Bangladesh News

Finance Minister AMA Muhith yesterday said he would inform the House after six months about progress in budget implementation in the upcoming fiscal year.

His announcement followed some lawmakers’ criticism of the supplementary budget for FY2008-09.

The caretaker government drew up the financial plan and was in power for half the current fiscal year.

Muhith said he had placed the supplementary budget in parliament as per the constitution, and that it does not need to be sent to the parliamentary standing committee on the finance ministry for scrutiny.

The legislature may pass the add-on budget today.

In a brief statement, the finance minister said the country’s foreign currency reserves totalled $7 billion yesterday.

Participating in discussion on the budget for the ongoing fiscal year, Awami League-led ruling alliance lawmakers blasted the caretaker government for ‘undemocratic rule’.

AL presidium member Suranjit Sengupta proposed doing away with the interim government system, and said the parliamentary election should be held under supervision of the Election Commission.

“In his budget speech, the finance minister did not say much about the caretaker rule–how they nearly destroyed the country. We hope he [Muhith] will speak for scrapping the caretaker system.”

Suranjit criticised the last interim administration also for filing ‘false cases’ against politicians including Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Workers Party lawmaker Rashed Khan Menon said Muhith was not party to the supplementary budget as it was formulated by the caretaker government.

He however should have spoken about the misrule over the two years to last December, added Menon, also president of the Workers Party.

Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal lawmaker and President Hasanul Haque Inu proposed that the parliamentary standing committee examine the current year’s budget before its passage.

Ruling party lawmakers Zillul Hakim, KM Khalid and Mahbub Ara Gini were among those who came down hard on Muhith for not mentioning in budget speech the ‘misdeeds and wrongdoings’ of Fakhruddin Ahmed-led administration.