Dr. Muhammad Abdul Mazid, Former NBR Chairman : A lot of people think that this year’s budget will be an ‘election budget’. This is not exactly true – the ongoing budget is the “vote er budget”. Next fiscal year’s budget will not be such because it will be a budget by the government that is run by the same party which is in power for two straight times.
Usually what we see is that the first six to seven months of improvements that takes place in the country is worthless. Therefore, the ‘previous’ government, or in this case the current government, will not be able to achieve anything in these six months is not completely true. Since it will be a budget by two governments, it is worth implementing. It has to be made sure that the next government does not face any obstacles in the implementation. These were the views expressed by former NBR Chairman Dr. Md Abdul Mazid.
A larger budget has been proposed because we will spend more, he said, but it was not possible to implement it and neither will the next government be able to. Honestly, we have to come out of the habit of budget-revising. If an implement-worthy budget is created in the first place, there will be no need for revision and furthermore, it promotes proper dynamism in performance. This is for both income and expenditure.
He further added that whatever is requested in the budget on the businessmen’s behalf should keep in line with the economy. Economic activities should grow, which in turn leads to increased private sector investment. Thus, whatever steps are needed for the growth in private sector investment should be included in the budget. A rise in trade and business in the private sector will lead to a dynamic economy, which in turn will result in more revenue. It is impossible to earn increased revenue without making the economy more dynamic. The economy has to be made more investment-oriented in order to increase employment. A rise in employment will lead to increase in business and income. This is my hope.