Combating inflation getting top priority

Budget for FY 2024-25

Syed Nasir Hossain: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has directed to take necessary measures to control inflation in the budget of the next financial year 2024-2025, said State Minister for Finance Wasika Ayesha Khan.
The state minister said that the number of beneficiaries of the social security program will increase in the upcoming budget. Inflation control is getting top priority in the budget.
A special meeting was held at the Prime Minister’s Office regarding the Prime Minister’s direction on the budget. The Minister of State for Finance highlighted various aspects of the proposed budget in the meeting. Finance Minister Abul Hassan Mahmud Ali joined the meeting thru’ online due to his illness.
After the meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office, the State Minister of Finance told reporters in his office at the Secretariat that the number of beneficiaries is being increased to provide relief to low-income people under the social security program in this year’s budget. Besides, initiatives are being taken to give utmost importance to inflation control.
Finance Minister Abul Hassan Mahmud Ali will present the budget for the fiscal year 2024-2025 in the budget session of the National Parliament on June 6. It is known that the size of the budget for the next financial year may be around Tk 8 lakh crore.
Referring to the Prime Minister’s directives in formulating the budget as per the rules, the state minister said that the Prime Minister has given utmost importance to inflation control. He directed that the implementation of Awami League’s election manifesto should be given the highest importance in the budget. The budget will have maximum allocations for education, health and rural infrastructure sectors.
Regarding the removal of tax holiday benefits in the budget, he said that the issue of removing tax exemption benefits in those sectors which have been receiving tax holiday benefits for a long time is being specifically looked into. Some sectors have been getting tax holiday benefits for the past 20 to 25 years. Due to this advantage now, they have gained enough capacity and have captured the market of the country. In such a situation they are supposed to focus on exports but they are not doing it. If the additional benefit of tax holiday is removed, entrepreneurs in these sectors will focus on exports.
The Minister of State for Finance said, if the tax holiday benefits are removed, these sectors will lose additional benefits, but they will be able to compensate through exports. We need to move towards it for the sake of sustainable economy. Initiatives will also be taken to increase revenue collection.