The Bangladesh Nationalist Party on Wednesday criticised the proposed national budget for the 2025–26 financial year, labelling it ‘unrealistic’ with ‘growth on paper’, similar to that presented by the previous government.
At a press conference held at the party chairperson’s office at Gulshan in the capital Dhaka, the BNP made the observations on the FY26 proposed budget announced by the interim government on June 2.
The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics reported the gross domestic growth of 3.97 per cent in FY25, yet the proposed budget projected a GDP growth rate of 5.6 per cent for FY26 — the figure the BNP considered ‘unachievable’ under the current economic conditions.
The party also questioned the government’s target of lowering inflation to 6.5 per cent, at a time when inflation is hovering around the double-digit.
BNP standing committee member Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury in his written speech warned that increased taxes, higher duties and rising interest rates could put significant pressure on the industrial sector — particularly manufacturing industries — potentially leading to closures, job losses and increased hardship for middle- and lower-income groups.
He cautioned that such conditions could fuel economic instability and hinder progress in poverty alleviation.
Khasru believed that the budget formulation had become one-sided, non-participatory and traditional, as the interim government had not prepared it through consultations with political parties or representatives from various social and professional groups.
He said that in the current circumstances, dialogues with the political parties were all the more urgent, and that such engagement could have led to a more realistic and consensus-based realignment of budget allocations.
Khasru criticised the provision to legalise undisclosed income, saying that it effectively rewarded tax evaders and undermined the integrity of the tax system.
He remarked that such measures were unfair to regular taxpayers and could erode public confidence.
The BNP leader observed that the changes to income tax slabs and the increase in value-added tax would disproportionately impact ordinary citizens, leading to a higher cost of living and a further decline in their living standard.
He mentioned that the budget lacked clear direction for addressing or reforming unnecessary, corrupt, or inefficient development projects.
Khasru emphasised the need for a thorough review of such initiatives and suggested that, where appropriate, they could be renegotiated or cancelled to reduce expenditure and reallocate resources to essential public services.
During the press conference, Khasru presented a summary of BNP’s comprehensive 180-day plan, which aimed at restoring economic stability, rebuilding public trust and laying the foundation for long-term national development, if elected to power.
He said that BNP’s central commitment would be to transform Bangladesh into a $1 trillion economy by 2034, with a strong focus on employment generation, pledging to create one crore new jobs if the party comes to power.
In the industrial sector, he said that the BNP aimed to raise the foreign direct investment-to-GDP ratio from the current 0.45 per cent to 2.5 per cent as part of a broader roadmap targeting a $1 trillion economy by 2034, with an annual GDP growth rate of 8 per cent.
Khasru added that a detailed, action-oriented road map would be developed across key sectors, including education, healthcare, women’s empowerment, agriculture and rural development, the industrial sector, the IT sector and employment-oriented economic recovery.
BNP standing committee members Gayeshwar Chandra Roy and Selima Rahman and BNP chairperson’s advisory council member Ismail Zabihullah, among others, were present at the press conference.