Budget is inconsistent with goals of Smart Bangladesh: Speakers

The budget for the financial year 2023-24 did not reflect the proposals of the information and communication technology (ICT) sector as expected, said the business leaders of the national trade organisations in the ICT sector on Sunday.

Rather, the budget is inconsistent with the purpose of Smart Bangladesh, they said.

The speakers said this at a press conference on budget reaction on Sunday at BASIS Auditorium in Dhaka, reports news agency UNB.

Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS), Bangladesh Computer Samity (BCS), Bangladesh Association of Contact Centre and Outsourcing (BACCO), Internet Service Provider Association of Bangladesh (ISPAB) and E-Commerce Association of Bangladesh (E-CAB) jointly organised the press conference.

BASIS president Russell T. Ahmed, BACCO president Wahid Sharif, ISPAB president Md. Imdadul Hoque and E-CAB vice president Mohammad Shahabuddin were present at the press conference and gave their budget reaction on behalf of their respective associations and replied to questions related to the national budget from journalists.

In his speech, BASIS president Russell T. Ahmed said, “The government has announced a budget of about Tk 7.62 trillion which is undoubtedly the biggest budget ever.

As always, the budget allocation for the ICT sector has increased in this year’s budget, but in reality there is no positive or significant good news for the ICT industry especially for the businesspersons, he said.