Impoverished Bangladesh today unveiled a USD 9 billion budget for the coming year that attempts to woo investment and revive its flagging economy, which has been hit by months of deadly political turmoil.
Finance Minister A M A Muhith announced plans to spend USD 2.4 billion on upgrading the power sector -- nearly double last year -- to ease crippling blackouts and another USD 3.4 billion to improve roads, rail and ports.
Laying out the three trillion taka (USD 39 billion) budget, Muhith said his government was targeting seven percent growth for the fiscal year starting in July against an estimated 6.5 percent for the current one.
But he said the faster growth rate was dependent on political stability, urging all parties to end the months of unrest that has deterred investment and damaged the economy.
"We plan to increase power generation capacity to 24 thousand megawatts by 2021," Muhith told parliament in his budget speech, up from 13,675 megawatts currently.
"Above all, we expect that good sense among the political parties for the greater interest of the people will ensure political stability," he said.
"This will encourage the domestic and foreign investors to come forward with new investment proposals."
The budget is the second for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government since her party won controversial elections last year that were boycotted by the opposition over fears of vote rigging.
The opposition unleashed months-long protests in January to try to topple the government that claimed at least 120 lives, mainly from petrol bomb attacks, and prompted Hasina to launch a major crackdown.
The World Bank said the three-month long turmoil shaved USD 2.2 billion, or one percent, off economic output in Bangladesh, where one quarter of the population lives below the poverty line.
The country has recorded around 6 percent economic growth over the last decade, but economists stay this is too low to create jobs for the 2 million young people entering the market every year.
