DHAKA: The national budget is losing its capitalistic character and evolving slowly as a social-welfare one, Unnayan Samunnay, a think tank, said Saturday in an antithesis of all that is being said by all other traditional analysts.

Samannay theorists differed with similar other organizations that the just-unveiled budget for the fiscal 2010-11 is an ambitious one—and that it is an updated copy of the first budget of the Awami League-led Grand Alliance government, devoid of any new directions.

Giving its reaction on the budget at a news conference at a hotel, they said the government should give emphasis on power generation reducing its cost of production to better the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Power is the key to production, they added.

Dr Enamul Haque, an economist, former deputy governor of Bangladesh Bank Khondaker Ibrahim Khaled and Dr. Taibur Rahman were present at the news conference.

Ibrahim Khaled said, “The budget is getting the social-welfare nature from its capitalistic nature. If it goes on this way, it will have a positive impact in a couple of years.”
   
He suggested that the government reduce the administrative complexity alongside monitoring implementation of the budget.

“The size of budget is larger than last year’s, but, theoretically or practically, the budget is not ‘huge’ or ‘ambitious,” the renowned banker told journalists at the press meet.

He said two committees--planning and implementation-- should be formed for ADP implementation.

BST 1645 HRS, June 12, 2010
SR/MMK/ARF/EH/MUA