Dr. Forqan Uddin Ahmed :
Every year budget comes, budget goes. Budget should speak the good of the common people.
Budget must reflect the interest of the have nots, education for all, to reduce discrimination of the poor and the rich.
If the poor become poorer with the systematic problem of the budget, the soundness of the budget will be lost.
Again budget will lose its dignity and identity of glamour. Benefit must go to the court of commoners. Budget must have its own vision. It must widen the quality of lives. General livelihood might be enhanced. It can’t be invisible.
It must not be kept in papers or limited to four walls. It must be made target oriented with group of skilled manpower and experts. Its implementation must be made honest and transparent with good leadership, coordination and planning.
In every year, budget is forecast with aims to promote growth rate, equal distribution of wealth, to reduce money inflation, poverty alleviation, income generation, employment creation etc. But our budget is very much traditional.
No structural or reformative change is yet to be exercised and taken place. To make budget pro-people, it is to be decentralized. As for example, in every district one crop bank may be established.
For farmers, there may be the provision of crop insurance, special allocation for the down-trodden people and the disaster victim people. The life style of the tribal people may be upgraded by special grants through budget. To upgrade the marginal farmers, there remains the necessity of subsidies for agricultural inputs.
Since the outbreak of the pandemic, the need for a robust fiscal framework has been felt much more than before. Higher revenue mobilization and judicious higher expenditure are tough objectives to be met within a system that is not strong enough to implement these and withstand obstructions in the way.
Policymakers should not lose sight of reforms of the tax system and public institutions while designing the budget for the recovery. Capacity development of human resources and application of technology have to be a part of the reform measures.
On the expenditure side, the growth in government expenditure will have to take the inflationary pressure into account. Hence, the budget deficit will need to be lowered slightly than that of previous budget, which is set at 6.2 percent of GDP.
Whenever the budget is discussed, the first issue that comes to everyone’s mind is taxation. The budget is about mobilization of resources through various ways, the most important of which is tax on people’s income.
This resource, in turn, is used mainly for development, providing various services to citizens, and the salaries of government employees.
Governments mostly depend on resources from their citizens – be it tax, bank borrowing, or sales of national savings certificates. They receive support from abroad at times.
They also take loans from international sources. Given the important role of tax in financing economic activities of the government, its efficient collection and utilization cannot be overemphasized.
We want to reiterate that our efforts and endeavors in ensuring professionalism, transparency and accountability will be tireless.
We once again vow to uphold ethical values at any cost. Accountancy projects a clear picture on country’s fiscal activities and assists in ensuring corporate good governance.
Accountancy is essential for banks, insurance companies, securities, dealers and others who need them. As trade and commerce of the country increases, so does the responsibility of the accountants.
We believe we have been able to bond good ties with all related Government, autonomous or regulatory bodies. We are in touch with NBR, Bangladesh Bank, BSEC, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Commerce, LGRD and others. We are ready to work with them in any matter related to training or for the cause of national interests.
We have seen problems in the areas of quality, implementation and predictability. We must demonstrate there are adequate efforts to improve governance – law and order, financial sector, especially state-owned banks.
We have said this publicly that they should be shut down. If there is strong political will, governance will be improved. Investment will continue to increase if effective measures are taken to reduce the cost of doing business. We have huge bank reserve.
This reserve can be deployed more efficiently and effectively. Huge investment is being done for RMG sector’s remediation. This sector can be supported through a special fund.
It will help make our economy a jump start. We need coordination between fiscal measures and monetary measures. We hope to get back momentum in the up-coming budget. To cash in the advantage, we must boost coordination and efficiency at all levels.
In the implementation stage, there should be a thoroughly monitoring and supervision. After that it is to be evaluated with its repeated exercise. Again all ADP budget should be well examined, scrutinized, investigated properly by a panel of experts.
Finally, budget execution must be maintained with proper discipline, sincerity, top most honesty and purity. Budget should not be declared as a govt.
budget. It must be reflected as peoples’ budget. No 0 should be allowed to direct it in a bad shape. If there is strong coordination, good governance and capability to manage a budget will appear befitting and can reach its goal with its efficient management. And in the long run, budget will be result oriented.
Budget is nothing but a statement of yearly expenditure and income. Budget preparation is not so a difficult task. But its implementation is a challenging factor. Every year we see many remarkable comments about budget.
Such as: Is budget for the poor, is budget for the rich and what are the pondering points of budget? How budget to be classified and so all? Through criticism and discussion, an ideal budget is finally placed before the state trough which all the state functionaries are managed.
However, budget speaks for all the people of the country. Specially budget should focus on poverty alleviation.
However, budgets of some consecutive years are highlighting employment generation and entrepreneurship. Above all, budget should be made clean and transparent, well supervised and well monitored.
(The writer is former Deputy Director General, Bangladesh Ansar and VDP).