FY22 budget aims to save people, businessmen: Finance minister

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal has said the main goal of the budget for 2021-22 will be to save the people and businessmen of the country, prioritising people's lives and livelihood in the budget.

"We want to move forward with the marginalised people. This is the main principle of our development. The budget will provide additional benefits to businesses to protect local investment and employment," the minister told reporters after a virtual meeting of the Cabinet Division on public procurement on Thursday.

The committee also approved a proposal to import six lakh RT-PCR test kits at Tk54 crore and a proposal to import Sinopharm vaccines from China at $10 each.

Besides, another project to recruit 1,154 manpower and 48 vehicles through outsourcing was approved under the Covid-19 Emergency and Pandemic Preparedness Project. It will cost Tk134 crore.

The committee has also approved a project proposal to procure communications, navigation and surveillance-air traffic management system and radars installation at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka from Thales, France, on a G-to-G basis at a cost of Tk 758 crore.

In addition, under the Department of Energy and Mineral Resources, a project for the drilling of three wells in the Bhola district on a turn-key basis by Gazprom, a state-owned company of the Russian Federation, at Tk 848 has been approved.