The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff Reporter

With the failure to achieve last fiscal year's revenue target Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) announced Tk 1,009.41 crore-budget for the 2008-09 financial year yesterday.

Mayor of DCC Sadeque Hossain Khoka announced the budget at a function at Mahanagar Natyamancha in the city, as he proposed no new tax for the city dwellers for coming year.

The budget for the outgoing 2007-08 fiscal was Tk 1401.88 crore, which was slashed to Tk 717.57 crore as the DCC missed its revenue earning targets.

Instead of imposing fresh taxes, the DCC tried to plug revenue loopholes to collect funds for the development programmes to make city life comfortable, said the Mayor.

The DCC earned tax and revenues from holding, lighting and conservancy, trade licences, advertisement, road digging, rickshaw licences, markets and community centres, he said.

Holding tax is the single biggest source of revenue as the DCC earned Tk 176 crore in the 2007-08 fiscal, trailing the target of Tk 255 crore, he noted.

A sum of Tk 100 crore is expected from the government's block allocation, Tk 100 crore as especial allocation and Tk 242 crore either from the government or foreign sources and private investments, and Tk 9 crore from others, he said. DCC expected government's special allocation of Tk 45.05 crore in the 2007-08 fiscal. But the actual allocation is likely to be less than half this year.

The DCC also failed to generate expected funds from projects and private sector in 2007-08 fiscal. It has so far collected Tk 187.73 crore against the target of Tk 619.43 crore, largely because of stalled development works involving huge private and project funds, said the Mayor.

The target for the new budget from these areas has been set at Tk 242.90 crore, he said.

The DCC set an expenditure target of Tk 979.41 crore for the 2008-09 fiscal year. Of the amount, Tk 692.90 crore will account for development activities. In the 2007-08 fiscal it could spend only Tk 443.43 crore, less than half of its targeted development expenditure of Tk 1098.91 crore, he added.

The allocation for mosquito control programmes for the next year would remain the same at Tk 15 crore, said the Mayor.

The revenue income in 2008-09 is expected to total Tk 527.51 crore up from Tk 478.45 crore during 2007-08 fiscal, he said.

The DCC will emphasis to make a separate project named 'Rivers Development Project' to save rivers around the city, he added.

This was the seventh budget of Mayor Sadeque Hossain Khoka since he took over as the city mayor on May 14, 2002.

DCC Mayor Sadeque Hossain Khoka announced his first budget of Tk 677.34 crore for 2002-03 fiscal year, followed by Tk 762.96 crore, Tk 922.01 crore, Tk 1247.72 crore, Tk 1505.85 and Tk 1401.88 in successive years.