Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal will present the budget for the fiscal year 2023-24 in the National Parliament on Thursday (June 1). The size of the budget is going to be 7 lakh 61 thousand 785 crores.
Out of this, there is an allocation proposal of 34975 crore taka in science and information technology. Incoherent, Information Technology department received about 2 thousand 81 crore rupees. 1916 crores have been allocated in the current financial year.
The Annual Development Program (ADP) or development budget has been estimated at two lakh 63 thousand crore taka in the budget. Priority is being given to rural infrastructure in the agricultural sector and agricultural mechanization. However, incentives (considered as subsidies) for remittances and exports will not be extended due to the slowdown in growth.
It may be noted that, the main title of the upcoming budget is ‘Across the long development journey towards Smart Bangladesh’. Smart Bangladesh is another step up in Digital Bangladesh. The finance minister will dream of Smart Bangladesh Vision 2041 despite the current crisis. GDP is estimated at 7.5 percent with higher growth expectations. The inflation target has been fixed at 6.5 percent in the next budget.
Meanwhile, the outline of Smart Bangladesh will depend on technology everywhere. Building an inclusive digital society will be discussed. And self-employment based training program will be taken to bring backward marginalized people into the mainstream of development. Apart from this, to ensure the online activities of the students, the laptop assistance program will be continued under ‘One Student, One Laptop, One Dream’.
Universal Digital ID, Digital Curriculum, Smart Device Access, Smart Bangla Campaign, Smart Healthcare, Smart Tax, Digital Leadership Academy Initiatives will be proposed by 2024. Besides, by 2025, implementation of Smart Land Management, Smart Postal Service, Smart Judiciary, Smart Borders, Smart Social Safety Net, Police Modernization, Inclusive Financial Ecosystem, FinTech Accelerator, Center of Excellence (COE) for emerging technologies will be proposed. Thus the outline of Smart Bangladesh is being formulated.