The budget with the total outlay at Tk 340,605 crore for the 2016-2017 fiscal is certainly a huge one and the apprehension that whether this budget could be implemented achieving the revenue target of Tk 2,42752 crores cannot be dismissed. It is also very unlikely that National Board of Revenue (NBR) with its current capability could achieve Tk 203,152 crore. Therefore, proper implementation of this huge budget remains in doubt. Moreover, the VAT, tax revenue and import duty which have been increased to meet the expenditure, will hit hard the middleclass. The success of this rather ambitious budget, which is 30 per cent higher than this year’s revised budget, will mostly depend on proper implementation of projects, capacity building and taking up of effective reform programmes. But some days earlier before announcing the budget, the Finance Minister categorically pointed out that he wanted to be ambitious. But all ambition should be grounded well, anyway.     
To be sure, a budget with a staggering TK 97,853 crore deficit—five per cent of the GDP—will warrant for mobilisation of more revenue from the domestic sources if foreign aid remains largely unavailable and there is no budgetary support. Then the government will have to borrow money from banks, which in turn will have its bearings on the private sector, impacting negatively the investment situation. Emphasis should also be given for maintaining quality domestic investment as well as proper implementation of projects in country’s physical infrastructures such as power, gas, transport, communication and ports, etc. Achieving a 7.2 per cent GDP target riding on the achievements of economic expansion in the recent years will not be hard if country remains politically peaceful to attract investment. For the sake of our economy, the government must work hard to create FDI-friendly atmosphere. That is why a more liberal trade policy has to be adopted in this regard. On the other hand, bringing inflation down to the 5.8 per cent will be really difficult because salary hike of the public servants already impacted negatively prices of goods in the market.
 Moreover, the expediting of the process of implementation of Tk 110,700 crores Annual Development Programme (ADP) will also continue to be a major challenge. The government needs to identify and remove the barriers in the implementation of ADP and increase use of foreign aid. But it is sad to note in foreign aid utilisation, the country’s performance is not always up to the mark. While observers have praised allocation of 14.39 per cent of the total budget for the education sector, they have however criticised poor attention that has been given to the health sector. People in general are less likely to welcome the increase cost in using mobile, buying imported books for secondary and higher secondary level, paper and paper products, etc. in the new budget.