The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) urges the government to manage fund from other sources rather than banking channel to finance the deficit financing in 2019-20 fiscal.

Leading business associations yesterday urged the government to ensure easy, hassle-free and business-friendly implementation of the new VAT law.

Terming the proposed national budget “highly ambitious”, the BNP yesterday said the people of the country would not accept the budget as it would increase inequality.

The budgetary measures for fiscal 2019-20 will favour the beneficiaries of “economic misrule” and hurt the middle and lower mid-income groups, the Centre for Policy Dialogue said yesterday.

Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) yesterday strongly condemned the proposed amnesty for black money in the budget for fiscal 2019-20 and termed it “unconstitutional, immoral and discriminatory”.

At a time when the government should be encouraging virtual businesses, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal has proposed 7.5 percent value-added tax on them in his budget for fiscal 2019-20, making their services dearer.

Main political opposition BNP terms the budget for fiscal 2019-20 highly ambitious.

The proposed national budget for 2019-20 fiscal year will ensure facilities only to high-income people, says Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) distinguished fellow Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya.

Bangladesh government has planned to build 60 thousand flats under the public-private partnership (PPP) system in Purbachal, which is a new city of Dhaka.

Imported smartphones are scheduled to turn much costlier as the government has proposed increasing supplementary duty from 10 percent to 25 percent.

Gani Mia is a farmer with no land of his own. He grows paddy, jute and other crops in others’ fields. His story, though fictitious, is in school textbooks and etched in the minds of many. It stands true for a large number of the country’s farmers, especially the marginal ones.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday presented parts of the national budget as Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal fell sick halfway through his speech.

In a push to widen the social safety net, the government decided to include all registered differently abled people, and more marginalised and vulnerable ones under its protection.

The government has resorted to deficit financing, largely through bank borrowing and sale of high-cost savings certificates, increasing the interest payment burden on its shoulders and fuelling inflation.

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal yesterday proposed doubling the subsidy for the gas sector to Tk 9,600 crore for 2019-20, from Tk 4,500 crore in the previous year.

All eyes were on fever-stricken Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal as he stepped into parliament to unveil his maiden national budget yesterday.

More than a year ago, when Mohammad Zayed graduated from a university college in the capital, his family started expecting that he would soon take over the financial responsibility.

The new budget is growth-friendly and has set ambitious goals but shied away from addressing the key challenges confronting the economy, said a number of economists in their immediate reactions.

Bangladesh Food Safety Authority (BFSA) has prepared a report claiming that it has removed most of the 52 substandard food items from the market across the country and filed 52 cases against the companies concerned as per the High Court directives.

In 2010, the government decided to construct a 128-kilometre (km) metre gauge rail track to link Chattogram with tourist town Cox’s Bazar at a cost of Tk 1,852.35 crore.