Bangladesh’s transitional administration, led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, sanctioned its inaugural national budget of 7.9 trillion taka ($64.96 billion) for the 2025–26 fiscal year.
The budget, ratified by the interim advisory council on Monday, will take effect on 1 July via presidential ordinance. Finance Adviser Salehuddin Ahmed presented the proposal in a pre-recorded address broadcast nationally, describing it as “timely and realistic” and asserting it “is implementable” amid significant economic pressures.
The budget arrives against a backdrop of declining foreign investment and persistent inflation nearing 10%, which disproportionately burdens low-income households. Foreign aid inflows plummeted by 52.45% year-on-year to $1.6 billion in the first ten months of the current fiscal year, exacerbating revenue constraints.
The interim government, formed after a student-led uprising ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in August 2024, inherited what it terms a “fragile economy.” Central Bank Governor Ahsan H. Mansur alleges the previous regime laundered approximately $20 billion over 15 years, crippling financial stability.
Notably, the budget size is marginally smaller than the previous year’s 7.97 trillion taka ($68 billion) allocation. Fiscal consolidation efforts include a reduced development budget of 2.3 trillion taka and a heightened focus on monetary policy coordination to curb inflation. Governor Mansur projects inflation could fall to 4–5% with consistent policies but warns against money-printing measures.
To alleviate poverty, the budget significantly expands social safety net programmes, raising monthly allowances by 50–100 taka across ten core schemes. Elderly benefits increase to 650 taka, widow and disability allowances rise to 650 taka and 900 taka respectively, and the Mother and Child Support Programme climbs to 850 taka.
The budget also earmarks 405.2 crore taka for families of victims of the July 2024 uprising, alongside establishing a dedicated directorate to preserve the movement’s history and rehabilitate the injured.
