Budget deficit set at Tk 2.21 lakh cr in FY26

Staff Reporter :

Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed on Monday proposed a tighter national budget for the fiscal year 2025-26, aiming to reduce the deficit and lower reliance on bank borrowing.

The total budget has been set at Tk 7,90,000 crore, which is approximately 25 per cent of GDP. The projected fiscal deficit stands at Tk 2,21,000 crore (3.6 per cent of GDP), lower than the revised deficit of Tk 2,26,000 crore (4.1 per cent of GDP) for the current FY2024-25.
To meet expenditures, the government targets a revenue collection of Tk 5,64,000 crore, or 9 per cent of GDP. Of this, the NBR is expected to contribute Tk 4,99,000 crore, with the rest coming from non-NBR sources.

Borrowing plans reflect a more cautious approach.
The government plans to borrow are Tk 1.04 lakh crore from the banking sector, up nearly 5 per cent from the revised FY25 target of Tk 99,000 crore, Tk 96,000 crore from foreign sources, down from the revised target of Tk 1.04 lakh crore in FY25 and Tk 21,000 crore from non-bank domestic sources, including Tk 12,500 crore from savings certificates, which is 10.7 per cent lower than the revised target.

Dr Salehuddin also noted that Bangladesh expects to receive $3.6 billion in budget support from development partners by June 2025.

On the external sector, he stated that the current account balance has improved due to stronger export growth. During July-March FY25, exports rose 9.45 per cent, outpacing import growth of 5.57 per cent, bringing the current account deficit down to $0.66 billion from $4.4 billion a year earlier.

However, he acknowledged that the government’s austerity measures have slowed the implementation of development projects, which in turn has delayed foreign loan disbursements.