Rejaul Karim Byron

The impasse over financing of the expansion of 214-kilometre Dhaka-Sylhet Highway into four lanes is likely to end soon, as Asian Develop-ment Bank has given “consent” to fund the project, officials said.

After initial delay, half of the 10 first track mega projects have finally gotten some momentum, ushering hope for positive change in the country’s economy and people’s livelihood.

A joint working group will be formed to probe the slow progress of the 27 projects involving around $20 billion that China had agreed to provide during President Xi Jinping’s Dhaka visit in October 2016.

The government has devised a strategy to ramp up revenue collection by Tk 60,000 crore in the new fiscal year in order to help the National Board of Revenue (NBR) reach its tax mobilisation goal.

The government’s subsidy expenditure has soared 29.36 percent to Tk 46,385 crore this fiscal year largely due to its concessions on demands from pressure groups.

Projects involving about $7.5 billion under the three Indian lines of credit are progressing slowly owing to lengthy processes in land acquisition, change in design and delays in hiring consultants and document preparation.

State banks did not get a single penny from taxpayers in the just concluded fiscal year to make up their capital deficit, in a clear sign from the government of its intent to stop pampering the errant lenders.

With around 3,000 more educational institutions coming under the monthly pay order scheme anytime soon, the government has proposed to allocate Tk 15,001 crore this fiscal year for salaries of all the teachers and staff on the MPO list.

Banks will transfer incentive to the bank accounts of remitters or their beneficiaries like they do in case of exporters as the maiden

Bangladeshis’ deposits in Swiss banks increased by 28.33 percent year-on-year in 2018 to 617.72 million Swiss francs or Tk 5,341 crore, according to the Swiss National Bank (SNB).

The government is going to shift chemical warehouses of Old Dhaka to Kathaldia in Gazipur’s Tongi temporarily, as the long-time plan to set up a permanent hub will take time.

After a span of five years, state-owned enterprises jointly incurred a loss in the outgoing fiscal year largely because of Bangladesh

Former finance minister AMA Muhith has said his successor faces three major challenges: increasing the size of the national budget, realising more revenue and improving the banking sector.

In a break from the past, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal will set a more realistic revenue income target in his maiden budget, but may shy away from undertaking some much-needed economic reforms.

The government may bump up bank borrowing by as much as 77.32 percent to Tk 54,800 crore for financing the budget deficit in fiscal 2019-20 as it looks to reduce overdependence on saving instruments.

The government is likely to extend the tax exemption benefit on income from investment in infrastructure and industries in lagging regions for five years to encourage private investment and job creation.

The government is set to create a Tk 100 crore fund for start-ups as it looks to alleviate youth unemployment, which is progressively becoming an albatross for the country.

The government may once again offer scope for whitening black money through investment in industries to boost private investment, say finance ministry officials.

The government plans to bring in more people under its social safety net programme, including all disabled people, in the next budget as it looks to share the gains of the higher economic growth clocked in recent years with a larger section of the underprivileged in the society.

The government is planning to allocate Tk 100 crore to rehabilitate the victims of river erosion across the country.