Debapariya finds flaws in Family Card

Debapriya Bhattacharya, a distinguished fellow at the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), believes that economic stability is essential for implementing the special initiatives taken for the backward people in the next budget.

He said that without economic stability, the Tk2,500 which will be given through the family card will go to managing inflation.

He made the observation at a pre-budget dialogue titled ‘National Budget 2026-27: Political Commitment and Citizen Expectations’ at a hotel in Gulshan on Monday (May 18). The dialogue was organised by the Citizen Platform.

Debapriya Bhattacharya said that if efficiency cannot be increased and corruption cannot be curbed to bring stability to the economy, ‘’. For this, he stressed on institutional and policy reforms.

The economist said that in recent years, the annual development budget has remained unimplemented by up to 40-45 percent. In such a situation, a 20-25 percent increase in the development budget for the next fiscal year is being planned, which is going on in the vein of the old culture. This can put the economy under more pressure.

He also said that Bangladesh is currently under economic pressure. The current government is also three-four months old. This government has not yet been able to clarify how weak the economy is. They could also have published a white paper like the interim government, but they did not do that.

The dialogue was also attended by Social Welfare and Women and Children Affairs Minister AZM Zahid Hossain, Jamaat-e-Islami leader and Dhaka-12 MP Saiful Alam Khan, BNP reserved seat MP Mahmuda Habiba, CPD Honorary Fellow Mostafizur Rahman, Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) Director General Professor AK Enamul Haque, Jahangirnagar University Economics Department Professor Sarmind Nilormi, former President of Knitwear Industry Owners Association BKMEA Fazlul Haque, and others.

CPD Additional Research Director Taufiqul Islam Khan presented the keynote address at the event.