The Bangladesh Economic Association (BEA) placed a Taka 20,94,112 crore alternate budget for the next fiscal year (FY24) which is 3.09 times higher than the budget of the current fiscal year (FY23).
The BEA also termed this proposed budget as expansionary and pro-people.
BEA president Dr Abul Barkat placed this alternate budget at a press conference held at the office of BEA in the capital’s Eskaton area. BEA general secretary Dr Md Ainul Islam gave the introductory remarks.
Mentioning that the alternate budget has been proposed to gain six goals over the next 10 years, Dr Barkat said that these goals are alleviating 70%-80% of people into the middle class, reducing disparity at the lowest level, distributing resources of the affluent community among the poor and low-income group people, giving highest priority to the domestic economy in development, creating opportunity for making people science-minded and enlightened and thus creating employment for people.
The BEA president said that it is possible to realize Taka 2.12 lakh crore through imposing a resource tax adding that resource tax should be set to reduce disparity.
Moreover, he suggested that if the tax of the country’s 90% low-income group people is lowered, then more employment would be created while their income would increase.
Dr Barkat also opined that Taka 20.94 lakh crore budget is necessary considering the global economic recession, recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, and the onslaught of the Russia-Ukraine war.
Leaders of the BEA were present on the occasion.
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