What is the government budget?
The government budget is the plan of government income and spending for one fiscal year. In Bangladesh the fiscal year starts on 1 July and ends on 30 June the following year. Usually in June the finance minister presents the proposed budget in Parliament; after debate it is passed and takes effect from 1 July.
A budget is not just a list of spending. Changes to which goods are taxed more or less, the income tax rules, and how much tax is deducted from savings profit usually come with the budget in the Finance Act. So the budget reaches your own pocket directly too.
Think of a family. Their income is Tk 50,000 a month, but rent, groceries, schooling and instalments on home repairs come to Tk 60,000. They have to borrow the remaining Tk 10,000, and from next month the interest on that loan joins the list of costs. A government budget works much the same way, only in lakh crores of taka. The numbers are only an example.
Why it matters to an investor
- To know the tax rules: changes to income tax, tax deducted from savings profit and tax on share dividends usually come in the budget.
- To understand interest rates: when the government borrows more from banks to cover the deficit, treasury bill and bond yields can rise, and less loan money may be left for businesses.
- To follow sanchayapatra news: savings certificates are one source of government borrowing, so the budget’s target for them is linked to sanchayapatra policy.
- To read where the economy is heading: spending on roads, power or social protection affects demand in the economy and business in different sectors.
The main parts of a budget
- Revenue: the biggest part is tax collected by the National Board of Revenue (NBR), such as VAT, income tax and import duties. Beyond that are non-NBR taxes and non-tax income, such as fees and dividends from state-owned bodies.
- Operating spending: the regular cost of running government, such as salaries and allowances, subsidies, and interest on past borrowing.
- Development spending: the cost of projects such as new roads, bridges, power plants, schools and hospitals. Most of it is the Annual Development Programme (ADP).
- Budget deficit: total spending minus total income. It is covered by borrowing at home (banks, savings certificates) and from abroad (loans and grants).
Bangladesh’s recent budgets
The budget for fiscal year 2025-26 was about Tk 7.90 lakh crore. The budget for 2026-27, presented on 11 June 2026, is about Tk 9.38 lakh crore. Its total revenue target is about Tk 6.95 lakh crore (of which about Tk 6.04 lakh crore from the NBR), and the deficit is about Tk 2.43 lakh crore, roughly 3.6% of GDP.
In the same budget, about Tk 1.27 lakh crore is set aside just for interest payments, and the ADP is about Tk 3 lakh crore. Revenue in Bangladesh is close to 8% of GDP. These are proposed targets; a revised budget is made mid-year, and actual income and spending can differ from the targets. The Finance Division publishes the latest figures.
A few tips for reading budget news
- Look at percentages of GDP, not just the total. Because of inflation and a growing economy, the taka amount rises almost every year.
- “Proposed”, “revised” and “actual” budgets are different things. Notice which one the news is talking about.
- The parts that matter to you directly are usually in the Finance Act: income tax bands, return-filing rules, tax deducted from savings profit.
Worked example
- Total spending is about Tk 9.38 lakh crore, with a revenue target of about Tk 6.95 lakh crore. Of every Tk 100 spent, about Tk 74 is to come from revenue and about Tk 26 from borrowing.
- Interest payments are about Tk 1.27 lakh crore: about Tk 13.50 of every Tk 100 spent goes on interest on past borrowing.
- The deficit is about Tk 2.43 lakh crore. Divided over 365 days, the government needs to borrow about Tk 666 crore a day on average.
Result: breaking the budget down “per Tk 100” makes the huge numbers easy to grasp: how much comes from own income, how much is borrowed, and how much goes on interest on old debt.
Source: The Daily Ittefaq, 11 June 2026
See the numbers as a table
| Revenue | Borrowing | |
|---|---|---|
| Per Tk 100 | 74 | 26 |
Common mistakes
- Assuming that because the total is bigger than last year, the government is really spending much more. It has to be compared with inflation and GDP.
- Treating tax changes in the proposed budget as final. They can change before it is passed, so check the final Finance Act.
- Thinking the budget is only the government’s business. Through taxes, interest rates and sanchayapatra rules it reaches your savings too.
- Labelling any deficit as simply good or bad. Economists disagree on how big a deficit is appropriate; its size, what it pays for and how it is financed all matter.
The budget is the country’s plan of income and spending for a year; its taxes, borrowing and interest bill reach all the way to your income tax, interest rates and sanchayapatra.