Published : 10 Nov 2026, 12:50 AM
Updated : 10 Nov 2026, 12:50 AM
The Finance Division has instructed ministries and agencies to keep spending within their original budget ceilings while preparing the revised budget for 2026-27, ruling out requests for additional allocations.
Restrictions will cover new residential and non-residential buildings, vehicle purchases, overseas training and seminars. The instructions were issued in a circular on Monday.
Nov 26 is the deadline for submitting revised estimates, giving ministries and agencies 17 days.
The circular says revised estimates must remain within the operating and development expenditure ceilings in the original budget. No additional allocation may be sought.
Funds cannot be shifted from the development budget to the operating budget, even if development allocations are expected to remain unspent.
Construction of new residential, non-residential and other buildings under the operating budget has been barred.
Exceptions apply to facilities under the education, health and agriculture ministries and ongoing projects at least 70 percent complete.
Allocations for buying motor vehicles, watercraft and aircraft have also been suspended. The limited exception is for jeeps or cars that are fully electric vehicles (FEVs).
No operating-budget provision will be made for land acquisition or interest-free advances to government employees to buy cars.
The circular bars publicly funded participation in overseas training, seminars, symposiums and workshops, allowing limited exceptions only in “essential” cases.
Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury presented a Tk 9.38 trillion budget for 2026-27 in parliament on Jun 11. Passed later, it is 19 percent larger than the revised 2025-26 budget.
The original 2025-26 budget was Tk 7.9 trillion, later revised down to Tk 7.88 trillion.
Austerity Measures Retained
The Finance Division has ordered ministries and agencies to follow two circulars, issued on Jul 8 and Sep 21, on spending cuts for 2026-27.
They apply to ministries, divisions, directorates, autonomous and statutory bodies, public sector corporations and state-owned companies.
