Muhith ducks questions on defence allocation

Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith has skipped several questions, including those related to defence allocation, in the post-budget press conference.

Journalists asked him about various sectors.

One journalist asked why the budget documents lacked detailed descriptions of defence allocation. The finance minister did not answer.

The minister wrapped up the press conference, held at Osmani Memorial Auditorium in Dhaka on Friday, by saying with a smile: “All the questions are not answered all the time.”

Muhith in the last year’s budget session of Parliament had said that detailed descriptions of defence allocation would be mentioned in 2015-16 FY budget to bring transparency in the allocation.

The minister proposed an allocation of Tk 183.98 billion for defence in the new budget. The figure was 177.86 billion in the revised budget for the current FY.