Rohingya crisis won’t put much pressure on 2018-19 budget: Muhith

Finance Minister AMA Muhith, who earlier said Myanmar would destroy Bangladesh's economy by pushing the Rohingyas into the country, now says the refugees will not put much pressure on the budget.

His latest comment on the issue came in response to media questions after a meeting with a delegation of the Asian Development Bank or ADB at his office in Dhaka on Monday.

Over 600,000 Rohingyas have joined around 400,000 refugees, who had already been living in Bangladesh camps, since Myanmar launched a brutal army crackdown in response to insurgent attacks on security forces on Aug 25.

"We are giving whatever the various refugee-facilitating departments are asking for. But the pressure won't be much," Muhith said in reply to a query on how the refugees would affect the budget for 2017-18 fiscal year.

"There may not be drastic changes in my budget," he said.

He explained that the spending for the refugees was being made through the Prime Minister's Office.

The international community has hailed Bangladesh for sheltering the Rohingyas on humanitarian grounds but agreed that it is a huge burden for the country.

Recently, Muhith had told bdnews24.com about the Rohingya crisis: "It's right that we will get big funds from the donor countries and agencies. But it's also right that we will take a blow."

Terming Myanmar a 'bloody rogue country', the finance minister had said, "Myanmar will destroy Bangladesh's economy this year."

After the meeting with the ADB delegation on Monday, Muhith said the government would seek help from the Asian lender to manage the refugees.

"Yes, of course, we will seek (ADB's help) as we've sought from the World Bank," he said.   

In case of ADB, he said, the help would have to come through projects for Rohingyas beyond the quota for Bangladesh, Muhith said.

ADB Director General for South Asia Hun Kim told reporters that they were ready to help Bangladesh bear the burden of refugees.