Budget targets traditional, unrealistic

In the national budget proposed for FY24, the targets have been set in a traditional way in most of the cases. 

If we look at the various indicators of the economy, then we can see the same assumptions that were used in the past. These assumptions do not seem realistic.

As the stability of our macroeconomics is quite broken, we are seeing that the growth target, the inflation target and other indicators of the economy, such as imports, exports, remittances, investments, private sector investments, are not being met.

We can even see a deficit in terms of revenue and government expenditure.

This year's budget is not much different from those in the previous years. In the last few years, we have seen that in every indicator, we had a shortfall in implementation.

Another factor in the budget framework is the budget deficit. The budget deficit has been kept at 5.1% or 5.2% this year. 

In terms of borrowing from the banking sector to meet the deficit, we have seen dependence on both the banking sector and the central bank in the current financial year. The dependence that has been seen on the central bank is actually a matter of concern.

In terms of tax collection, it appears that the target is very high and the IMF has a pressure to raise it. So, it appears that a number of ways are being applied to collect taxes.

There is a lack of accountability on what actions should have been taken and what is lacking. 

Every year the size of the budget increases and the entire budget is arranged through a formula but there is no innovation here. Most importantly, there is no accountability.

Dr Fahmida Khatun is the executive director of Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD).