Budget should emphasise quality expenditure: Experts

Along with increasing the size of the budget, more attention should be paid to the quality of expenditure, said experts on Monday.

The experts said that in the FY 2021 -22 budget, more importance should have been given to the health, education, and social security sectors.

The speakers were talking at a virtual discussion organised by the Entrepreneurship Economics Department of the Dhaka School of Business.

Dhaka School of Economics Professor, Dr Mahboob Ali, who presided over this programme said the proposed budget has several measures to revive the economy.

He urged starting the implementation of the budget from 1 July.

"The government should have introduced unemployment allowance from this year given their political commitment," he added.

Dr Shoaib Ahmed, former adviser to the Caretaker Government of Bangladesh, said the budget is good and there are many good aspects to it.

But Ahmed said the allocation for health, education, and social security has not increased in the budget and that emergency measures needed to fight Covid-19 are absent from the budget as well.

Snehasish Barua, founding partner at Snehasish, Mahmud and Co, said the government has cut corporate taxes for two consecutive years.

"Traders have also been given an exemption with the removal of some complications in VAT law," he added.

He termed the proposal of a tax holiday and VAT exemption as positive initiatives for the development of local industries, and said effective monitoring systems are needed to prevent misuse of these facilities.

Among others, Rehana Parvin and Sara Tasneem, assistant professors of Entrepreneurship Economics at the Dhaka School of Economics, were present at the discussion.