BEA places Tk 20.94 lakh crore alternate budget for FY24

The Bangladesh Economic Association (BEA) has placed a Tk 20,94,112 crore alternate budget for the next fiscal year (FY24) which is 3.09 times higher than the budget of the FY23.

The BEA in a programme held on Thursday also termed the proposed budget as expansionary and pro-people.

BSS adds: BEA president Abul Barkat placed this alternate budget at a press conference held at the office of BEA in the capital's Eskaton area today. BEA general secretary Md Ainul Islam gave the introductory remarks.

Mentioning that the alternate budget has been proposed to gain six goals over the next 10 years, Barkat said that these goals are alleviating 70 to 80 percent of people into middle class, reducing disparity at the lowest level, distributing resources of the rich community among the poor and low-income group people, giving highest priority to the domestic economy in development, creating opportunity for making people science-minded and enlightened and thus creating employments for people.

The BEA president said that it is possible to realize Tk 2.12 lakh crore through imposing resource tax adding that resource tax should be imposed to reduce disparity.

Besides, he suggested that if the tax of country's 90 percent low-income group people is lowered, then more employments would be created while their income would increase.

Barkat also opined that Tk 20.94 lakh crore budget is very much necessary considering the global economic recession, recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic and the onslaught of the Russia-Ukraine war.

Leaders of the BEA were present on the occasion.