United News of Bangladesh

The Cabinet on Thursday approved the proposed national budget for the fiscal year 2026-27 at a special meeting held at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban. The meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman in the Cabinet Room of the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban, said Prime Minister’s Additional Press Secretary Atikur Rahman Rumon. Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury and other ministers and state ministers attended the meeting that began at about 10:00am and ended around 1:00pm. The finance minister is scheduled to place the proposed budget in Parliament at 3:00pm after it receives presidential authentication. The proposed budget, the first under the current government, has an outlay of Tk 9.38 lakh crore. This year’s budget is expected to focus on controlling inflation, generating employment, encouraging investment, strengthening economic stability and supporting lower-income and disadvantaged groups, according to the finance minister and government officials. The government has set an overall revenue mobilisation target of Tk 6.95 lakh crore to finance the expenditure programme. Of the total revenue target, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) is expected to collect Tk 6.04 lakh crore. Another Tk 25,000 crore is projected to come from non-NBR tax sources, while non-tax revenue receipts are estimated at Tk 66,000 crore. A significant portion of the budget will be spent on debt servicing. The government has allocated Tk 1.27 lakh crore for interest payments, including Tk 1.05 lakh crore for domestic debt and Tk 22,500 crore for foreign loans. The proposed budget projects an overall deficit of Tk 2.43 lakh crore. To finance the deficit, the government plans to borrow Tk 1.09 lakh crore from external sources and Tk 1.12 lakh crore from the banking system. The remaining Tk 15,000 crore is expected to be mobilised through national savings certificates. With this, the BNP government is going to present a national budget in Parliament after for 20 years following its return to power with a majority in the 13th parliamentary election.