A post budget dialogue was held online on Saturday at Brac University to discuss the national budget for fiscal 2021-22 which was unveiled by the finance minister of Bangladesh on June 03, according to a release.
It was organised by the Brac University Business and Economics Forum, a student club at Brac University.
The panelists at the event included Dr Salehuddin Ahmed, former governor of Bangladesh Bank and professor at the Graduate School of Business, Dr ATM Nurul Amin, professor at the School of Economics and Social Sciences,and Dr Fahmida Khatun, executive director, Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD).
Mominul Islam, CEO of IPDC Finance Limited, also joined the event as a commentator, representing the private sector.
During the discussion Dr Salehuddin Ahmed commented that the budget is not only a conventional one, but also is an incremental budget which is little more than a continuation of the budget that was passed in the previous year. He maintained that the budget is lopsided, and not inclusive enough to dispel the plight of the “new poor” who went through a pauperization process in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Professor ATM Nurul Amin thought that the budget was designed to provide special privilege and support to the wealthy, and reflected the domination of top businessmen in our national politics.
CPD economist Dr Fahmida Khatun provided a very detailed and technical analysis of the budget. In her view, the special concessions and tax breaks provided to businesses were premised on ‘trickle-down effect’: if businesses prospered then some of that prosperity will trickle down to the bottom rungs of society. However, she was skeptic whether this would actually happen given the corruption and cronyism which may negate any positive effect when it comes to wealth distribution.
Mominul Islam, CEO of IPDC Finance Limited, maintained an optimistic view, and praised the incentives given to businesses. He believes owing to the efficiency of the private sector, the poor and the adversely affected will derive some benefit from the increased economic activity in the private sector.
Mr Islam lauded the budget’s economic and tax incentives for women, and the third gender populace as marks of considerable social progress.
The discussants were unanimous on the significance of the budget as it marked Bangladesh’s 50th anniversary of independence.
They also opined that the ongoing pandemic situation should have been addressed with more concrete policies.