Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal on Thursday (1st June) placed in the Parliament a Taka 7.61 lakh crore national budget for the fiscal year 2023-24, focussed primarily on job creation, tackling inflation, fourth industrial revolution and ‘Smart Bangladesh’.
However, trade bodies in the country gave a mixed opinion on the budget for the fiscal year 2023-24.
Speaking to the Media, President of the apex garment makers’ body of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), Faruque Hassan opined Finance Minister asked to increase exports in the budget speech but gave no specific guideline even as he went on to underline that owing to the global environment, exports have decreased and going forward this year there will be many more challenges, keeping in mind which there should have been specific instructions.
Meanwhile, the President of the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Sameer Sattar, on his part said the budget was big and there was a deficit of Taka 261,785 crore even as the President of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry Md Jashim Uddin held the tax collection target could be a big challenge.
