The health budget proposed yesterday did not address the issue of rising expenditure of healthcare in the country that forces some four to five million people into poverty every year, analysts said.

A look at the revised budget for the outgoing financial year and its state of implementation up to the month of March reconfirm the main weakness of our financial management, namely, the persistently low revenue mobilisation that routinely misses its target.

Gani Mia is a farmer with no land of his own. He grows paddy, jute and other crops in others’ fields. His story, though fictitious, is in school textbooks and etched in the minds of many. It stands true for a large number of the country’s farmers, especially the marginal ones.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday presented parts of the national budget as Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal fell sick halfway through his speech.

In a push to widen the social safety net, the government decided to include all registered differently abled people, and more marginalised and vulnerable ones under its protection.

All eyes were on fever-stricken Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal as he stepped into parliament to unveil his maiden national budget yesterday.

Hope is there so is Worry

Mobile phone services are likely to become costlier from today due to increased taxes. The National Board of Revenue sent a regulatory order to the mobile carries to increase the supplementary duty (SD) to 10 percent from 5 from midnight yesterday.

Shifting from its initial plan to slap a uniform rate, the government has finally proposed four rates of Value Added Tax to please businesspeople and take them on board to implement the new VAT law from the next fiscal year.

The government should support the garment exporters by devaluing taka against US dollar instead of giving them direct cash incentives, two economists said yesterday.

David Warner scored his first international century since completing a ball-tampering ban as Australia returned to winning ways at the World Cup with a 41-run victory over Pakistan at Taunton on Wednesday.

A precariously placed Bangladesh team reached Taunton yesterday, where they will attempt to get their World Cup campaign back on track by winning their next match against the West Indies on June 17.

The Newspaper Owners’ Association of Bangladesh (Noab) yesterday expressed concern over the 9th Wage Board proposal, saying such “unrealistic” proposals will create a great crisis in the newspaper industry which is going through a hard time.

The notion that many staffers of the Anti-Corruption Commission are involved in corruption is not completely false, said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in parliament yesterday.

Tax and fiscal policies framed and applied by the government are not progressive enough to reduce inequality in the society, said analysts.

Although Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Mizanur Rahman admitted that he had bribed a top ACC official, the authorities were yet to take any action against the much talked-about police official.

Mobile phone users might have to spend more as the National Board of Revenue is expected to seek a hike in the supplementary duty (SD) on calls, data and other services in the coming fiscal year, said officials.

The Bangladesh economy is taxing for take-off -- for its long-haul flight to the developed country club, with couple of stopovers in between.

Cracks are appearing in the economy in the face of deepening crisis in the banking sector, widening gap between revenue collection and expenditure, and rising pressure on foreign exchange reserves, says the Centre for Policy Dialogue.

Former finance minister AMA Muhith has said his successor faces three major challenges: increasing the size of the national budget, realising more revenue and improving the banking sector.