The budget for this fiscal has not taken proper steps to mitigate the crisis of the disadvantaged people who have been hit hard by the ongoing economic crisis, analysts said today.

The issues of unemployed and those who lost job both at home and abroad have not been addressed in the proposed budget, Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies (BILS) said today.

The stimulus packages for the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) should be expanded and redesigned in the next budget considering the Covid-19 pandemic situations, experts said in a webinar today.

The allocations for the youths in the budget is not enough to cope with the fallout induced by the Covid-19, speakers at a webinar said today.

The proposed budget for fiscal 2021-22 has failed to address the issues of health, poverty, unemployment and for the Cottage, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (CMSMEs), speakers said today.

Textile millers today demanded withdrawal of value added tax (VAT) and import duty on all kinds of manmade fibre for the potential growth of the non-cotton fashion industry to meet the global demand.

A senior Awami League lawmaker came down heavily on the government in the parliament for corruption and money laundering in the country.

The incentives in the next budget are not sufficiently linked to employment generation particularly for the left-behind groups as well as the “new poor” due to the pandemic, Debapriya Bhattacharya, convenor of Citizen’s Platform for SDGs, Bangladesh said today.

The Bangladesh Chamber of Industries (BCI) has said private sector and industries of the country will be benefited from the government’s tax measures in the proposed budget for 2021-22 fiscal year.

Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) has welcomed the new national budget, but it expressed its worries as the fiscal plan did not include the proposals placed by the association.

The government can think of allowing investment of undisclosed money in the productive sector for some time, said Md Jashim Uddin, president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI).

Money is not a problem for the implementation of the proposed budget, but vaccination has become the main concern now to bring back the business confidence, Unnayan Shamannay said today.

The garment exporters today demanded continuation of the existing 0.5 per cent source tax for the next five years.

The proper assessment of the impact of the pandemic was absent in the proposed budget for 2021-22 fiscal year, said South Asian Network on Economic Modelling (SANEM).

The Business Initiative Leading Development (BUILD) has praised the proposed national budget for 2021-22 fiscal year and said it was a bold initiative to set the GDP growth target at 7.2 per cent amid the ongoing pandemic.

The Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) welcomed the proposed budget for 2021-22 fiscal year, but it thinks implementation of the annual plan will be the biggest challenge.

The BNP today said that the proposed budget for fiscal year 2021-2022 did not reflect people's hopes and aspirations.

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal today said his government would be able to implement the budget for the upcoming fiscal year like it did in the past.

Private universities owners' association today said the proposed 15 percent income tax on private universities was unacceptable and contradictory to the Private University Act, 2010.

The proposed budget does not have much to offer in terms of concrete measures and innovative policies to combat Covid-19 induced challenges, said Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) today.