The Finance Division on Wednesday asked different ministries and divisions to complete over a dozen steps by April 24 in connection with finalising the estimate of the national budget for the 2025-26 financial year.
In a circular issued by the division under the finance ministry on the day, the ministries and divisions were also asked to comply with directives like the order regarding the maintaining of ceilings on expenditures of the development budget and the non-development budget for the next two financial years.
The ceilings were agreed on by the ministries and division at a meeting with the Finance Division and the Planning Division under the planning ministry on the basis of a task force report titled 鈥楻e-strategising the economy and mobilising resources for equitable and sustainable development鈥�.
The task force, formed by the interim government in September 2024, submitted the report to interim government chief adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus on January 30.
The recent pre-budget meetings also considered the new policy of matching the growth in gross domestic product with the expenditures and the maximum utilisation of public fund.
In the circular, the Finance Division said that the projections were imperative for preparing the medium-term budgetary framework, a World Bank-prescribed formula since 2004.
The medium-term budgetary framework is part of the Finance Division鈥檚 annual national budget making process.
The Finance Division directive comes a day after a meeting of the coordination council on macro-economy and resource management on Tuesday decided to announce a downsized outlay of Tk聽7.9 lakh crore to reduce dependency on borrowing to meet budget deficit.
Before ousting from power in the face of a mass uprising on August 5, 2024, the Awami League government had announced a Tk 7.97 lakh crore budget for FY25.
However, in March 2025, the interim government revised down the overall layout to Tk 7.4 lakh crore after a cut in the annual development programme by Tk 49,000 crore to Tk 2.16 lakh crore from initial Tk 2.65 lakh crore.
The finance adviser is expected to announce the national budget for FY26 on June 5 in a televised programme in the absence of a parliament.
He has already stated on a number of occasions that the new budget would be a realistic one, leaving footprints for an elected government to follow.