'Budget Talk 2018' organised by Young Economists' Forum took place on North South University (NSU) premises on July 11, 2018. The experts discussed the 2018-19 national budget. The session comprised of two phases, the inaugural phase, where all the guests were introduced and the panel was set up, and the technical phase.
The inaugural phase commenced with an introductory speech by the key-note presenter Dr Salma Begum, assistant professor, Department of Economics, NSU. Her speech provided a holistic view of the approved fiscal budget, acquainting both the audience and the speakers with the topic at hand. She elaborated on the changes made to this year's budget, comparing it to the last.
Opening statements were made by Chairman, Board of Trustees MA Hashem, Vice Chancellor Prof Atiqul Islam, and Pro Vice-chancellor Prof G U Ahsan.
In his lecture, Senior Secretary of Internal Resources Division (IRD) and Chairman of National Board of Revenue (NBR) Md Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan provided insight into the aims with which the budget was proposed. He also provided answers for some of the challenges that Dr Salma Begum had brought up while reserving the rest for the technical session.
Following this, the technical phase of the session commenced. The discussants addressed the audience successively, each providing their perspective on how the budget impacts their particular field of expertise. Mohiuddin Khan, additional secretary (Development) at Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education illuminated the audience with his knowledge on the effects of the fiscal budget on the education sector. Dr Ashikur Rahman, senior economist at Policy Research Institute, and Dr Nazneen Ahmed, senior research fellow working at Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies provided a detailed account of the impact of the budget on the overall economy, focusing specifically on the finance sector. Mominul Islam, managing director and CEO of IPDC Finance Limited shared with the audience his opinions on the changes that may occur in the corporate sector of Bangladesh due to the fiscal budget allocations.
Parisa Shakur, director of student affairs in North South University, started the session for questions from the audience. The questions ranged from whether the incentives the government provided to investors were effective to whether increasing minimum wage for RMG sector workers would effectively decrease our competitive edge in that sector. These questions brought to light various aspects of the budget that were untouched, clarifying multiple queries from students and faculty members.
The panel discussion concluded with tokens of appreciation being presented to all of the panelists and the chief guest.
The writer is a student at North South University and team leader of Academic Practices at Young Economists' Forum (YEF). She can be reached at rabitasaleh13@gmail.com