Won’t launch mega projects with borrowed money, Finance Advisor Salehuddin says

Hinting at reducing the deficit in the budget for the next fiscal year 2025-2026, Finance Advisor Salehuddin Ahmed has said the policy of implementing mega projects by borrowing money is not part of his strategy.

He made the remarks following a meeting of the Advisory Council on Government Procurement on Tuesday.

Former finance minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali had set a budget of Tk 7.97 trillion for the 2024-2025 fiscal year with an estimated deficit of Tk 2.51 trillion.

However, his budget focused on austerity to avoid potential economic risks.

Within two months of the budget’s announcement, the Awami League government fell.

The interim government formed in August pursued the previous regime’s austerity policy in a stronger way.

However, the finance advisor did not answer the question of whether the budget for the next fiscal year will be smaller in size than the ongoing one.

He said, "You will learn the budget’s details in time. We will not leave a big gap or deficit in the implementation of the budget. We will implement a realistic ADP (Annual Development Plan).

“We will not implement big projects by borrowing money. There will be some deficit in the budget, but we are not going to implement the budget by taking bank loans or printing currency notes."

Regarding the splitting of the National Board of Revenue’s (NBR) policy and revenue departments, the advisor said: "This has been done while keeping the interests of NBR officials fully protected. According to the terms of reference, the NBR remains as it is. The policy and the revenue administration are not the same per the international standard."

“The policy division requires professional individuals with knowledge of the economy, statistics, and the country's GDP. Now if the NBR has to work on the policy, there is also a conflict of interest."

Although this was done to maintain international standards, discussions were held with NBR officials and other relevant stakeholders, Salehuddin said.

Referring to the revenue collection situation, the advisor said: "The revenue collected so far is 2 percent more than the previous financial year. There is nothing to be disappointed about."

In the meeting, 10 out of 12 procurement proposals put forward by ministries were approved. Prominent among them is the purchase of a cargo of LNG from Gunvor Singapore, alongside the commerce ministry’s proposal to buy 11 million litres of rice bran oil at Tk 161 per litre for the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB).