Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has hinted at changes in the budget proposed for FY2018.
Published : 04 Jun 2017, 07:47 PM
"We have proposed a budget, which will be discussed in parliament. If there's any problem then it will be solved upon discussion," she said while addressing an iftar party on Sunday hosted by the Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists and the Dhaka Union of Journalists at the National Press Club.
On Thursday, Finance Minister AMA Muhith unveiled a Tk 4 trillion budget for the next fiscal year.
Of the total expenditure, Tk 2.88 trillion is expected to come from the revenue earnings.
But the budget, which Muhith claimed to be his best among the 11, will have a deficit of Tk 1.12 trillion, which is 5 percent of the GDP.
The House is set to discuss the budget, which will be passed on Jun 29 following the cabinet's approval.
Several proposals of the budget, including increased excise duty on bank deposits and the uniform VAT rate of 15 percent have drawn criticism from different quarters.
Analysts said the large budget would likely hike the cost of living as a side-effect of the revenue earning demands to fund the financial outlay.
The BNP has described the budget as “a budget to pillage the economy.”
In response to the criticism, Hasina said: "It showed how the print and broadcast media enjoy freedom nowadays."
“I know we are being broadly criticised. But you do not acknowledge the fact that we are the one who first gave licence to the private satellite TV channel Ekushey Television after coming to power in 1996.”
Alluding to the BNP’s repeated allegation of “limiting freedom of mass media”, the prime minister pointed out that there are currently more than 700 daily newspapers, 46 private television channels, 22 FM radio stations and 32 community radios in operation in the country.
Hasina urged journalists to be more responsible, and said: “Online journalism is sometimes good, sometimes bad. Sometimes it leads to different problems in society. So we need to be cautious.”
“Yellow journalism is not acceptable.”
Regarding wage board for journalists, she said: “The ninth wage board is ready. But the newspaper owners are yet to put forward the names of their representatives.”
The TV and FM radio stations will be included in the wage board, she said.
“The electronic media is in limbo. They need to be brought under the wage board.”
The prime minister said the Ministry of Public Works had been directed to allocate apartments for journalists at RAJUK’s Uttara Apartment Project. The journalists may be able to purchase apartments on ong-term instalments.
Newspaper Employees Services Condition Act-1974 might be reinstated, she added.