The government on Wednesday revised down the 2024-25 financial year budget by 6.6 per cent, or Tk聽53,000 crore, to Tk聽7,44,000 crore because of a shortage of resources, said officials.
The Awami League government that was ousted on August 5, 2024 in a mass uprising had announced an outlay of Tk聽7,97,000 crore for the current financial year (FY 25).
The interim government that assumed power on August 8 cut the outlay, reshaping it in the last quarter of the financial year to be ended in June.
However, the size of revision in the FY25 is less than that of the FY24.
Former finance minister Ali Hassan Mahmood Ali, who announced the last budget of the AL鈥檚 15-year long regime, trimmed down the FY24 budget by Tk聽57,000 crore.
Officials said that the Finance Division on Wednesday announced the revised budget authority for FY25, asking ministries and divisions to maintain the revised allocations.
The division also asked ministries to send back the money withdrawn from the previous allocations.
With the revision, the overall budget deficit has been reduced to Tk聽2,26,000 crore from projected Tk聽2,56,000 crore.
The major cut in the FY25 budget is attributed to downsizing the annual development programme by Tk聽49,000 crore.
In the past week, the National Economic Council in a meeting revised down the ADP to Tk聽2,16,000 crore from Tk聽2,65,000 crore.
The overall revenue income has been revised at Tk聽5,18,000 crore from projected Tk聽5,41,000 crore.
Officials said that the National Board of Revenue facing a shortfall over Tk 50,000 crore in revenue collections in the first half of the FY25 had been given a revised target of Tk聽4,63,000 crore from projected Tk 4,80,000 crore.
Earlier in December 2024, a meeting of the coordination council on macro-economy and resource management revised down the growth rate of the country鈥檚 gross domestic product to 5.2 per cent from earlier 6.8 per cent for FY25.
The next meeting of the coordination council will take place in the next month to draw the outline of the new national budget, the first under the interim government.
