June 06, 2014 12:06 AM
By Mohammed Ali
Here are the key points of the proposed national budget for the fiscal year 2014-15.
Total expenditure: Tk250,506 crore. source
Total revenue: Tk1,82, 954 crore
Deficit: Tk67,552 crore which is 5% of GDP
Outlays by sectors:
Education - Tk 29,213 crore. source
LGRD Ministry - Tk 17,715 crore. source
Defence, Armed Forces Division - Tk 16,462 crore. source
Roads and bridges division, Communications - Tk 15,601 crore.
Agriculture - Tk 12, 396 crore.
Power, energy and mineral resources - Tk 11,540 crore
Home Ministry - Tk 11,357 crore.
Health and welfare sector - Tk 11,146 crore.
Disaster Management and Relief Division - Tk 7,286 crore.
Railway - Tk 6,363 crore.
Water Resources - Tk 3,619 crore.
Housing and public works - Tk 2,057 crore.
Liberation War Affairs ministry - Tk 1,743 crore.
Food Ministry - Tk 1,685 crore.
Foreign ministry - Tk 837 crore.
To meet budget expenses, domestic sector bank borrowing has been proposed at Tk 31,221 crore.
Tax Proposals:
Individual income tax ceiling remains unchanged at Tk 2.20 Lakh.
Finance Minister proposed to increase tax rate from 25% to 30% for high income earners having income above 44 lakh in a year.
Tax cut on items include wheelchair for disable people, hospital bed, SIM cards, dairy, toiletries.
The price of tobacco products, gold, mobile set, jeep, micobus, hybrid cars, imported LPG cylinder will increase.
Others:
House rent over TK 25,000 a month should be paid through bank accounts.
Existing Tax holiday facilities will be extended to June 2019.
GDP growth target has been set at 7.3% for 2014-15 fiscal year.
The budget was welcomed by business leaders, cautiously welcomed by economists and blasted by BNP leaders. BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has termed the proposed budget as "illegal".
It is said that if there is no political violence and the gas-electricity and other infrastructure become more improved then the country's economy would advance further. More investments and long term political stability are very essential to implement mega projects like nuclear power plant, padma bridge, have been proposed in the budget.
