Budget fate depends on politics

The implementation of the proposed budget for the next fiscal year depends largely on political stability, FBCCI President Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed yesterday said.
Political agitations and protests have negative impacts on investment, import and production at the factories, thus hold back the whole economy, he said, adding the politicians should practise political tolerance.
The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) will continue its efforts to mediate between the ruling Awami League and the main opposition BNP and persuade them to sit for dialogues, he told reporters while giving formal reactions to the 2013-14 fiscal budget.
"We attempted several times to meet the leader of the opposition [Khaleda Zia]" but did not get any schedule, he added.
The apex trade body in a meeting on June 11 will also urge President Abdul Hamid to hold dialogues between the two political parties.
The budget is realistic but the government will face some challenges in implementing it, Akram said. He, however, thanked the prime minister for allocating funds for the Padma bridge.
It requires further analysis to detemine whether the target of Tk 1,36,090 crore revenue could be met by the National Board of Revenue (NBR) and also how the country will earn Tk 5,129 crore non-NBR revenue in the next fiscal while political situation is expected to get worse in the months before the next polls, he said.
The FBCCI chief urged the government to enhance the administrative efficiency of the NBR. He also said the government would need right planning, execution, monitoring and good governance for implementing the budget.
Finance Minister AMA Muhith on Thursday proposed a Tk 222,491 crore annual budget for fiscal 2013-14.