The government is set to place its first national budget since taking office in the Jatiya Sangsad on Thursday, marking a major policy statement centred on economic recovery, employment generation and investment promotion.
Finance and Planning Minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury will formally present the budget at 3:00pm. Before being placed in Parliament, the proposed budget will be approved by the Cabinet and later submitted to the President for clearance, according to official sources from the Sangsad and Finance Division.
Prepared under the slogan “Sobar Age Bangladesh”, the budget is being positioned as a comprehensive policy roadmap for recovery and transformation, focusing on stabilising the economy while advancing towards a modern, knowledge-based growth model. The long-term ambition of building a $1 trillion economy by 2034 remains part of the fiscal outlook.
The proposed budget size stands at Tk 938,000 crore, with a revenue target of Tk 695,000 crore and a budget deficit of Tk 243,000 crore. GDP growth has been targeted at 6.5 per cent, while inflation is projected at 7.5 per cent for FY2026-27.
Officials and economists say the budget comes at a time when the economy continues to face pressure from high inflation, banking sector vulnerabilities, foreign exchange constraints and sluggish private investment. Against this backdrop, it has been described as a “budget for economic recovery”.
Dr Masrur Riaz, chairman of Policy Exchange Bangladesh, said private investment remains the country’s most urgent requirement.
“Without investment there will be no employment, and without employment sustainable growth cannot be achieved,” he said.
Former World Bank Dhaka office lead economist Dr Zahid Hussain said revenue mobilisation remains a major challenge. He stressed that expanding the tax net and digitising tax administration would be more important than introducing new taxes.
Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, distinguished fellow of the Centre for Policy Dialogue, said restoring confidence in the economy requires stronger accountability and governance in the financial sector, particularly banking sector reform amid rising non-performing loans and liquidity pressures.
A central priority of the budget is job creation, particularly as large numbers of young people enter the labour market each year. Policymakers have stressed that expanding private sector investment will be critical to sustaining employment growth and overall stability.
To support investment and entrepreneurship, the government plans to introduce dedicated financing mechanisms, including a proposed Tk 300 crore Creative Economy Platform and a Tk 200 crore fund for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Additional support measures are also expected for youth-led and women-led enterprises.
The creative economy is being identified as an emerging growth frontier, covering film, music, digital media, animation, gaming, freelancing, design and other content-based industries, with policy support aimed at diversifying exports and generating new employment opportunities.
Education and healthcare are set to receive significantly higher allocations, reflecting a shift towards human capital development. The education sector allocation is Tk 136,246 crore (2 per cent of GDP), compared with Tk 97,805 crore (1.61 per cent) in the previous fiscal year. The health sector allocation is Tk 69,309 crore (1.01 per cent of GDP), up from Tk 34,719 crore (0.57 per cent).
In the health sector, the allocation will support expanded medical services, strengthened medicine and vaccine supply systems, expanded emergency healthcare coverage and pilot introduction of e-health cards in 14 districts.
Social protection spending will also be expanded significantly. The budget proposes Tk 12,373 crore for the Family Card programme and Tk 1,063 crore for the Farmer Card programme. For the first time, monthly honorariums will be introduced for families of martyrs and injured persons of the July Uprising. The allowance for seriously injured persons has been set at the same level as the honorarium of freedom fighters. In addition, allowances for elderly, widowed and disabled citizens will be increased along with expanded beneficiary coverage.
Fiscal documents indicate that operating expenditure will rise due to a proposed new pay scale for government employees, requiring an additional allocation of around Tk 35,000 crore.
The budget also outlines major infrastructure and sectoral allocations, including Tk 35,190 crore for power and energy, Tk 61,132 crore for transport and communication, and Tk 43,344 crore for agriculture.
Employment generation remains a core policy focus. The government plans to accelerate recruitment in public institutions, issue 2.1 million expatriate cards, and establish employment information centres at district and upazila levels. A total target of 500,000 public sector recruitments has also been outlined, with several appointments already underway.
Other planned measures include youth and women entrepreneurship support funds, expansion of SME financing, and initiatives to formalise the creative and digital economy.
Additional allocations are also proposed for religious institutions’ honorariums, sports development, stadium construction, canal excavation and re-excavation projects, tree plantation programmes, and expanded social safety net initiatives including VGF restructuring.
Economist Wahiduddin Mahmud said this is the BNP’s first budget in two decades and Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s first budget. He noted that balancing domestic challenges, global uncertainty, energy shortages and welfare commitments would be difficult, though the government is expected to focus heavily on fulfilling electoral promises.
According to Finance Division documents, the budget’s core priorities include controlling inflation, restoring macroeconomic stability, strengthening financial sector discipline, improving agricultural resilience, ensuring food security, enhancing climate adaptation capacity and advancing towards the long-term goal of becoming a $1 trillion economy by 2034.
