Photo: Courtesy
Every year after the presentation of the budget in parliament, it has become a trend that the price of everything goes up. Inflation has been hovering around double digits for more than a year due to various reasons. As a result, the low-income group and middle class are facing extreme hardship. Finance Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali will present the budget for the fiscal year 2024-25 in parliament on June 6. All preparations have already been made in this regard. In an interview with The Daily Messenger’s Senior Reporter Jannatul Ferdushy, former caretaker government's finance advisor AB Mirza Azizul Islam talked about what the upcoming budget should look like in view of the overall situation of the country.
What do you think the FY25 budget should look like considering the national and international contexts?
Mirza Azizul: Inflation has been increasing in the country for more than a year. Common people are suffering because of this. There is a dollar crisis in the country. This has increased the cost of food production and import. Added to this is the manipulation of dishonest traders. On various pretexts, prices have been hiked much more than they should have been. Inflation control should be given the highest importance in the budget for the next financial year. Various facilities should be provided for agricultural production. At the same time, the import of food products should be exempted. Strict measures should be taken to control the market.
The size of the upcoming budget is estimated to be around Tk 8 lakh crore. How realistic is it?
Mirza Azizul: Budget size is being increased every year. But the allocation for education and health sectors is not increasing proportionally with the increase in size. How far behind we are in the health sector became clear after the outbreak of coronavirus. The quality of treatment in government hospitals should be increased. For this, the opportunity to import modern medical supplies at low prices should be increased. Not only the public sector should be looked at, but the private sector should also take steps to ensure low-cost treatment.
How feasible is the calculation of income and expenditure in the next budget?
Mirza Azizul: The size of the budget is being increased. Along with this, the revenue collection target of the National Board of Revenue is being raised to match the paper accounts, which is an ambitious plan. Due to the direct and indirect effects of the dollar crisis, business is not going well. There are negative trends in the industrial sector as well. In such a situation, it is not possible for the common people to pay the revenue on time. Increasing the revenue target is increasing the pressure on the common people. As NBR sets high targets for revenue collection, the economy is getting out of balance. The government should move away from this clause and determine the revenue from internal resources in the next financial year taking into account the actual situation. To get success, practical steps should be taken instead of big development plans.
What steps are needed to increase tax collection?
Mirza Azizul: The cost of living has increased a lot. Prices of almost all food including rice, pulse, salt, and oil have increased. Common people have removed items from their food list due to financial crisis. Other expenses besides food also increased. In such a situation, the suffering of the common people cannot be increased by imposing new taxes in the upcoming budget. Emphasis should be placed on increasing the scope of taxation. For this, NBR should reach the upazila level.
The pressure on NBR to collect revenue is increasing every year. What do you think about their success in this regard?
Mirza Azizul: NBR's revenue collection capacity needs to be increased. Emphasis should be placed on the use of technology for this. NBR has been talking about various initiatives in this regard for several years, but those have not been fully implemented.
What can be done to prevent money laundering?
Mirza Azizul: Money laundering is the biggest disease of the economy in our country. Various facilities should be increased to encourage local investment. Foreign entrepreneurs are also interested when domestic entrepreneurs invest. If the local investors are interested in investing, the flow of money should increase. As a result, money laundering will be reduced. Strict legal action should be taken to stop money laundering in the next budget.
What should be done to deal with the reserve crisis?
Mirza Azizul: Attention should be paid to reducing money transactions via hundi. Many are bringing in expatriate income through hundi. Receiving remittance should be encouraged through banking channels. Policy support is essential for this. In the next budget, great benefits should be given in this regard. In order to advance ourselves and the country in keeping with the world development and economy, technology dependence should be increased.
The government's foreign debt continues to rise. What needs to be done to reduce it?
Mirza Azizul: Initiatives should be taken to reduce foreign debt by increasing the government's income. Revenue collection from non-traditional sectors needs to be increased. Transparency should be brought in income tax and VAT collection. Those who are eligible to pay income tax and VAT but are not paying should be made to pay that. Most importantly, taxes from large-scale taxpayers who have been evading taxes for years should be regularly recovered along with dues. At the same time, the less necessary expenditure of the government should be reduced. This will increase the government's income. The dependence on foreign loans will decrease.
Messenger/Fameema
