Bangladesh National Budget 2018-19
Budget pro-people: AL
Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader today said the proposed budget for fiscal 2019-20 is pro-people and there is no negativity in it.
JS passes national budget FY 2018-19
The Jatiya Sangsad passes the proposed Tk 4,64,573 crore national budget for 2018-19 fiscal year.
Minister suggests lowering prices of liquor
Housing and Public Works Minister Engr Mosharraf Hossain suggests cutting down customs duty on liquor for the sake of flourishing tourism in the country.
No VAT on remittance: NBR
No VAT or tax has been imposed on remittance in the proposed budget for 2018-19 fiscal year, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) says.
Why silent on troubled banks?
In a rare show of anger and frustration, some ruling party and opposition lawmakers blasted the finance minister in parliament yesterday for his complete silence on the widespread irregularities in the banking sector during his budget speech.
MPs blast Muhith for bank scams
Opposition and some of the ruling party lawmakers in the parliament criticises Finance Minister AMA Muhith for not stating any measures in the proposed budget for fiscal 2018-19 against irregularities in the financial and banking sectors.
No directions on SDGs in proposed budget: SANEM
The proposed budget for fiscal 2018-19 does not have any directions to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (SANEM) says.
Challenging but achievable
With the budget implementation rate falling consistently for the last seven fiscal years, Finance Minister AMA Muhith yesterday said the government would achieve the targets in the proposed budget even though its execution starts in an election year.
Tax measures to hurt middle class
The proposed budgetary measures for fiscal 2018-19 will benefit the high and low income people, leaving the middle- and lower middle-class, which form the majority of Bangladesh's population, strained, said the Centre for Policy Dialogue yesterday.
No cheers in tax measures
Every year when the budget is placed in the parliament, Taufiq Hasan, a 35-year-old private sector employee, gets all worked up about which products and services he would have to pay more the following fiscal year.
Budget not realistic: analysts
The proposed budget for the next fiscal year is unrealistic, as it lacks significant structural and policy changes, analysts said in their immediate reaction yesterday.
No prescription for 'slow' virus
Fast-track projects, as the title suggests, are supposed to be implemented at breakneck speed because they boost economic activities once they are complete.
Jute mills to be revived by PPP initiatives
The government will bring an end to the vulnerable situation public jute mills are in by running those under the public private partnership (PPP) model.
A little for stock investors
A corporate tax cut for listed banks, insurance companies and financial institutions and announcement of development measures for the bond market are the only achievements of stock investors from the budget announced for FY 2018-19.
Corporate tax to rise for apparel
The proposed rise in corporate tax will hurt the flow of fresh investment into the garment sector as entrepreneurs will feel discouraged to inject fresh funds, said the top leader of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) yesterday.
Health sector uncared for
Asad Kazi of Bagerhat was advised dialysis for kidney disease. His wife Hawa told doctors that they wanted medicinal treatment as dialysis would cost them Tk 7,000 a month on average.
Education lacks due attention
As the government had formulated National Education Policy immediately after coming to power in 2009, educationists started advocating for spending at least six percent of the GDP for education.
DIGITAL SERVICES: When popular, made pricier
Customer will have to pay more for products and service bought from one's mobile phone as the government yesterday introduced a 5 percent value-added tax on those from next fiscal year and also raised the surcharge on handset imports.
Lofty goals, fragile base
It looks like another repeat story. We had a big budget that failed to achieve its targets. Now we are pushing for a bigger one with higher targets. But with the ground reality remaining the same, are we to see a story foretold for the next year?
