Bangladesh unveils 19-billion-dollar national budget

DHAKA - Bangladesh’s coalition government, led by the Awami League, Thursday unveiled a 19 billion dollar national budget that calls for higher spending on energy, infrastructure and agriculture to revive economic growth.

“In terms of overall priority, a wider agriculture sector is the major sector for economic development, but we are now confronted with a power and energy crisis which is impeding the investment environment in the country,” Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith said as he presented his proposed budget for 2010-11.

The energy-hungry country is to more than double its electricity production to 9,426 megawatts in the public and private sectors by 2015, he said. Bangladesh, which currently produces 4,200 megawatts, regularly suffers from power cuts.

The minister also set a 6.7-per-cent target for the gross domestic product in the coming fiscal year, which begins on July 1. GDP growth in the current fiscal year was 5.45 per cent, a seven-year low.

The government is hoping to substantially increase its revenues to more than 14 billion dollars so it can finance the proposed spending.

It also plans to borrow from external sources to cover a deficit of more than 5 billion dollars in the next fiscal year, according to budget documents presented to parliament.