BNP turns down budget, says it’s ‘unimplementable’

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has repudiated the national budget for the 2020-21 fiscal year calling it “conventional and not implementable”.

It also said that the health sector did not get priority in the budget despite the country currently battling against the coronavirus pandemic. 

Party Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir gave his reaction on behalf of the party in a virtual press conference from his residence at Uttara on Thursday. 

He said: “This budget is not feasible at all. They (government) did not mention specifically where the revenues would come from. Whatever they mentioned as revenue, it's not feasible because the experience of last year shows that they could not realize 50% [of revenue target].” 

"This budget is not suitable for the coronavirus period, they have made a prototype bureaucratic format budget. It is not acceptable in any way. We are rejecting this budget," he said.

Mirza Fakhrul said the government should have had an emergency budget with the highest priority put on protecting life, livelihood, and health during the pandemic. 

The BNP secretary general criticized the allocation of money on mega projects instead of the health sector and agricultural sector.

Fakhrul said all of the programs taken in the budget are targeted for some specific party-groups. 

There will be an extreme deficit in revenue income due to the decreasing income and demand of the people caused by the pandemic resulting in long term economic recession, he added.

He also criticized the London tour of the finance minister a day after the budget had passed and said: "It is nothing but a joke on the citizens".

Criticizing the imposed fee for Covid-19 test, Fakhrul said, "The only purpose of this [test fee] is to discourage testing.”