The FE – The political economy of financial sector reform

The government has set a revenue target of BDT 6.95 trillion, with a budget deficit of BDT 2.43 trillion, equivalent to 3.6 per cent of GDP.

It aims to achieve 6.5 per cent GDP growth, contain inflation at 7.5 per cent, and raise the tax-to-GDP ratio to 6.8 per cent.

The budget has been proposed at a time when Bangladesh is grappling with persistent inflation, pressure on foreign exchange reserves, sluggish investment, a weak tax base, and slow employment growth.

At the same time, the fragility of the banking sector has emerged as one of…