Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed on Tuesday said that the next national budget for the fiscal year 2025-26 (FY26) would put higher emphasis on private sector investment and employment generation.
“We’ll have to increase employment generation to a larger extent. We will take necessary initiative in the upcoming budget for increasing private sector investment and employment generation,” he said this while speaking at the pre-budget meeting with the Economic Reports’ Forum (ERF) held at the Bangladesh Secretariat in the city.
In the upcoming budget, the finance adviser mentioned that the government will provide special focus on infrastructure development, construction of educational institutions buildings and river management.
He, however, said that a ‘Bank Resolution Act’ will be enacted to bring transparency and accountability in the banking sector.
In the meeting, ERF President Doulot Akter Mala presented 28 proposals on behalf of ERF, prioritizing economic stability instead of focusing on increasing GDP growth in the next fiscal year.
She said that it is important to restore stability in the banking sector and keep foreign exchange reserves stable before LDC graduation.
She called on the government to pay maximum attention in reducing inflation in the next fiscal year and to break the existing syndicate in market management and supply chain and to stop all types of extortion.
During the meeting, the ERF has proposed raising the tax-free income limit for individual taxpayers to Tk5 lakh, citing inflationary pressures.
ERF urged the removal of excise duty on deposits between Tk 500,000 and Tk 1 million and a reduction in taxes on profits to encourage bank savings.
ERF suggested capping the tax rate on essential commodities, education, and medical supplies at 5 per cent, and introducing a separate revenue policy for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to ease access to bond benefits.
Besides, it proposed setting a flat 7 per cent VAT rate to simplify tax calculations and reduce collection inefficiencies.