The budget fails to attract attention

People at large have hardly shown any interest in AMA Muhith's jumbo budget, the biggest ever in independent Bangladesh.

The finance minister presented Tk 2.95 trillion budget for FY 2015-16 in Parliament on Thursday.

bdnews24.com interviewed a cross section of people including service holders, homemakers, small businessmen and students in different areas in the capital during the budget speech.

They hardly expressed any interest in the budget.

However, many of them hoped the price of essential commodities will remain ‘reasonable’ and the interests of low and middle-income people will be safeguarded.

“I have no idea about budget. I haven’t even followed what the finance minister is proposing in the budget in Parliament,” Atikul Islam, an executive at a Singer Electrics outlet in Mohakhali, told bdnews24.com at around 5pm.

A sales officer at Walton expressed his complete apathy in talking about the budget, tagging it ‘political’.

“Budget is a political matter. I’m instructed not to talk about it,” he said and expressed unwillingness to say anything more.

Emdadul Haque, a marketing officer at Nitol-Niloy Group, said, “I could not see the budget speech on television. I shall try to go through it at home later at night.”

Asked what kind of budget he wanted, he said a budget that could provide comfort to the people was what he wants.

He wanted a budget that would keep prices of commodities under control so that the low and middle-income people could afford them.

Homemaker Archana Sen said she would be happy if the budget kept everything in people’s reach.

Sen could not follow the budget speech while tea vendor Rafiqul Islam said he heard a part of the speech.

“Prices of some commodities will rise while some others will fall like in every other budget," Islam said.

“But, in fact, almost nothing is done for the poor in the budgets. This is rather a system to destroy the poor.”

What kind of budget do you want?

He replied, “A budget will be beneficial to the people if it can rein in the price of essential commodities.”

Tanvir Ahmed, an executive at the mobile money transaction company bKash, said the price of rice, lentils and vegetables should be reduced.

If the budget was proposed to control the prices of essential commodities, it would be useful for both rich and poor, he said.