Prioritising good governance in the upcoming budget

The upcoming budget comes in a context where the lower and middle class are disoriented by rising inflation. Unfortunately, there is no good news for these two categories in this year's budget. According to the news on Sunday, there is no effective action to control commodity prices in the budget of the upcoming fiscal year 2024-25. On the other hand, measures taken to increase revenue to meet International Monetary Fund (IMF) conditions will further increase household consumption. From street beggars to wealthy people, the burden of VAT will also have to be borne.

We see that the finance minister has focused more on raising funds in the budget to meet IMF conditions. However, due to geo-political instability, the world economy has been experiencing multi-faceted crisis for several years. It goes without saying that Bangladesh is not out of it. However, increasing money laundering, negative impact on investment, continuous increase in currency exchange and interest rates, waste, inefficiency and lack of good governance in all areas, the ongoing economic crisis cannot be blamed only on geopolitical instability, but also internal reasons.

It should be noted that there are several other issues related to this year's budget in the complex socio-economic and political context. For example, transition from LDCs (list of least developed countries) and implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Eighth Five Year Plan is coming to an end, resulting in a new perspective plan. Besides, the country has some expectations. It will not be easy to carry out these tasks in the difficult geo-political situation prevailing at the moment. This time trangulation of problems ie three problems have come together. For example, there are still problems like inflation, along with domestic and foreign debt risks. Besides, the trend of GDP growth has been decreasing recently. At the same time, the government's ability to collect taxes and spend has been reduced, which will present new challenges to the next budget. In such a situation, emphasis should be placed on preventing wastage, stopping irregularities and corruption and ensuring good governance in the implementation of the budget.

Besides, major initiatives should be taken to reform the banking sector. Not following the conditions of the IMF, we think that inflation, one of the problems of trangulation, should be taken seriously and effective measures should be taken to control it. It should not be forgotten that inflation is affecting people everywhere, be it rural or urban. Apart from this, in actual situation, the domestic and foreign loans should also be rushed. Before spending money on a project, it must be considered whether it is of public importance and necessity. Strict action should also be taken against defaulters and money launderers. At the same time, for the successful implementation of the budget, attention should be paid to increase foreign exchange reserves. While increasing the flow of remittances should be emphasized, strict controls should also be imposed on imports.

It is expected that the government will take drastic measures to eliminate the wastage and inefficiency and lack of good governance in every area for a strong economy and successful implementation of the budget.