Russia-Ukraine war pinching Bangladesh economy: Kamal

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal has said he faces the pressure of external vulnerabilities in the economy in preparing the national budget for fiscal 2022-23.

“Only pressure is the uncertainties and external vulnerabilities due to the war (Russia-Ukraine)”, he told reporters while briefing about the outcomes of the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase on Wednesday.

The National Budget for FY23 is slated to be placed in Parliament on June 9.

He said that after the Covid-19 pandemic when the economy was trying to recover from the shock, the Russia-Ukraine war started which created huge vulnerabilities and uncertainties globally.

“Every country in the world has to face the challenges of the vulnerabilities and they are under pressure”, he said adding that these uncertainties and vulnerabilities will create opportunities as well.

“We don’t war anymore. We want the war to stop immediately”, he said.

Kamal said his main focus in the budget will be recovering the economy from the uncertainties and vulnerabilities. “We’ll try to bring dynamism in the economy”.

Responding to a question on the CPD’s observation that the country’s financial sector is led by a weak leadership, the finance minister said Bangladesh has been the best country in the world in economic management.

“The way we run the economy in a crisis situation, the administrative efficiency we showed, it’s best compared with the other countries”, he claimed.

He, however, refused to disclose the main thrusts of the national budget. “Just wait…You will see when the budget is placed in Parliament”.

He hinted that strengthening the social safety-net programme will get a special focus in the upcoming budget.