Budget session of parliament begins Wednesday

The 13th session (Budget) of the 11th Jatiya Sangsad (parliament) will begin on Wednesday as the proposed budget will be placed in the parliament for the second time during the global novel coronavirus pandemic.

President M Abdul Hamid called the session as per the power bestowed on him by the constitution.

The national budget of 2021-2022, country’s 50th and also 21st budget by the incumbent government led by the Awami League will be placed in parliament on 3 June during the session.

Finance minister AHM Mustafa Kamal is set to place the budget at 3:00 pm on that day for three consecutive times.

On 10 June, 2020, the national budget session for 2020-2021 fiscal began during the Covid-19 pandemic. The budget was placed on 11 June.

Meanwhile, all the preparation has already been completed by the parliament secretariat for holding the brief budget session likely to conclude by 3 July after scheduled adjournment of the sitting.

After brief discussion, the proposed budget is supposed to be passed by 30 June. The size of the proposed budget is likely to be over Tk 6 trillion.

The 2020-2021 fiscal year’s budget size was Tk 5.68 trillion. After the independence, the volume of country’s first budget was only Tk 786 crore which was placed by the then finance minister Tajuddin Ahmed.

The 2020-2021 fiscal year budget session was the most brief one in the history of Bangladesh due to coronavirus pandemic as the budget was approved within nine days after brief discussion since it was placed on 11 June.

Simultaneously, the proposed budget session will advance amid strict Covid-19 health guidelines due to ongoing coronavirus restrictions enforced by the government.

On 2 June, the first day of the budget session, is believed to be adjourned after adopting obituary reference on Aslamul Haque, a ruling party lawmaker from Dhaka-14, who died on 4 April, last day of the 12th parliament session.

Only 110-120 parliament members will participate in the session following necessary Covid-19 health guidelines and maintaining social distance, confirmed by the parliament secretariat.

Under the Covid-19 situation, the ministers, lawmakers, and officials of the parliament secretariat must have to take coronavirus negative certificate to access into the parliament, it said, adding that those who will have coronavirus negative certificate issued within 72 hours, are allowed to participate in the session.

Journalists have been asked to cover the parliament proceedings from the live broadcasting of Sangad Bangladesh television.