DHAKA, Dec 10, 2023 (BSS) - Finance Secretary Dr Md Khairuzzaman Mozumder 
today expressed his optimism that the general point to point inflation rate 
would come down below 9 percent within this December. 

"The lone challenge before our economy is now to control inflation. But, 
through contractionary monetary and fiscal policy, we've been able to 
overcome that to a large extent. The way prices of food items have declined 
as the food inflation was reduced by 0.5 percent last month, I'm hopeful that 
the inflation rate would come down below 9 percent within this December," he 
said.

The Finance Secretary said this while addressing a seminar on VAT marking the 
National VAT Day held at the NBR Bhaban in the capital's Agargaon area.

Dr Mozumder also hoped that the general point to point inflation rate would 
remain within the fiscal target of 7.5 percent in the current fiscal year 
(FY24) while the target for containing inflation in the next fiscal year 
would remain below six percent.

Noting that the country's economic recovery during the post COVID-19 period 
was fast, he said, "We've taken some contractionary measures beforehand in 
the wake of various global challenges. Austerity is being pursued in public 
expenditure while the macroeconomic strength of Bangladesh is also being 
lauded across the globe." 

Mentioning that the estimation for deficit budget in the current fiscal year 
is Taka 2,61,000 crore against the overall budget size of Taka 7,61,000 
crore, Dr Mozumder said the government has to take loans from various sources 
to meet the budget deficit in this regard.

He said that the government is trying to take loans from various 
international sources rather than relying less on domestic sources so that 
the local businesses are not affected.

"But, we'll have to keep in mind that the limitations on taking international 
loans and grants will continue to grow considering our graduation from the 
LDCs," he said, urging the NBR to become more attentive in generating more 
revenues.

Citing that automation is very much important for creating a tax culture in 
the country, the Finance Secretary said that the government would allocate 
more funding to the NBR for pursuing the efforts towards automation.