BNP: Budget Ignores Views of Citizens and Political Parties
He says the government could have consulted people from various sectors of society in preparing the national budget.
BNP has described the proposed national budget for FY 2025–26 as unilateral, stating that it fails to reflect the opinions of the people and political parties. Amir Khashru Mahmud Chowdhury, a standing committee member of the party, expressed these views during a press conference at Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s Gulshan office in Dhaka on Wednesday.
He noted that there was an expectation for the interim government to announce the budget based on a consensus among anti-fascist political parties. He added that the government could have sought input from people across different walks of life, including experts, civil society members, business leaders, and youth representatives, but this was not done.
Calling the proposed budget non-participatory and traditional, Khashru highlighted the double-digit inflation rate, while the government’s target to reduce it to 6.5 percent is unrealistic. He also cited a World Bank report indicating that over 2.7 million people have fallen below the poverty line during the current government’s tenure.
According to him, the government could have prevented this trend by designing the budget more strategically. He further pointed out that while the GDP growth for FY 2024-25 was 3.97 percent, the interim government has set an impractical target of 5.6 percent in the proposed budget.
Khashru also raised concerns about the country’s food security, stating it is under threat due to insufficient allocation in the social safety net program proposed by the government.
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