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5 years ago

‘Fix paddy price at Tk 1,200 per maund’

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President of Bangladesh Economic Association (BEA) Prof Abul Barkat on Saturday said the price of a maund (40 kilograms) of paddy should be fixed at Tk 1,200 so that farmers do not have to count losses.

"Farmers don't get fair prices for their paddy. They counted a loss of Tk 500 per maund of boro paddy this year. So, the price of paddy should be fixed at least at Tk 1,200 each maund," he said.

The renowned economist was placing an alternative budget of Tk 1.24 trillion for 2019-2020 fiscal year at a press conference at Cirdap auditorium in the capital to build a discrimination-free society and economy, reports UNB.

On behalf of the BEA, he also proposed a revenue income to the tune of Tk 10.03 trillion where 69 per cent will come from direct tax while the rest from indirect tax.

Abul Barkat expressed the hope that the alternative budget will be a foreign debt-free one although there is a deficit of Tk 2.38 trillion.

He also said they have identified 20 new sources of revenue. "The government can fetch additional Tk 950 billion from three sources -- preventing money laundering, recovering black money and wealth tax."

The BEA chief proposed a highest allocation of Tk 2.84 trillion for education and technology.

He proposed at least 5.0 per cent allocation of GDP in education sector to resolve unemployment problem. "Around 3.0 million people enter the labour market every year but 2.0 million of them don't get jobs."

He also prioritised administration, transportation and communication, power and energy, health, social safety and welfare sectors.

Abul Barkat also put emphasis on keeping aside Tk 30 billion in the budget for agriculture as well as farmers of the country.

He also said the government can earn additional revenue of Tk 25 billion from cigarette, Tk 10 billion from bidi and Tk 10 billion from tobacco products.

 

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