Dhaka, June 22 (V7N) — The Advisory Council has officially approved a national budget of Tk 790,000 crore for the fiscal year 2025-26. The approval came during a meeting chaired by Chief Advisor Dr. Muhammad Yunus on Sunday.

The implementation of the budget is set to begin on July 1. While no major changes have been made to the announced budget, the provision allowing undisclosed or black money to be legalized through investments in flats or building construction has been withdrawn following public criticism.

The interim government has set a GDP growth target of 5.5 percent for the upcoming fiscal year.

To address the budget deficit of Tk 226,000 crore, the government plans to borrow Tk 1,25,000 crore from domestic sources and Tk 1,101,000 crore from foreign sources.

Given the absence of a functioning parliament, the budget was not subjected to conventional parliamentary debate. Instead, the Finance Division provided an opportunity for public feedback through its website. Additionally, several business chambers and associations organized press conferences and held meetings with Finance Advisor Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed to express their views.

The original budget for the current fiscal year allocated Tk 7.97 trillion for 62 ministries and departments. The revised budget has seen increases totaling Tk 1.3 trillion across 10 ministries and departments, while allocations for 52 others have either been reduced or kept unchanged.

It is notable that, in the absence of parliament, Finance Advisor Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed presented the budget via a televised address on June 2.

END/SMA/AJ