The Central for Policy Dialogue, an independent think tank, analysed the proposed budget for the financial year 2024-25, stating that it lacks a realistic understanding of economic challenges and fails to provide adequate measures to address them.

According to their analysis presented at a media briefing titled “CPD’s Analysis of the National Budget FY2024-25,” held at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in the city, several budgetary targets for FY25 are likely to be missed due to the government’s oversight of current economic realities.

The projected economic indicators for FY25, including the inflation rate, GDP growth, and investment, were deemed overly ambitious by the think tank.

They strongly opposed the provision in the proposed budget to legalise undisclosed money and assets at a 15 per cent tax rate, considering it unfair to honest taxpayers and a deviation from principles of good governance.

Fahmida Khatun, the executive director of CPD, characterised the proposed budget as “ordinary” for an “extraordinary time,” citing its inadequate measures to curb inflation and provide relief to the poor and those with fixed incomes.

She criticised the lack of clarity on where the increased private investment, as projected in the budget, would come from.

CPD’s analysis also questioned the feasibility of revenue collection targets set in the budget, highlighting a significant disparity between the targets and actual collections in FY24.

The provision to legalise undisclosed money was strongly opposed by CPD on moral grounds, as it undermines the rule of law and contradicts promises made in the ruling party’s election manifesto.

Mustafizur Rahman, a distinguished fellow at CPD, pointed out that legalising undisclosed money contradicts the ruling party’s promise of zero tolerance for corruption.

Khondaker Golam Moazzem, the research director, criticised the budget’s emphasis on austerity measures for the public while increasing expenditure on public administration, predicting that it would further fuel non-food inflation.

Moazzem also highlighted concerns about the provision’s potential to incentivise dishonesty and suggested that Bangladesh’s tax policy often favors vested interests.

Regarding mega projects, he called for a reassessment of their contribution to the country’s economic growth.