This budget failed to redefine the role of the state and mark a departure from inequality and patronage.

The government has proposed a 3.55 percent rise in the budget allocation for agriculture, food, livestock and fisheries in the next fiscal year, setting aside Tk 39,620 crore..But agro-economists say the increase is far from sufficient to ensure the country’s long-term food security..<p

About 40 percent of the population is now dependent on agriculture for jobs and that is why the government should not divert its attention from this sector at this time of austerity, said ‍Binayak Sen, director general of BIDS.