Govt needs budget implementation roadmap: economist

The government should formulate a roadmap to implement the proposed budget for the next fiscal year, as questions remain about its capacity for implementation, economist Hossain Zillur Rahman said today.

The government should also publish a three-month progress report on budget implementation so that people can know its real status, he said.

Rahman was speaking at a discussion on the proposed national budget organised by the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) at Lakeshore Hotel in Dhaka.

At the event, Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury said it may take two years to stabilise the current fragile economy, with prosperity following from the fourth and fifth years.

The government has been pursuing reforms such as separating policy and execution in tax policy, with an expert panel to formulate the policy and bureaucrats to execute it, he said.

The finance minister also said the government has allocated Tk 800 crore for the creative economy to provide loans for developing theatres, sports economy, and singers, bringing them into mainstream economic activity.

He added that to implement the budget, the government will pursue market-based financing, such as issuing bonds, to reduce bank borrowing from the local banking system.