Budget passed with small tweaks

The parliament yesterday passed the budget of Tk 295,100 crore for fiscal 2015-16, with the highest allocation given to the local government division.

The local government division got Tk 18,872 crore, followed by the defence ministry at Tk 18,377 crore.

Among other significant ministries and divisions, the education ministry received Tk 17,113 crore, power division Tk 16,503 crore, and the primary and mass education ministry Tk 14,504 crore.

Both Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Opposition Leader of the Parliament Rowshan Ershad were present at the passage of the budget proposal. The session was chaired by Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, speaker of the parliament.

Finance Minister AMA Muhith brought in some changes to the budget he proposed on June 4 in his concluding remarks on Monday.

In his wrap-up speech, Muhith criticised those who termed the budget an ambitious one. The government wants to take the GDP growth to 8 percent by the end of its current tenure, due to which the budget size will progressively get bigger, he said.

In fiscal 2009-10, the size of the budget was 14.3 percent of GDP and in fiscal 2015-16 it was 17.2 percent.

The government will take several steps from next fiscal year to ensure that the allocations for the ministries and divisions are properly utilised.

The minister also said a permanent secretary level committee will be formed for implementation of various projects.

A project directors' pool will also be formed with skilled and experienced officials for quick implementation of the development projects, he added.

The budget, which will take effect from today, has outlined a gross expenditure of Tk 415,308 crore and net expenditure of Tk 295,100 crore.