BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Friday said the proposed national budget for next fiscal year will inflict further sufferings on people at this time of coronavirus pandemic.
He also said the budget made the nation frustrated as it was not framed with any focus on protecting the lives and livelihoods of people and overcoming the current crisis, reports UNB.
Speaking at a virtual press conference on the budget on behalf of BNP, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said the government has proposed huge allocations for mega projects and power schemes only to allow corruption and create scopes for ruling party men to plunder public money.
Earlier on Thursday, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal placed a Tk5.68 trillion national budget for the 2020-21 fiscal year in Parliament.
“This budget is literally nothing but rhetoric. The budget is not a people-friendly one,” Fakhrul said.
He said the government should have given a ‘special corona budget’ coming out of the traditional budget structure to save people’s lives and get rid of the economic crisis. “But the Finance Minister placed a traditional and unimplementable budget which made the nation frustrated.”
Stating that their party had placed an outline of a three-year medium-term budget with a specific recovery plan on Tuesday, the BNP leader said the finance minister unveiled a general budget ignoring their suggestions and the opinions of economists.
He said there is no specific proposal in the budget for building the foundation of a suitable economy by overcoming the corona crisis.
Fakhrul also said there have been no adequate allocations in the budget for health, education, social safety net and food security.
He also said the GDP growth and revenue collection targets which have been set in the budget amid the coronavirus pandemic is "tantamount to a deception". “The target of 8.2 per cent GDP growth is imaginary and achieving such a goal is too difficult.”
