Ahsan Habib

The government’s ambition to build a trillion-dollar economy by 2034 will remain out of reach without urgent reforms in banking, taxation, and business costs, as the country’s current economic structure is too weak to sustain the level of growth required, a leading economist said.

Climate budgeting in Bangladesh must become more knowledge-based and technically stronger to help the country access global climate financing more effectively, said Sharmind Neelormi, professor in the Department of Economics at Jahangirnagar University.

Bangladesh’s next national budget should focus on strengthening economic resilience rather than increasing spending, said Zahid Hussain, former lead economist at the World Bank’s Dhaka office.

Ahead of the fiscal year 2026-27 (FY27) national budget, the government faces mounting fiscal pressure amid high inflation and low investment at a time when the global geopolitical situation remains volatile, said Prof Mustafizur Rahman, distinguished fellow at the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD).

In an interview, Sayema Haque Bidisha, a professor at the economics department and also a former pro-vice-chancellor of Dhaka University,

The country is not short of money for development projects. Instead, it is suffering from weak project planning, poor coordination and a culture that values expenditure over outcomes, according to AK Enamul Haque, director general (DG) of the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS).

Nineteen years ago, BNP finance minister M Saifur Rahman placed a national budget of Tk 69,740 crore for fiscal year 2006-07. Three governments have since come and gone, and BNP has now returned to power through a national election.

Planning Division proposes Tk 3 lakh crore development budget for FY27