The interim government has planned to bring overall inflation down to 8% by June, within the current 2024-25 fiscal year. This decision was made during a special budget-related meeting held on Wednesday (February 5) at the state guesthouse Jamuna in Dhaka, presided over by Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus. According to sources from the meeting, attendees included Finance Adviser Salehuddin Ahmed, Planning Adviser Wahiduddin Mahmud, Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H. Mansur, Finance Secretary Md. Khairuzzaman Majumdar, and secretaries and additional secretaries from various departments under the Ministry of Finance. The meeting also discussed the revised budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year.
In the budget formulated by former Finance Minister Abul Hassan Mahmud Ali, the inflation target was set at 6.5%. However, following the fall of the Awami League government on August 5, economic instability arose. Economists have alleged that the real inflation figures were concealed during the Awami League’s tenure. The current government claims that the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) is now publishing accurate data. According to the latest BBS report, overall inflation slightly declined to 9.94% in January.
Last December, under the direction of Finance Adviser Salehuddin Ahmed, the Coordination Council met and decided to set an inflation target of 7% for the fiscal year 2025–2026. At the conference, 5.25% was decided upon as the new GDP growth target for the fiscal year 2024–2025. The World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), and Asian Development Bank (ADB) have predicted that real growth may not surpass 5%, despite the original budget projecting it at 6.8%. The National Board of Revenue (NBR) was given a revenue collection target of Tk 4.8 trillion in the budget for the current fiscal year. However, it was decided in the meeting to reduce this target by Tk 220 billion, setting it at Tk 4.635 trillion. After the meeting, Finance Adviser Salehuddin Ahmed told reporters, “The meeting was primarily about the revised budget. The inflation target has been set. Inflation is decreasing, and it will decline further after Ramadan. You will see it yourselves.”
Source: The Daily Ittefaq
