The IMF's fiscal monitor estimates that the US deficit for 2024 will reach 6.67% of GDP, rising to 7.06% in 2025 - double the 3.5% in 2015
One billion for climate-friendly brickfields
The proposed budget for the next financial year has set aside Tk 1 billion to encourage the use of modern technology in brick fields to reduce pollution.
Published : 2 June 2016, 12:56 PM
Updated : 2 June 2016, 12:57 PM
Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith presented a budget worth Tk 3.41 trillion in Parliament on Thursday.
The proposed budget is 29 percent bigger than the amended budget of the concluding fiscal.
The traditional methods of burning bricks “excessively harvest top soil”, waste energy and cause damage to the environment, he said.
“These workplaces are also full of health and safety hazards. Hence, the use of scientific techniques, replacing the traditional system, will resolve these problems to a great extent.”
The government, he said, had introduced modern technology in 4,000 brick fields. But private owners, lacking in funds and awareness, were to adopt them.
“So, to encourage the installation of energy-saving kilns in brick fields, we propose to allocate Tk 1 billion, lump sum, in the next year's budget.”
A policy will be drafted to decide on the utilization of the funds, he said.
RELATED STORIES
The nation has kicked off talks with ratings agencies to lay the groundwork for a return to international debt markets
The IMF projects that consumer prices in the country will rise by 7.9 percent by the end of the fiscal year
While initial price spikes have faded since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a widening of the conflict could cause them to intensify, the IMF says
