The recently-concluded budget season had to play second fiddle to the cricket season. And why not? Cricket is about passion, budget rarely so. The new finance minister has a foot in both of these worlds holding, as he does, the Comilla Victorians franchise. Mr Mustafa Kamal

The high interest rate remains in the banking sector due to the default loan, says Toufic Ahmad Choudhury, former director general of Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management (BIBM).

A national budget, as a layman understands it, is a financial estimation about a government’s earnings and expenditure over a year which also takes into account the trends and projections about the market, taxation and specific economic goals. In the context of countries like ours, the budget is also expected to address issues of equity and social justice, unemployment, poverty reduction and redistribution of income along with achieving fiscal discipline.

Parliament passes the Tk 5,23,190 crore national budget for 2019-20 fiscal themed as “Bangladesh on a Pathway to Prosperity: Time is Ours, Time for Bangladesh.”

The parliament passes the Finance Bill 2019 with some changes in value-added tax (VAT) and in the policy of capital market and handloom industry.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina describes the proposed budget for FY 2019-20 as people-friendly, development-oriented and balanced one, saying that everyone will be benefitted by the budget as it will help continue the pace of ongoing development.

Lawmakers from treasury and opposition benches lambaste Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal for keeping insufficient allocation for education, health and culture sectors in the proposed budget for 2019-20 fiscal year.

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal reveals the names of the top 300 loan defaulters in the parliament.

The paper importers of the country urge the government to fix five percent import duty in the budget from the existing 25 percent to help the local industry flourish.

Sushashoner Jonno Nagorik (Shujan), a civil society platform for good governance, has underscored the urgent need to reform the budgetary system for achieving the country’s desired goal.

Senior Awami League leader Matia Chowdhury lambastes Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal for increasing tax on family savings certificate from five per cent to 10 per cent in the proposed budget for 2019-20 fiscal.

Imposing 15 per cent tax on retained earnings of the multinational companies and their stock dividends will affect the inflow of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) as the companies will feel discouraged to reinvest from their earnings, says the official of a leading trade body.

Cash incentives on remittance offered in the next budget will help boost foreign currency inflow, but the decline in allocation for the expatriate welfare ministry means low priority for the migrant workers’ rights, analysts said.

A group of non-government organisations have called upon the government to reconsider the budgetary allocation for people with disabilities.

Prices of some items such as sugar and edible oil may go up due to a spike in customs tariff and imposition of VAT for the fiscal 2019-20, Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan, chairman of the National Board of Revenue, said yesterday.

Apparel manufacturers and exporters demand three per cent cash incentive on export receipts in the budget for fiscal 2019-20.

Nagarik Oikya Convener Mahmudur Rahman Manna says the proposed budget for fiscal year 2019-20 is not pro poor people rather it will make the rich even richer.

The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) yesterday urged the government to explore all sources other than banks to finance the budget deficit in the next fiscal year.

Sugar prices have gone up by Tk 120 per mound in the Khatunganj-Chaktai market, the hub for wholesale of commodities in Chattogram, soon after the proposed budget for 2019-20 was placed on Thursday.

The new VAT law may increase cost of many goods and services and hurt consumers, analysts said yesterday.