Shawdesh Desk:

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal today said in preparing the budget for the next fiscal year (FY23), top priority was given to containing inflation stemming from the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia-Ukraine war.

“In preparing the budget for the next fiscal year, top priority has been given to containing inflation stemming from the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic since the beginning of 2020 and the Russia-Ukraine crisis,” he said.

The minister said this while placing the Tk 6,78,064 crore national budget for FY23 at the Jatiya Sangsad in the city.

The title of the budget for the next fiscal year is “Return to the Path of Development; Leaving the COVID-19 Behind”.

In his speech, Kamal said, “Agriculture is our second highest priority sector because of its importance in ensuring food security. Our priority in agriculture research and expansion service, farm mechanization, irrigation and seed, agricultural subsidies including fertilizer subsidy will continue in the next fiscal year to accelerate the progress that has been made in the agricultural sector over the past few years.”

“Our third priority sector is human resource development including health, education and skills development. We will continue to allocate for the development of human resources including health, education and skills development with a view to building a better Bangladesh by 2041,” he added.

The finance minister mentioned that the fourth priority is to boost domestic investment, increase exports and promote export diversification. “Our fifth priority sector is job creation and rural development,” he added.

“In addition, tackling the effects of climate change will be one of our priorities. Committed to always standing by low-income people, this government will continue to expand its coverage of social security. We have plans to distribute low-cost and even free food to low-income people,” he continued.

He said the successful implementation of the incentive package announced by the Prime Minister to address the COVID-19 pandemic in the new budget will be considered as one of the priority areas of the government.