Budget lacks transparency

Civil society members were sceptical about the projected outcome of the proposed national budget for fiscal year 2018-19 which, they said, lacks transparency, accountability and good governance.

Terming the Tk 4.68 trillion budget highly challenging, they said expectations of the common people were not reflected in the budgetary proposals.

The speakers also raised question about the quality of public expenditure and the capability of the revenue board to mobilise required finance and attain the projected economic growth.

The observations came at a post-budget discussion organised by the Sushasoner Jonno Nagorik (Sujon) at the National Press Club in the city on Monday.

Former Bangladesh Bank (BB) governor Dr Salehuddin Ahmed said the government fixed a revenue collection target for the National Board of Revenue (NBR), which is 32 per cent higher than the revised revenue target for FY '18. 

"It would be very difficult for the board to meet the target, as it failed to achieve the outgoing fiscal year's revenue target. Its previous highest track record is 18 per cent," he said.

He suggested expanding the tax net by giving more focus on outside Dhaka alongside proper monitoring to ensure 100 per cent deposit of collected VAT to the exchequer.

Mr Ahmed said the government spends a big amount of public fund on execution of infrastructure development projects, but the quality is not ensured properly.

"That's why implementing agencies seek money again for repair soon after completing the projects. It's nothing but a waste of public money," he said.

About the growth, the former central bank governor said the country needs to raise the private investment-to-GDP ratio to 32 per cent to achieve 7.8 per cent economic growth as projected in the budget for FY '19.

The ratio remained static at around 24 per cent in recent years, making it difficult to attain the projected growth, according to him.  

Chairman of Financial Excellence Ltd. Syed Abu Naser Bukhtear Ahmed said the banking sector has witnessed many incidents of loan embezzlement in recent years.

But the government recapitalises those financial institutions instead of punishing those responsible for such financial crimes, he said.

"This (recapitalisation) is not a right practice. I think it happened because of political influence and we need to keep FIs out of political influence," he said.

Citing a media report, former cabinet secretary Ali Imam Majumder said the Annual Development Programme (ADP) implementation rate was 63 per cent in the first 11 months of the outgoing fiscal.

"Is it possible to complete the remaining work in just one month? This is the scenario of our development budget," he said.

Sujon secretary Dr Badiul Alam Majumdar moderated the roundtable.

He emphasised the need to carry out studies on the economic and environmental viability of the mega projects which eat up maximum resources.

He said the budgetary allocation for education was reduced to 11 per cent in FY '19 from over 14 per cent in FY '11.

But increased allocation for this sector is needed to make the country's demographic dividend productive, he said.

He termed the capital flight a serious stumbling block to the economy.

But there are no measures in the budget to stem capital flight as over $9.0 billion was siphoned off last year, he said.

Sujon president M Hafiz Uddin Khan said lawmakers do not properly discuss the budget in parliament. Even it has not been sent to the standing committee for discussion.

He said developed countries have started phasing out nuclear power plants considering its negative impacts, but Bangladesh welcomes it without proper assessment.

"It is unfortunate that the government does not take into consideration the recommendations of the experts," he added.

He was also critical of the government's move to bring down the yield rates on savings certificates.

[email protected]