Key Priorities of 2026-27 Budget

The budget for the 2026-27 fiscal year places the highest priority on maintaining the country's economic stability and restoring public relief. In particular, this budget reflects special strategies aimed at controlling inflation, easing pressure on reserves, and eliminating the revenue deficit.

Finance Minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury will present the budget proposal for the upcoming fiscal year in the National Parliament today (Thursday, June 11) at 3:00 PM. Once passed, this will be the 55th national budget of the country.

Citing officials from the Ministry of Finance, BSS reports that the size of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the upcoming fiscal year is projected at 68 lakh 30 thousand crore taka in the proposed budget. At the same time, the economic growth target in the budget has been set at 6.5 percent.

The country has been experiencing high inflation for the past few years. According to data from the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), inflation rose to 9.42 percent in May this year. Against this backdrop, the budget aims to bring inflation down to 7.5 percent.

Additionally, there is a likelihood of proposals in the budget to form a 225 crore taka Entrepreneur Development Fund and a 2,000 crore taka fund for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). An announcement regarding the partial implementation of a new pay scale for government employees may also be made.

The draft budget prioritizes thirteen issues, including controlling inflation, ensuring food security, economic recovery, achieving higher growth, implementing the government's election manifesto, expanding social safety net programs, and generating mass employment.

In particular, the new budget is expected to propose an allocation of 1 lakh 38 thousand 339 crore taka under the highly discussed Family Card and Farmer Card programs.

Meanwhile, provisional estimates of per capita income and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the 2025-26 fiscal year provided by BBS show that the average per capita income of the country's people now stands at 3,020 dollars. Furthermore, the size of the country's economy has surpassed 500 billion dollars.
On Tuesday, Finance Minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury told journalists at the Secretariat that this year's budget is being presented with every citizen of the country in mind.

Economic analysts say that the biggest challenge in formulating a budget that considers every individual will be lowering the high rate of inflation and determining how to successfully implement and achieve the revenue collection target set in the budget.

Furthermore, generating an investment-friendly environment to gain the confidence of entrepreneurs and businessmen to increase investments, ensuring energy and food security amid rising fuel and power prices, and managing the growing pressure of subsidies will also be major challenges for the government in this budget.

For the upcoming fiscal year, different ministries have already submitted subsidy proposals amounting to nearly 1 lakh 20 thousand crore taka to the Finance Division. There are concerns that the pressure of subsidies could increase further due to rising energy costs fueled by the war in the Middle East.

To meet the expenditures of the 2026-27 fiscal year, the government is setting a revenue collection target of six lakh 95 thousand crore taka, which is 23 percent higher than the target of the current fiscal year.

Out of this, 6 lakh 4 thousand crore taka will come from the National Board of Revenue (NBR), 25 thousand crore taka from non-NBR sources, and 66 thousand crore taka from non-tax revenue sources.

Meanwhile, this year's budget may include proposals to set up an Entrepreneur Development Fund of 225 crore taka and a 2,000 crore taka fund for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

To bring relief to public life, the budget may announce the implementation of a pay scale for government officials and a major expansion of social safety net programs.

The state-run news agency BSS reported that an announcement regarding the partial implementation of a new pay scale for government employees might also be included.

Alongside introducing reforms to licensing, approvals, and tax management, the government has announced plans to launch an integrated one-stop service named 'BanglaBiz'. The Finance Division stated that business-related services will be accessible through this digital platform.

There are plans to bring the operations of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) more extensively online. Today's budget might propose measures for filing tax returns online, depositing tax refunds directly into bank accounts, and swiftly resolving tax-related disputes.

Additionally, the budget is taking initiatives to launch an 'E-Health Card' program for 2.5 million citizens. Under the social security program, several new initiatives, including Family Cards and Farmer Cards, might be introduced, alongside increased allocations for existing programs.

However, it remains to be seen what steps the government takes in the budget to accelerate the pace of the Annual Development Programme (ADP) while managing the immense pressure of subsidies it currently provides to the gas, electricity, and fertilizer sectors. Additionally, the pressure of repaying installments on loans taken for various development projects is continuously rising.