Terming the Tk 4,00,226 crore national budget for FY 2017-18 a reactionary one, BNP on Thursday said it was passed in parliament creating a scope for ruling party men to indulge in widespread plundering ahead of the next polls.  

Speaking at a press briefing at BNP’s Nayapaltan central office, BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi also said the government’s decision to suspend the new VAT law with 15 per cent uniform rate of value added tax for two years has sent out an indication for an obnoxious future, reports UNB.  

‘The budget that was passed today (Thursday) is an anti-people and bizarre one which will badly affect the living standard, increase inflation and impeded human development process. It’s a budget to pick people's pocket. We strongly condemn the reactionary budget,’ he said.   

Earlier in the day, the parliament passed the budget with a growth target of 7.4 per cent, expecting to open up a new horizon for Bangladesh through some initiatives ahead of the next general election.  

Rizvi said the budget was passed with a huge deficit only to loot public money. ‘Most of the allocated money for development sector in the budget will be plundered by ruling party men.’  

He also said the poor will be hit hard by the new budget as excessive load of tax has been imposed on them.

‘The huge deficit which was shown in the budget will be impossible to manage.’  

The BNP leader also described the 7.4 per cent growth rate as imaginary and unrealistic. ‘In one sentence we can say the budget with a huge deficit is imaginary one, and it has been formulated to deceive people.’  

He also feared that the government will put the financial sector into extreme chaos by collecting huge amount of money form it to fulfil the budget deficit.