Budget FY26: Tk100cr allocation proposed to fund Youth Festival

To harness the power of youth in national development, the government has proposed a Tk100 crore allocation for the celebration of "Tarunyer Utshob (Youth Festival)" in the upcoming fiscal year (FY26), along with a wide range of initiatives aimed at skilling, employing, and empowering young people.

Presenting the budget in a pre-recorded speech today (2 June), Finance Adviser Salehuddin Ahmed said freelancing training programmes for 28,800 educated and job-seeking youths have already begun in 48 districts from January 2025.

The proposed youth festival, themed "Let's Change the Country, Change the World," aims to deepen youth involvement in Bangladesh's development process and inspire national transformation.

The adviser further said, "In a significant move to promote self-employment, the government has raised the loan ceiling for trained youth to Tk2 lakh, and Tk5 lakh for successful young entrepreneurs.

"A separate Tk100 crore youth entrepreneurship fund is also being established for the first time."

Salehuddin added that the government plans to train 9 lakh youth by December 2028, creating employment through credit and skills development. "Special self-employment projects are also being implemented for the families of those injured or martyred in the July Mass Uprising."

Through these programmes, around 2.2 lakh individuals will be trained across various professions. Steps are also being taken to modernise technical training to meet both domestic and global labour demands, including issuing world-class certification and aligning industry, academia, and training institutions.

Furthermore, the adviser announced that a targeted programme is underway to connect small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and export-oriented industries to global high-value chains to boost competitiveness and ensure sustainable human capital development.