Reacting immediately to the budget announced for the fiscal year 2025-26, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami's Acting Secretary General Maulana ATM Masum issued the following statement on June 2:

"On the afternoon of June 2, the Finance Advisor presented a budget of Tk 7.90 lakh crore for the fiscal year 2025-26 through a televised speech. The commitment to rebuilding a new Bangladesh following the July mass uprising has not been adequately reflected in the first budget of this post-movement period. Rather, like previous budgets, this one is also conventional in nature. Broadly speaking, there is not much difference between the proposed budget and the original budget of the fiscal year 2024-25. Although expenditure has not increased in this budget, it also hasn't decreased significantly, and there is no sign of any innovative approach."

He further stated, "To meet the large expenditure proposed in the budget, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) has been assigned a target of collecting Tk 4.99 lakh crore in revenue. Even in the last fiscal year, achieving a similar target proved difficult. We consider this to be a major challenge for meeting the target."

He added, "The target for total revenue income has been set at Tk 5.64 lakh crore. The budget deficit has been increased to Tk 2.66 lakh crore, a substantial portion of which will come from foreign sources. There is no indication in this budget that dependence on foreign financing is decreased."

He also said, "Although the budget reflects an initiative to increase revenue through the expansion of various forms of indirect taxes, there seems to be little effort to increase direct taxes. As a result of increasing indirect taxes, the general public will have to bear the burden. Major changes have been introduced in the VAT and import duty sectors to enhance revenue collection."

He said that tax holidays and VAT exemptions for local industries have been curtailed, which will increase the production costs of the domestic products. At the same time, the prices of air conditioners, refrigerators, mobile phones, and LED lights have gone up, which will raise consumer expenses. Additionally, the increase in import duties on cotton will drive up production costs in the RMG (Ready-Made Garments) sector, potentially having a negative impact on garment exports.

He further said that although the prices of educational materials have been reduced in this large-scale budget, the total allocation for the education sector has been cut. On a positive note, prices have been reduced on medical supplies, essential commodities, and agricultural inputs like fertilizers and pesticides, which is encouraging. Moreover, lowering cold storage expenses will offer some relief to farmers.

He also stated that the allocation made for the treatment of those injured in the July uprising, for enhancing social protection, and for ensuring financial support is commendable, but the allocation should be increased further. In this regard, prioritizing proper medical care is essential. Although the government has announced a goal to reduce inflation to 6.5%, the budget does not provide any clear roadmap to achieve this target, which has created some uncertainty.

The budget also contains no clear plan to recover and bring back money illegally smuggled abroad, which will disappoint the countrymen. Additionally, the opportunity to legalize black money has been expanded, which is completely unacceptable. Such malpractices must be stopped.

“I hope the government will make the announced budget more people-oriented by further reducing income tax and increasing allocations for public welfare. After reviewing the declared budget, we will present our detailed statement shortly, InshaAllah.”