Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal has started rolling out the national budget, believed to be over Tk 5.23 trillion (Tk 5,23,190 crore), for the financial year 2019-20 (FY20) at the Jatiya Sangsad.
The finance minister started budget speech at 3.07 pm as invited by Jatiya Sangsad Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury.
This is the country’s 48th budget and the 20th of the Awami League (AL) government in five terms while Tajuddin Ahmed presented the first budget as the finance minister of the post-independence Bangabandhu government in 1972.
Kamal is announcing his first budget as the country’s 12th finance minister after taking the charge of the finance ministry in the third consecutive term of AL government.
AMA Muhith and Saifur Rahman presented the highest 12 budgets each at different terms of their respective governments.
Muhith, however, is the first finance minister who placed the budget for 10 consecutive fiscals since 2009 until he went on retirement after the end of last parliament.
Earlier on the day, the cabinet in its special meeting, with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair in the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban cabinet room, approved the proposed budget for the coming financial year, according to BSS news agency.
The finance minister, other cabinet ministers and state ministers concerned attended the meeting.
The budget documents are available on the website of the finance division www.mof.gov.bd.
The documents are also available on www.bangladesh.gov.bd, www.nbr-bd.org, www.plancomm.gov.bd, www.imed.gov.bd, www.bdpressinform.org and www.pmo.gov.bd.
Any person or organization at home and abroad can send feedback, opinion or recommendations by filling up a form after downloading it from the website.
Post budget press conference will be held at 3pm on Friday in Dhaka city’s Bangabandhu International Conference Center (BICC).