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Published : 03 Jun 2025, 09:06 PM
Planning Advisor Wahiduddin Mahmud has said a significant portion of the proposed budget for the financial year 2025-26 is dedicated to foreign and domestic debt servicing.
He also said the interim government is attempting to break free from the “vicious cycle” of debt.
He made these remarks at a post-budget media briefing at Dhaka’s Osmani Memorial Auditorium on Tuesday.
Wahiduddin said, “A major part of this budget is going to be spent on servicing foreign and domestic debt.
“There are also subsidies in the agricultural and energy sectors. Inflation has been passed onto us before we even took office last year.
“In some cases, we have paid off all the foreign debts in energy and are now in a stable position.
“We want to break free from the vicious cycle of borrowing and paying off debt. It can't be done in one budget, but at least we can make a start.”
He added, “Many have called it a conventional budget without any strategic or structural changes.
“The interim government, which has brought the promise of a discrimination-free Bangladesh, was expected to focus on the expenditure allocation for education, health, and social security.
“The budget is an ongoing process, it does not start from scratch. There are numerous inconsistencies in the existing tax structure.
“Had we started from a strong position, we could have designed a sound tax policy. But we must move forward from wherever we are now.”
Regarding the development budget, the planning advisor said, “Almost all the development projects scheduled for implementation in the current fiscal year, as well as those proposed in the next budget, were initiated by the previous government.
“Most of these projects were undertaken in excessive numbers, largely due to political considerations.
“At the time, how such a large number of projects would be funded was not considered.
“Of the 1,113 projects in the proposed budget, only 20 to 30 are new. The rest are ongoing, meaning they’re not initiatives of this government.”
Wahiduddin said, “I mentioned 20 to 30 new projects, but even those were included in the green sheet [authorised ADP budget] without allotment in last year’s proposed budget.
“In the next proposed budget, whatever we will implement, we are only cutting, rearranging, and eliminating unnecessary parts of the projects taken on by the previous government and completing them quickly if possible.”
He added, “If a bridge or a road is already under construction, we cannot stop it and take up a new project for strategic human resource development.
“If left incomplete, the resulting economic loss could be significant.”
