Muhith presents Tk 3.41 trillion Bangladesh budget for 2016-17 fiscal year

With an outlay of Tk 3.41 trillion, the proposed national budget for 2016-17 fiscal year has been placed in Parliament.

The new budget is 15.5 percent larger than the current FY’s initial budget and 29 percent higher than the revised outlay.

Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith presented the budget on Thursday afternoon – the third one from the incumbent government.

The new budget is equivalent to 17.37 percent of Bangladesh’s GDP, which is Tk 19.61 trillion. The current FY budget represented 17.2 percent of the GDP.

In the new budget, Tk 1.17 trillion has been earmarked for development expenditure, including Tk 1.11 trillion for the Annual Development Programme (ADP).

 

Non-development expenditure has been set at Tk 2.16 trillion, 32 percent higher than the current FY’s figure.

A large portion of the non-development budget will be spent on salaries, allowances and pension benefit of government employees.

Foreign borrowing will also be repaid from the non-development budget.

The finance minister has plans to collect Tk 2.43 trillion, or 71 percent of the budget amount, from the revenue sector. Of the figure, Tk 2.03 trillion will be raised through the National Board of Revenue.

The highest amount of Tk 727.64 billion has been projected to come from Value Added Tax (VAT) – which is 35 percent higher than the current budget figure.

A revenue collection target of Tk 642.62 billion was set from VAT in the initial budget for the current FY, but it was later downsized to Tk 539.13 billion in the revised budget.

The minister expects Tk 719.4 billion from income tax and tax on profit, against Tk 649.71 billion in the current FY.

Tk 224.5 billion will be raised from import duty, Tk 300.75 billion from supplementary duty, Tk 440 million from export duty, Tk 44.49 billion from excise, and Tk 14.28 billion from other taxes and duties.

The initial budget for the 2015-16 FY set Tk 1.76 trillion revenue collection target, but it was cut down to Tk 1.5 trillion.

The budget for the current FY was Tk 2.95 trillion and but it was later revised downward to Tk 2.65 trillion.

The new budget sees a deficit of Tk 978.53 billion, which represents less than 5 percent of the GDP.

This is Muhith’s 10th budget – his eighth in a row -- as finance minister.

Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury presided over the Parliament session, which was attended by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.