Rejaul Karim Byron

The government is setting aside Tk 1,45,000 crore in the next fiscal year’s programme for social safety net schemes, up 14.4 percent year-on-year, with about 9.7 percent of the sum going towards the BNP’s flagship Family Card programme.

The government will allocate Tk 1,26,125 crore for subsidies and incentives in the upcoming fiscal year’s budget, with 55 percent going towards electricity and fertiliser.

The government is planning to form a high-level committee to implement and monitor the action plans it has committed to the United Nations Committee for Development Policy (UN CDP), as part of efforts to ensure a smooth graduation from the least developed country (LDC) group.

The government expects the country’s gross foreign currency reserves to hit a record $51.4 billion by the end of next fiscal year, provided that remittance inflow is strong and interest rates high.

The government is setting a high growth target for the next fiscal year, banking on the possibility of stability returning to the Middle East by June next year and the expansionary fiscal and monetary policies being pursued.

The government is set to move away from its reliance on domestic borrowing to fund the budget deficit next fiscal year and go for foreign borrowing in a bid to free up resources for the private sector and contain inflationary pressures, according to the draft budget plan.

The Asian Development Bank will provide $5 billion to Bangladesh over the next five years to implement a special 20-year economic corridor plan that would create jobs, improve connectivity and promote more balanced regional growth.

FY26 debt servicing to cost $30.59b, says IMF

The government has decided to exit the existing $5.5 billion loan programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and move toward negotiating a new arrangement instead.

Bangladesh’s state-owned enterprises (SOEs) drained about Tk 88,200 crore from the national exchequer in a single year, emerging as one of the country’s biggest fiscal risks, according to a World Bank study.

The government is in talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over a new three-year loan programme to replace the existing arrangement, whose terms are in conflict with the ruling BNP’s election pledges.

The government officials, pensioners, and MPO-listed teachers and staff are set to get a new pay scale from July 1 after the committee led by Cabinet Secretary Nasimul Ghani recommended the rollout of the revised pay scale.

The government has created a five-year plan that aims to turn Bangladesh into a trillion-dollar economy by 2034 and create 1 crore jobs by 2030, driven by an upsurge in investment.

The government is planning to form a capital market reform commission to bring transparency and restore investor confidence, according to officials at the Ministry of Finance.

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.

Eight projects have been identified for repurposing, and officials expect funds by June once respective ministries complete technical procedures and send proposals to the WB

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.

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).

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

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).