Size of budget increased by 969 times in 52 years

Mahfuz Emran: The first budget of Bangladesh after independence was announced on June 30, 1972. The size of the country’s first budget announced by the then finance minister of the Awami League government, Tajuddin Ahmed, was Tk 786 crore. After 52 years, the country’s 53rd budget (FY2022-23) will be presented today (June 1) by Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal. The potential size of this budget is Tk 7 lakh 61 thousand 785 crores. As such, the size of the country’s budget is increasing 969 times in the last 52 years. In the last 15 years of the current government, the size of the budget has increased almost seven times.
In the 15 years of the current Awami League government, that is, the size of the budget has increased 7 times in three consecutive terms. After the party came to power in 2009, on June 11 (39th) of that year, Finance Minister Abul Mal Abdul Muhith presented a budget of Tk 1 lakh 13 thousand 170 crore for the fiscal year 2009-10. That budget crossed the milestone of Tk 1 lakh crore for the first time in the history of Bangladesh.
Then in 2013-14 fiscal year Tk 2 lakh 22 thousand 491 crore, in 2016-17 financial year Tk 3 lakh 40 thousand 605 crore, in 2017-18 financial year budget Tk 4 lakh 266 crore, in 2018-19 financial year Tk 5 lakh 23 thousand 190 crore, 2021- The budget of Tk 6 lakh 3 thousand 681 crore in 2022 financial year, Tk 6 lakh 78 thousand 64 crore in 2022-23 financial year was announced. Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal will present the budget for the fiscal year 2023-24 in the National Parliament today, June 1. This is the 15th consecutive budget of the current Awami League government and the fifth budget of Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal. The main theme of this year’s budget has been set, ‘Across the long journey of development towards Smart Bangladesh’.
Economists see this rate of increase in the size of the budget as positive. According to them, since the Awami League government came to power in 2009, the average growth in the last 15 years has been above 7 percent. That means, the size of the economy of Bangladesh is increasing. If the size of the economy increases, the size of the budget will also increase. However, although the size of the budget increases every year, the implementation rate is gradually decreasing. The budget that is announced at the beginning of the financial year cannot be implemented at the end of the year. As a result, the increase in the size of the budget has become somewhat questionable. Therefore, besides increasing the size of the budget, more importance should be given to implementation.
In this regard, the former financial advisor of the caretaker government AB Mirza Azizul Islam told that although the size of the budget is increasing every year, the implementation rate of the budget is decreasing. Therefore, as the size of the budget increases, the rate of implementation should be increased. If the budget quality and implementation rate does not increase, these budgets can be called ambitious budgets.
Some notable budget sizes of Bangladesh: After independence, the then Finance Minister Tajuddin Ahmed announced the first budget of Tk 786 crore on June 30, 1972 (fiscal year 1972-73). Then on June 6, 1981, the then Finance Minister M Saifur Rahman presented the country’s tenth budget for the financial year 1981-82, which was Tk 4,677 crore. On June 12, 1991, the budget for the fiscal year 1991-92 was Tk 15,584 crore. It was also presented by M Saifur Rahman.
Later on June 8, 2000, the size of the 30th budget in the financial year 2000-01 was Tk 38 thousand 524 crores. It was presented by then Finance Minister Shah AMS Kibria. On June 10, 2010, the budget for the fiscal year 2010-11 was Tk 1 lakh 32 thousand 170 crores. On June 11, 2020, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal presented the country’s 50th budget. The size of that budget was Tk 5 lakh 68 thousand. The budget for the fiscal year 2023-24 is being announced tomorrow, June 1. The size of which is Tk 7 lakh 61 thousand 785 crores.