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He also warned that the domestic borrowing target would be difficult to maintain.

With a Tk 9,30,000 crore budget, even if borrowing is reduced by Tk 1,00,000 crore, the deficit could still reach Tk 250,000 crore.

Revenue collection is unlikely to exceed Tk 5,50,000 crore, meaning the government will inevitably need to borrow more from domestic sources, despite liquidity problems in banks.

Resorting to money printing would risk further inflation.

Besides, the BNP’s election manifesto pledged to reduce debt dependency, but this hinges on boosting revenue collection, Zahid said.

While some measures are planned, the extent of improvement remains uncertain.

“Aligning expectations with reality will be quite difficult,” he said.

Budget implementation data shows that in recent years, borrowing has been required not only for the development budget but also for the operating budget. As a result, interest payments have steadily increased year after year.

Bangladesh’s total public debt burden has crossed Tk 22,00,000 crore by December 2025 with a growing reliance on domestic sources as the government looked to “insulate the economy from foreign currency risks”.

Of the total debt, Tk 3,00,000 crore was borrowed during the interim government rule, according to the finance ministry’s latest quarterly bulletin.

The bulletin states the public debt stood at Tk 18,90,000 crore at the end of June 2024, a little over a month before the interim administration assumed power. The figure was Tk 13,44,000 crore at the end of June 2022.

During the interim government’s rule, domestic debt rose by Tk 1,70,000 crore, reaching Tk 12,50,000 crore by December. Foreign loans increased by Tk 1,47,000 crore to Tk 9,59,000 crore in the same period.

Domestic borrowing dominates the government’s overall debt portfolio.

At the end of 2025, the domestic and external liabilities constituted 57 percent and 43 percent of the total government debt stock.

“By focusing on the local market, the government is deepening domestic liquidity while reducing its exposure to exchange rate fluctuations,” the bulletin said.