Budget 2026-27: Bangladesh to appoint 5,000 doctors, 100,000 health workers

Finance minister says 80 percent of these jobs will go to women

Bangladesh will launch an initiative to appoint an additional 100,000 healthcare workers to ensure quality and people-oriented healthcare across the country, Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury says.

Announcing the budget in parliament on Thursday, he said the recruitment process has started across the country.

Khosru said 80 percent of these recruits will be women.

The finance minister said an initiative has been taken to quickly recruit 5,000 Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) doctors to fill posts that had long stood vacant.

In addition, opportunities for higher education and professional skill development are being expanded in the nursing and midwifery sectors.

Initiatives have been taken to increase opportunities for Bachelor's and Master's level education in nursing, so that an internationally skilled workforce can be created in the healthcare sector, he said.

The finance minister also proposed allocating Tk 694 billion for the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in the 2026-27 fiscal year, which is 1.01 percent of the GDP.

The allocation for this in the revised budget for the 2025-26 fiscal year was Tk 354 billion, or 0.58 percent of GDP.