Cabinet approves BSRI, BRTC bills

Published at 07:32 pm November 6th, 2018

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina chairs the cabinet meetingon Tuesday, November 6, 2018 PID

The annual report of all the ministries and divisions of their activities during the 2017-2018 fiscal years was also placed before the Cabinet meeting

The Cabinet on Tuesday in principle approved the drafts of Bangladesh Sugarcrop Research Institute (BSRI) Bill-2018 and Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) Bill-2018.

The approval was given at the weekly meeting of the Cabinet held at the Prime Minister's Office with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair, reports UNB.

The Cabinet also approved the draft of Export Policy 2018-2021, said Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam while briefing reporters at the Secretariat after the meeting.

The annual report of all the ministries and divisions of their activities during the 2017-2018 fiscal years was also placed before the Cabinet meeting.

According to the report, the per capita income increased to $1,751 in 2017-18 from $1,602 in the previous fiscal year, said Shafiul. "The per capita income, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and the revenue collection saw a rise in the 2017-2018 fiscal years than the previous financial year," he said, adding that the GDP growth rate has reached 7.86%.

The export volume was $41.1 billion while the export growth rate was 7.75% in the last fiscal year, he said.

In the fiscal year 2016-2017, the revenue collection was Tk230,965 crore which is 14.78% higher than the previous year.

Shafiul said the remittance inflow was $14.98 billion, showing an increase by 17.31% from the previous year.

He said that the poverty rate came down to 21.1% from 23.1% in 2016-2017 while the extreme poverty rate stood at 11.3% from 12.1%.

Meanwhile, the Cabinet adopted a resolution greeting the Bangladesh Under-15 football team for clinching the SAFF Under-15 championship beating Pakistan in the final, the cabinet secretary said.

Answering a question about the continuation of the Cabinet meeting, he said it will continue as usual whether or not there is the current government or a caretaker government.

About the prime minister's directive asking four technocrat ministers to step down, Shafiul said he is unaware of it. "We're ready to take further step after getting a directive in this regard."