Budget 2020-21 to be placed in parliament today

The national budget for the fiscal year 2020-21 is going to be placed in parliament today (June 11, 2020). This the second budget of both the present government and Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal.

A press release issued by the finance ministry on Wednesday said that the budget for the upcoming fiscal year will not be a conventional one.

Entitled as "Economic Transition and the Future Pathway", the upcoming budget has been prepared in combination with both the past achievements of the government and the current situation caused by the coronavirus crisis.

The release also said the health sector has reasonably been given the topmost priority in the budget.

Besides, more importance is being given to agriculture, food production and management, and employment.

The upcoming budget will incorporate various proposals for agriculture- and food-friendly programmes, expansion of the social safety net, recovery of afflicted industries, trade and commerce, and employment generation.

Meanwhile, the finance ministry said journalists will not have an access to the budget session in parliament due to the Covid-19 crisis. Arrangements have been made to distribute the budget documents at 3:15pm from the media centre located to the west of the parliament building.

Although 10-12 books are published during the budget every year, a few number of books have been made this time due to the coronavirus. This time, only five books have been prepared named "Budget Speech", "Budget Summary", "Annual Financial Statement", "Supplementary Financial Statement", and "Medium Term Macroeconomic Policy Statement".

In previous years, these books were accompanied with separate other books on "Bangladesh Economic Survey", "Gender Budget", "Children's Budget", "Grants and Allocation Claims", "Digital Bangladesh" and "Large Infrastructure".

Any person or organisation can read and download the budget information and important documents on the following website of the finance ministry: www.mof.gov.bd. They can also offer their feedbacks and recommendations by filling a certain form on this website.

All comments and recommendations will be taken into accounts, the ministry said.

Also, the budget documents will be available on the following websites: www.bangladesh.gov.bd, www.nbr-bd.org, www.plancomm.gov.bd, www.imed.gov.bd, www.bdpressinform.portal.gov.bd, and www.pmo.gov.bd.

On Friday (June 12, 2020), the finance minister will hold a post-budget press conference at 3pm through videoconferencing. One can join the press briefing on the scheduled date and time on Zoom – a videoconferencing application.