The stage is set for Finance Minister AMA Muhith, who will unveil the national budget on Thursday ahead of the general election slated late this year.
The octogenarian minister will be presenting his 10th consecutive budget with a possible size of Tk 4.7 trillion under the current government.
He is expected to present his budget proposal at 12:30pm on Thursday in Parliament.
This will be the 12th national budget that he will roll out and the last of the Awami League government serving its second straight term.
This is for the first time Muhith is going to present it digitally.
With the national elections scheduled for December this year, it’s expected Muhith will give priority to the development initiatives those cover the major areas, including infrastructure, power, and education and skill development.
The mega projects are getting large allocations in an effort to shore up support for the Awami League.
The government has already approved the Tk 1.73 trillion Annual Development Programme or ADP, which is nearly 17 percent higher than the revised ADP of the outgoing fiscal.
Rohingya issue is likely to be a major concern for Muhith as he has to set a considerable amount aside for the over 1 million Rohingyas who fled to Bangladesh to avoid persecution.
In November 2017, the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council approved a Tk 23.12 billion project for building temporary shelters for Rohingyas at Bhasanchar.
Muhith has already hinted that the fiscal outlay would keep a provision for financing some ongoing mega projects while it would make the increased allocation for new development projects in the coming fiscal.
The minister said that the target for GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth would be set at 7.8 percent for the next financial year. The target for the outgoing financial year is 7.28 percent, but the planning ministry expects the growth will be over 7.65 percent at the end of this June.
Muhith may keep the inflation target below 5.4 percent.
The National Board of Revenue is likely to get a target of collecting Tk 3 trillion in revenues for the new fiscal year, up by more than 32 percent of the revised target set for the current fiscal.
Corporate tax rate is expected to be slashed while the tax-free income limit for individuals is set to be increased.
Expanding tax net will be another major strategy of the proposed budget as the government has planned to bring potential taxpayers under the tax net in FY19.