Distinguished fellow of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Dr. Debapriya Bhattacharya on Sunday said that the purchasing power of marginal, middle class and lower middle class has decreased due to the direct impact of double-digit inflation.
So the main budget for the next fiscal year 2024-2025 will be how to restore the stability of the macro economy and reducing the high inflation.
He said this at a press briefing when unveiling a survey report titled "New Government, National Budget and Citizen's Aspirations", which was conducted in collaboration with the Citizen's Platform for SDGs, Bangladesh. The event was held in a hotel in Gulshan on Sunday (May 5).
At the press briefing also urged for the government to allocate more funds for social protection, education, and health in the next budget.
Unveiling the report, Dr. Debapriya said the number of child marriages, malnutrition, and population under the poverty line has increased along with widening the income discrimination in the society.
“The inflation situation improved globally including the South Asian countries, while in Bangladesh the inflation situation is totally opposite, people are crying in manage their family expenditure as they have been experiencing a deteriorated inflation for two years,” he said.
The survey revealed that decent employment is the top aspiration for Bangladeshi people.
In terms of decent employment, 44.9 percent of citizens surveyed also called to reduce unemployment, 36.44 percent wanted increased job opportunities, and 11.02 percent aspired for allowances for the unemployed.
The second major aspiration was education, with 49.72 percent of the respondents saying they wanted quality education. A total of 28.53 percent also asked that a stipend or scholarship be provided.
Another agenda was social protection, with 33.25% aspiring for food security.
“Parliament has a standing committee on budget, let them meet. Such a meeting was not seen in the previous Parliament,” Dr. Debapriya pointed out.
Besides, the finance minister has to present the economic situation to the parliament every three months, but this has not been practiced, he said.
CPD executive director Dr. Fahmida Khatun said that tax management should be improved. Those who are paying taxes are being taxed more. They are often harassed.
Many people are not paying taxes, they are evading taxes. Besides, money is going abroad through money laundering, she said.
“In the tax structure, direct tax is a tax on direct income, which is 30 percent of the total tax. On the other hand, indirect taxes such as VAT and duties are 70 percent. Change must be made here, she pointed out.