Advisory Council approves draft of Tk 7.9tn budget for FY2026

The Advisory Council of Bangladesh's interim government has approved the draft of a budget of nearly Tk 7.9 trillion for the 2025-26 fiscal year.

It also cleared the revised national budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year and the Finance Bill 2025-26 at a special meeting of the Advisory Council at the Chief Advisor's Office in Dhaka's Tejgaon on Monday.

The meeting began at 9:30am and ended around 12:30pm.

Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus chaired the meeting with Finance Advisor Salehuddin Ahmed and other advisors in attendance.

In a transformed political reality following the July Uprising, this year’s national budget will be delivered beyond the halls of parliament and through an unprecedented format

At 3pm on Monday, Finance Advisor Salehuddin’s speech will be broadcast live across state-owned BTV and private television networks nationwide.

The 2025–26 budget is set to be passed on Jun 30, with the new fiscal year beginning the next day, Jul 1.

The last off-parliament budget was presented in 2008, under the military-backed caretaker government.

Under elected governments, budgets were always tabled in parliament, followed by weeks of debate and review before being passed at the end of June.

This year, with no parliament in place, that process is absent.

The budget will be reviewed by the Advisory Council and, once approved, implemented through a presidential ordinance.

Still, certain conventions will be maintained. Salehuddin is scheduled to hold a post-budget press conference the following day to take questions and has announced plans to gather stakeholder feedback throughout June.

The previous budget, for FY2025, was set at Tk 7.97 trillion and presented by Mahmood Ali.

But before it could be fully implemented, the Awami League government was ousted on Aug 5, 2024, through a student-led mass uprising.

If finalised, this would mark the first time since independence that the size of the proposed budget is smaller than the previous fiscal year’s plan.

Under the authority of the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus, Salehuddin--former governor of Bangladesh Bank--readies his first national budget in a year marked by disruption and uncertainty.

Since independence, 15 people, including finance ministers, economic advisors, and military administrators, have presented a total of 53 budgets under both military and democratic regimes.