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BNP’s instant reaction

Budget designed to turn country into market for foreign goods

By Staff Correspondent
The opposition BNP rejected the proposed national budget for 1997-98 terming it an antipeople one. designed to turn the country into a market for foreign goods.
BNP's instant reaction on the just-placed budget came after the adjournment of JS session yesterday evening, at a press briefing held at the Opposition chamber in the Sangsad Bhaban.
Deputy Leader of the Opposition in Jatiya Sangsad Prof Badruddoza Chowdhury termed the proposed budget as opposed to the interest of the country while former finance minister M Saifur Rahman levelled it as
"non-transparent and artti-people.''
Saifur Rahman said that the government had miserably failed to restore the macro-economic balance and added, "there will be no foreign investment without macro stability."
He feared that the proposed budget would ruin of the small and cottage industries. He provided comparative pictures of various sectors and said, "in contrast to 37 per cent growth in industrial sector during our time, currently industrial growth has gone down to minus ratio."
About the present inflation
rate o?3.34 per cent, the former finance minister said, "the inflation rate was low only in the agri-sector, but. industrial inflation would be not less than 10 per cent,"
He was critical about the government borrowing of Tk 1,500 crore from banking sector. and said, "private sector is deprived of loans and it was offered only Tk 600 crore loan during the first nine months of the current fiscal while government borrowed money from central bank to cover up the gap caused by lower revenue collection.
During the 1993-95 period Saifur noted that the BNP government refunded Tk 1.600 in borrowed money. "We had to borrow money from the banking sector only in the 1995-96 fiscal and that also because of a series of hartal calls by the then opposition.
Responding to the projected ;rowth rate of 5.7 per cent in 996-97. he said that 90 per cent credit for this growth goes to the agricultural sector which was endowed with favourable weather. He recalled growth that the rate crossed the five per cent mark only four times since Bangladesh came into being and during all those periods the country was blessed with bumper crop production.
He expressed deep concern at the falling level of foreign exchange reserve. He also contested Finance Minister Shah AMS Kibria's claim to inheriting a weak capital market, and said, "we had boosted up business volume of the stock exchange from Tk 200 crore to two billion US dollars."
Saifur Rahman expressed his doubt about earmarking an allocation of only Tk 700 crore for implementing the new national pay scale when the amount of money involved was projected to be Tk 2.000 crore. They (the government) are not giving true reflection of what the pay rise would require."
He further alleged that the government has under-projected the revenue earning from the newly proposed 2.5 "blanket surcharge" on imports, which he reckoned to be Tk 1,000 crore instead of Tk 350 crore as projected by Kibria.
He criticised the government for the decline in foreign aid disbursement and observed that the ADP was not adjusted with the inflation rate. "If we calculate the proposed ADP allocation of 1997-98 in comparison with that of 1996-97. it is rather downsized."
Earlier, initiating the briefing Prof Badruddoza Chowdhury told newsman that a full reaction of BNP on the proposed budget would be communicated later after a "critical analysis" is done.
He said the proposed budget would affect the poor people, peasants and small industries much. "Taxes on writing papers to by-cycle, and even on shoes have been increased. And what's left? Be aware, if one possess q tplephorie. he would also have to file income tax returns." he added.
I Ie alleged that the proposed budget was charted out to turn Bangladesh into a market of foreign goods.