The proposed national budget for the 2019-20 fiscal year was not placed in the light of the real situation on the ground as well as does not reflect the electoral pledges made by the Awami League, says private think tank Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD).

“Our finance minister tried to make it appear realistic but the reality has not been reflected specifically,” CPD’s distinguished fellow Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya said in an impromptu reaction hours after the budget was proposed in the parliament on Thursday (Jun 13).

The expectation and ambition of people were stated in the budget, but a specific proposal to fulfil such ambition is absent in the budget speech, he said.

“There were some specific pledges in the election manifesto of the ruling Awami League no reflection was sighted in the budget speech,” he said.

The country’s banking sector has experienced cancerous growth but there was no specific citation in the budget to overcome the situation, he said.

Formation of banking commission was stated in the proposed budget but when and how it be formed has not been cleared, he said.

The government in its pledges said that it would create three core job opportunities by 2030 but there was no specific framework on whether it will be created in town or urban areas or in government or in private sectors were not mentioned in the budget speech, he said.

He said the CPD will come up with a formal reaction on the budget around 11:00 am on Friday (Jun 14).