JS passes budget
Parliament yesterday passed a Tk. 2,95,100-crore national budget for FY 201516, with a gross domestic product (GDP) growth target of 7 per cent. This is the second budget in the second tenure of the Awami League (AL)-led government.
Finance minister AMA Muhith also moved the Appropriations Bill, 2015, seeking a budgetary allocation of Tk. 41,53,08,18,88,000, which was passed by voice vote, with the Speaker, Dr Shirin Sharmin Chowdhury, in the chair.
Earlier, the House rejected a total of 523 cut motions by voice vote that stood in the name of Opposition and Independent members on 56 demands for grants for different ministries.
A total of nine MPs from the Jatiya Party and Independents submitted their cut motions on the budget.
The House allowed participation in the discussions on the public administration ministry, Bank and Financial Institutions Division, education ministry, health ministry, industries ministry, Liberation War affairs ministry and Anti-Corruption Commission.
Later, Chowdhury urged the House that the process of passing the demands for grants for different ministries be hastened, without any break. The finance minister placed a Tk. 2,95,100-crore proposed national budget for the next fiscal year (201516) in Parliament on June 4.
In the budget, the GDP growth target has been set at 7 per cent against 7.3 per cent in the outgoing fiscal, while the inflation target is at 6.2 per cent in the next fiscal.
The tax revenue from non-NBR sources has been estimated at Tk. 5,874 crore (0.3 per cent of GDP). Besides, an amount of Tk. 26,199 crore (1.5 per cent of GDP) is expected to be collected from non-tax sources.
Total expenditure for FY 201516 has been estimated at Tk. 295,100 crore. Taking annual development programme (ADP) allocation for autonomous bodies to the tune of Tk. 3,996 crore into account, the size of the total budget will stand at almost Tk. 3 lakh crore.
The sector-wise allocated total budget outlay in FY 2015-16 is: public administration 19.2 per cent, defence 6.2 per cent, agriculture 6.8 per cent, health 4.3 per cent, energy and power 6.3 per cent, local government and rural development 7.1 per cent, transport and communications 9.7 per cent, interest 11.9 per cent, education and technology 11.6 per cent, miscellaneous expenditure 3.9 per cent, industrial and economic services 0.9 per cent, recreation, culture and religious affairs 0.8 per cent, housing 1 per cent, public order and safety 4.6 per cent, and social security and welfare 5.7 per cent.
The allocation for non-development expenditure, including other expenses, has been estimated at Tk. 1,98,100 crore, while Tk. 97,000 crore has been estimated for the Annual Development Programme (ADP).
The overall budget deficit is Tk. 86,657 crore, or 5 per cent of GDP, of which Tk. 30,134 crore will be financed from external sources and Tk. 56,523 crore from domestic sources. Of the domestic financing, Tk. 38,523 crore will come from the banking system and Tk. 18,000 crore from savings certificates and other non-banking sources.
In the budget, 23.4 per cent of the total outlay has been allocated to the social infrastructure sector, of which 20.4 per cent has been proposed for the human resource sub-sector (education, health and other related sectors); 30.6 per cent of the total allocation has been proposed for the physical infrastructure sector, of which 13.9 per cent will go to overall agriculture and rural development, 8.9 per cent to overall communication and 6.3 per cent to the power and energy sector.
In an attempt to ease the lives of government employees bearing the increased cost of living, the new pay scale announced for the public servants will be implemented in phases from July 1, 2015. Besides, all allowances of the government employees are going to be under the tax net, like their basic salaries.
Apart from pay and allowances, the finance minister said the government might take an initiative to establish a commercial and development bank titled Shammridhi Shopan Bank, as recommended by the Pay and Services Commission, for the welfare of government employees.
According to the budget passed by the House, the minimum income tax for residents of Dhaka and Chittagong cities will be Tk. 5,000. Taxpayers (other than companies) from other city corporations and pourashavas, located in the district headquarters and other areas, will have to pay minimum amounts of Tk. 4,000 and Tk. 3,000 respectively.
The source tax on export prices for all exports, including readymade garments (RMG) products, will have to be paid at 0.6 per cent.
Also, English medium schools, private universities, medical colleges and engineering colleges will have to pay 7.5 per cent value added tax (VAT) on tuition fees.
