The government has proposed allocating 14,500 crore taka in fiscal 2026-27 under its “Family Card” programme to strengthen women’s economic empowerment and social protection, with 41 lakh women to be brought under the Family Card in the coming year. Finance Minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury made the proposal while presenting the 2026-27 budget in parliament on Thursday.
He said that, as part of a social-safety and inclusive-development strategy, the programme will provide financial support to women in the country’s poor and marginal families. Under the proposed plan, 41 lakh women will be brought under the Family Card in the coming year, with the head woman of each card-holding family receiving an allowance of 2,500 taka a month. Under the government’s plan, the programme will be expanded nationwide in stages by 2030. The finance minister said the government’s core aim is to reduce poverty, cut inequality and ensure inclusive development through a life-cycle-based social-protection framework, adding that the programme has already begun at the pilot stage and is being prepared for rapid expansion.
The proposed 2026-27 budget sets total expenditure at 9,38,000 crore taka — 13.7 percent of GDP. The GDP growth target for the coming year is 6.5 percent and the inflation target 7.5 percent. The outgoing 2025-26 main budget set total expenditure at 7,90,000 crore taka (12.6 percent of GDP), with the revised budget estimated at 7,88,000 crore taka — so this year’s budget is growing by 1,50,000 crore taka. As usual, some product and service prices change after a budget; although the budget is larger this year, source tax, duty, VAT and surcharge have been raised on several products, which may push their prices up, while tax breaks and subsidies in some sectors will bring prices down. Where taxes are rising, where breaks are being given, and how living costs may be affected will draw the attention of businesses, investors and ordinary people.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report