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Bangladesh
to unveil ambitious budget
Bangladeshi
jewellers make gold ornaments in a factory in Dhaka in May
2009. Bangladesh was set to unveil an ambitious 16.5-billion-dollar
budget Thursday to boost spending and halt sliding economic
growth in the face of the global downturn
Bangladesh
was set to unveil an ambitious 16.5-billion-dollar budget
Thursday to boost spending and halt sliding economic growth
in the face of the global downturn. The budget will be the
first by the Awami League government since it won elections
in December, and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has vowed
to attract new foreign investment to tackle chronic poverty.
Finance
Minister A.M.A Muhith has said the budget outlay would be
around 1.14 trillion taka (16.5 billion dollars), a 15 per
cent rise from the previous year paid for by borrowing and
increased taxes on luxury items. The government has vowed
to return Bangladesh to at least six percent growth after
national output fell to six-year low of 5.88 percent last
year due to falling demand for Bangladeshi goods in the
US and Europe.
A
30 per cent increase in infrastructure projects such as
roads and electricity lines has already been approved despite
criticism of overspending. Muhith also announced that he
would unveil a new stimulus package for sectors badly hit
by global slump, after a previous package in April was slammed
as grossly inadequate by businessmen.
Economists
say the country needs massive spending to fix its crumbling
transport network and to build power plants to boost the
threadbare electricity supply. Bangladesh's development
plans have been undermined by its violent political history
but Hasina's landslide win in the elections has raised hopes
of future stability and growth.
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