The New Nation - Internet Edition

UNB, Dhaka

Pledge-bound to provide fertilizer at lower prices, the government appears undecided about the sources of funds to meet the commitment, which is likely to cross the budgetary provision.

"We've to find ways," Finance Minister Abul Mal Abdul Muhit told reporters after his first meeting with Economic Relations Division (ERD) at NEC conference room here yesterday.

The current budget has earmarked a provision of Tk 3,688 crore for fertilizer subsidy against an expenditure of Tk 3,536 crore in this regard in the last fiscal year.

ERD secretary Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan made a presentation in presence of all officials and employees of the division on the country's present state of foreign aid, projection of aid inflow in the near future and the challenges of receiving foreign aid.

Replying to a question, Muhit said there are enough provisions for providing subsidy in the current budget, but the requirement would exceed amid immense pressure for fertilizer subsidy.

"We'll have to get the funds by any means," he said, adding that the present stock of fertilizer is good enough to meet the demand but what is necessary is to timely reach the fertilizer to the farmers and at lower prices. "We'll have to tackle it."

He further said a reduction in the price of diesel would not put pressure on the subsidy.

Earlier, Muhit advised the ERD officials to examine the possible ways on how the country could receive rewards from the development partners due to its development and debt-servicing performances.

He said the performance Bangladesh has shown in foreign debt servicing could not be seen elsewhere in the world. "This is why the country deserves more foreign aid."

He added that the country could demand foreign aid from the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA), which still remained unexplored, through overcoming the weaknesses in implementation of the development projects.

He asked the officials concerned to think about ways to retain the money Bangladesh repays to the institutions like World Bank and IMF as a reward. "We could get debt relief in case of repayment problem. Now we can get reward as we've no problem in repayments."

The Finance Minister also asked the officials to move away gradually from project-based aid to sector-specific one that would be more effective in a unified revenue and development budget, planned to be implemented in the next three years.

He also instructed the officials to strengthen the role of public finance to support the national budget.

Muhit said the government has undertaken a huge responsibility through the pre-election commitments. "The commitments are possible to implement, but (they) need commitment equally from the politicians and the bureaucracy," he said.