Allocations for 27 ministries, divisions and other bodies have risen by Tk 56,118 crore in the revised budget for the current 2025-26 fiscal year.
More than half of the additional spending went to interest on loans, subsidies and farm-loan waivers, among other items. Extra money had to be raised to cover these costs.
Finance and Planning Minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury disclosed the figures Monday in his closing remarks on the supplementary budget for the 2025-26 fiscal year in parliament.
The minister said, “Since forming the government, we have taken effective steps to improve people’s living standards and revive the country’s economy. After taking office, the current government has made rebuilding the economy — in the face of global instability, internal structural weaknesses and inflationary pressure — one of its main priorities.”
The minister said, “We are trying to cut waste in every area of government spending, reduce spending in non-priority sectors and ensure frugality in administrative costs. At the same time, we are trying to implement the election manifesto. But because of the global situation, power and energy subsidies had to be adjusted.”
He added, “Dignified social-protection programs have been expanded through family cards, farmer cards and honorariums for imams, priests and muezzins. We have somewhat adjusted spending and the deficit in the supplementary budget for these programs.”
Proposal to cut net spending by Tk 2,000 crore
The minister noted that a proposal has been made to cut the government’s net spending by Tk 2,000 crore in the supplementary budget for the current 2025-26 fiscal year. He said that where net government spending had been set at Tk 7,90,000 crore in the original budget, the revised figure would fall to Tk 7,88,000 crore. At the same time, a proposal has been made to keep the budget deficit at Tk 2,00,000 crore, or 3.3 percent of GDP.
The minister said that, in the revised budget, allocations for 27 ministries, divisions and other bodies were increased while allocations for 35 ministries and divisions were cut. The cuts amount to Tk 59,348 crore 67 lakh.
The Appropriation (Supplementary) Act, 2026, was presented in parliament. Of the 27 ministries and divisions for which additional spending approval was sought, the largest is the Finance Division, for which an extra Tk 23,655 crore 54 lakh was sought. An extra Tk 1,690 crore 81 lakh was sought for the Financial Institutions Division. In addition, an extra Tk 12,408 crore was sought for the Planning Division and Tk 22 crore for the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division.
What drove the extra spending
Justifying the higher allocations, the minister said in an explanatory memorandum that extra money was needed for interest on domestic debt, share capital, subsidies and incentives. In addition, extra funds had to be arranged for the principal and interest on farm loans of up to Tk 10,000 for the government’s priority spending. Extra money also had to be arranged for two projects under the Annual Development Programme (ADP) and four projects outside it.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report