Atiur Rahman, former governor of Bangladesh Bank and an emeritus professor at Dhaka University, has suggested that the budget deficit could have been lowered to less than 4.5% of GDP in the newly proposed budget.
"If the budget deficit could be restricted to 3.5% of GDP, then the government would be borrowing Tk56 crore less from the local banks. This could also help in containing inflation," he said in a virtual conversation at Unnayan Shamannay’s post-budget reaction session in Dhaka on Friday (7 June).
The session, held at the Khondker Ibrahim Khaled Conference Hall, was part of the 'Amader Sangsad (Our Parliament)' program, jointly implemented by Bank Asia PLC and Unnayan Shamannay.
Other experts, including Prof Rumana Huque from Ark Foundation, banking sector expert Faruq Moinuddin, and sociologist Khondker Shakhawat Ali, also participated.
Atiur acknowledged the budget-makers' efforts to address global economic instabilities and domestic challenges through contractionary fiscal measures.
"The budget-makers could have allocated more to these critical sectors given the high inflationary pressure on households," he added.
Prof Rumana Huque commended the slight increase in health sector funding but recommended further investment in medical equipment and diagnostic tests at government facilities to reduce out-of-pocket health expenses for citizens.
"Given that two-thirds of overall health expenses in the country are borne by citizens, increasing allocations for medical equipment and diagnostic tests could significantly reduce the healthcare burden," she said.
Faruq Moinuddin emphasised the need to expand the tax base rather than increase taxes on current taxpayers.
"Policymakers should focus more on bringing more taxpayers into the tax net instead of imposing more tax on the existing taxpayers," he suggested.
Khondker Shakhawat Ali also called for greater investment in education, health, and social security.
Bank Asia PLC’s Head of Corporate Affairs, Siddique Islam, delivered the vote of thanks on behalf of the organisers.
