be equally important. And many of the jobs mentioned earlier such as fighting inflation will also be vital for the industry as higher inflation will surely lead to demand for wage hike, eroding competitiveness.

But transferring income to the poor so that the widening rich-poor gap can be filled may prove the adviser's toughest and trickiest job to come. The household income and expenditure survey of 2005 shows how income distribution has been skewed in half a decade to the time of survey -- the share of national income going to the bottom 5 percent of the poor has shrunk to 0.77 percent in 2005 from 0.93 percent in 2000. Income disparity is again unequally manifested across regions -- Khulna and Barisal are now the worst-off areas.

Turning eye to the agriculture and the rural non-farm sector can be one solution to bridge the rich-poor gap. On the other spectrum will be the subsidy and safety net programmes. But in the middle will remain investment in quality education that always plays a significant role in ensuring higher wages. Mirza Aziz's budget will prove if that vital link is properly served.