CPD slams proposed budget as 'conflicting with July uprising' over money whitening provision

The Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) has criticised the proposed national budget for the upcoming fiscal year, stating that it conflicts with the "July uprising" due to its provision to allow legalisation of undisclosed funds.

On Tuesday, the think tank strongly opposed the measure, calling for its complete withdrawal and stating that it is "entirely unacceptable" as it undermines the morale of honest taxpayers and effectively penalises law-abiding citizens.

Dr Fahmida Khatun, Executive Director of the CPD, made these remarks while presenting the keynote at a media briefing titled “CPD’s Analysis of the National Budget FY2025-26,” held at a hotel in the capital.

Earlier on Monday, Finance Advisor Dr Salehuddin Ahmed presented the national budget titled “Building an Equitable and Sustainable Economic System” to be implemented in the next fiscal year.

While analysing the Tk 7.90 trillion budget, Dr Fahmida noted that the finance adviser had introduced a provision allowing the legalisation of undisclosed money in the housing sector through higher tax rates.

She warned that such a move would exacerbate inequality not only in the housing sector but also across the broader economy.

“The influx of illegal money into the housing sector will drive up the prices of already overvalued land, buildings, and apartments, pushing these properties further out of reach for the middle class,” she said.

Fahmida also noted that the central theme of the July uprising was to eliminate inequality in society, but the proposed budget does not align with the spirit of the student-led mass movement and the theme of the proposed budget.

The budget also failed to ensure justice in the field of taxation to some extent, said Fahmida, adding some tax measures fall more heavily on the poor and low-income earners.

Professor Mustafizur Rahman, Distinguished Fellow at the CPD, said the proposed budget also fails to address another core demand of the July movement—employment generation alongside building an inequality-free society.

He noted that the budget lacks a guaranteed employment scheme and falls short of introducing effective measures to integrate the large youth population, Not in Education, Employment, or Training (NEET), into the mainstream economy.

"Employment will be created through investment," he said, adding that while public investment is set to decline slightly, while there is also no clear roadmap to boost private investment to meet the budgetary goal.

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