Finance Minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury has proposed allocating 69,409 crore taka to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in fiscal 2026-27 — about 34,000 crore more than in 2025-26, nearly double. He made the proposal in parliament at 3pm on Thursday (11 June).
The finance minister said: “I am proposing an allocation of 69,409 crore taka for the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in the coming 2026-27 fiscal year — 1.01 percent of GDP.” In the 2025-26 revised budget the allocation was 35,477 crore taka, 0.58 percent of GDP. He said a large part of the spending on unplanned infrastructure and equipment purchases in the health sector during the “fascist” period was looted through corruption, so the quality of healthcare did not improve — leaving the country’s hospitals struggling under the pressure of excess patients, ordinary people deprived of quality care, and valuable foreign currency leaving the country as large numbers of patients go abroad.
Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury said the government has set a target of raising public health investment to 5 percent of GDP gradually and continuously. In line with the election manifesto, he said, the government has planned to set up one modern primary-healthcare unit in every union and one or more in every city ward, with implementation already begun. He said the government is working to formulate an integrated, science-based and modern national nutrition programme, and will build a durable, modern medicine- and vaccine-supply network nationwide so that needed medicines and vaccines reach remote areas on time. An initiative has been taken to immediately recruit 5,000 MBBS doctors to fill long-standing vacancies. The finance minister also said the budget would reduce the treatment-cost burden on low-income people, ensure the availability of quality medicines and ensure universal health protection.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report