DHAKA, June 6: Bangladesh Finance Minister M. Saifur Rahman announced Tk448.54 billion for FY2002-03 (July-June) this evening at the Parliament aimed at higher economic growth and faster poverty reduction.

This is the first budget presented by the BNP-led four-party coalition after coming to power in October last year.

The budget includes current expenditures at Tk239.7 billion, up 5.6 per cent from the revised budget for FY01-02 and annual development programme (ADP) of Tk192 billion, 20 per cent higher than last year’s revised ADP.

The budget is to be financed out of tax and non-tax revenue earnings amounted to Tk330.84 billion, leaving a deficit of Tk117.7 billion to be met through foreign assistance and domestic resources. Foreign assistance worth Tk61.73 billion would be available during FY03 while Tk42.39 billion would be raised from domestic resources. The rest Tk13.58 billion would be borrowed from the banking system to meet the resource gap.

Rahman says next year’s fiscal deficit will remain limited to 4 per cent of GDP -2.1 percent of which would be financed from external sources while 1.9 per cent would come from domestic borrowing. He pointed out in his speech that fiscal deficit in the last several years had been about six percent of GDP, half of which was being met by domestic borrowing. He thought that the proposed fiscal deficit “is sustainable.”