DIU organises online discussion on ‘Reflection of National Budget’

Faculty of Business and Entrepreneurship of Daffodil International University (DIU) organised a discussion program on 'Reflection of National Budget' today through the Facebook page of the university and Campus TV Facebook page.

Professor Dr Atiur Rahman, former governor of Bangladesh Bank was present at the event as the chief guest. Md Nurul Amin, senior secretary of Planning Division, and Shams Mahmud, president of Dhaka Chamber of Comers & Industries (DCCI) were present at the programme as the special guests.

The programme was presided over by Professor Dr Mohammad Masum Iqbal, dean of the faculty, and was conducted by Syed Mizanur Rahman, director of student affairs of the university.

Dr Atiur Rahman said, "No country in the world has given a budget before in such an uncertain environment. The crisis we are going through now is not a crisis of ours alone, it's a crisis all over the world. During this pandemic, we should also have a budget for survival. But, that reflection has hardly been seen in the budget."

He suggested that the highest priority should be given to health and agriculture sector in this budget. "People must be saved first. If people live, the economy will live. Therefore, the allocation in the health sector should be further increased and at the same time the allocation in the agriculture sector should be increased to save the rural economy," he added.

Addressing as the special guest, Md Nurul Amin said, "In this budget, the health sector should be given the most attention and this is what the finance minister has done. Allocations to the health sector have been increased and a lump sum of TK 10,000 crore has been set aside to address the corona crisis. Apart from this, the allocation in the agriculture sector has also been increased in this budget as compared to the previous budget."

He said that the implementation of the proposed budget requires the cooperation of all.

Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry President, Shams Mahmud said, "This year is actually the year of survival. Survival should be everyone's goal, not profit. He opined that the wheel of the economy should be kept moving for this purpose.

Shams Mahmud further said that the target of 51% revenue collection has been set in this budget. But the private sector has not yet been fully opened. He is skeptical about whether it would be possible to achieve the revenue collection target in this situation.