ICAB organized a Round Table Conference on Proposed National Budget 2010-11 on Saturday, 26 June 2010 at the Conference Hall of daily Prothom Alo, Dhaka. Two former Advisors of Care Taker Government– Dr. Akbar Ali Khan and Mr. Mirza Azizul Islam, Chairman of SME Foundation Mr. AKM Aftabul Islam, Senior Research Fellow for CPD Ms. Fahmida Khatun participated this post-budget Round Table. ICAB Past Presidents Mr. Akhtar Sohel Kasem FCA, Mr. Md. Humayun Kabir FCA, Mr. AKM Rafiqul Islam FCA, Mr. Abdul Hafiz FCA, Mr. A K Chowdhury FCA, Mr. M A Baree FCA and Mr. A K Golam Kibria FCA also spoke this Round Table. Dr. Jamaluddin Ahmed FCA, President ICAB moderated the Round Table Conference.

Different issues like GDP growth, budget implementation, expansion of tax umbrella, shortfall of Gas and power generation, Public Private Partnership (PPP), Tax proposal on Capital Income & Investment, utilization of black money in the economy etc. were discussed in this post Budget Round Table.

Mr. Akbar Ali Khan said in the Conference that the government had played tricks in the budget for fiscal 2010-11. The Finance Ministry has projected the GDP growth at 6 percent for the outgoing fiscal year, ignoring a 5.5 percent estimate by Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS). Mr. Khan said “There must be a political motive behind these tricks,” “The government has made an upward revision of economic growth to make people believe investment and growth did not go down,” Khan said. But the government has failed to show basic figures to back up its upward revision, he said.

Mr. Akbar who was an advisor of the last caretaker government and an ex-World Bank official said necessary private sector investment in power sector cannot be wooed if enough supply of gas and coal cannot be ensured. "There is an overwhelming need for Public Private Partnership in power sector rather than health and education", Akbar said. "But how come we expect to attract eight billion US Dollars in private investment in the power sector without guaranteeing adequate supply of gas and coal?" he added. The former finance and cabinet secretary recommended slashing "overwhelming" dependency on gas and exploring alternative energy sources for the short term.

"Currently, 89 per cent of our energy is generated by firing gas. But the country already faces an acute gas shortage due to lack of exploration. The crisis may prolong another five to ten years", he said. "So for now, we need to reduce our dependency on gas to 50 to 60 percent". "At the same time, the rest of the energy demand has to be met through alternative sources", Akbar said,adding "nevertheless, there are lack of clear government initiatives to explore such sources".

Highlighting the importance of electricity supply in gearing up private investment, he proposed allocating 25 to 30 per cent of power sector. "There is no need for subsidy in export sector", he said, adding "the exporters could take care of itself if they get enough power and upgraded infrastructure".

Two budget documents - budget speech and the roadmap to develop the energy sector - show different figures on power generation estimates, Khan added. The budget speech forecasts the electricity generation at 11,500 megawatts by 2015, while the other puts it at 9,426 megawatts, he said. The government projected the required investment for this at $9 billion equivalent to more than Tk 60,000 crore. Of the amount, $8 billion will come from the private sector. But the transmission cost is not included here, he added. “This is an overwhelming dependence on the private sector. But PPP in other countries, including India, shows the private sector is least interested to go for electricity projects,” Khan said. Moreover, the scarcity of fuel - gas and coal - might ruin the vision, he said.

Speaking on the occasion, former adviser Mirza Azizul Islam called for 'territorial expansion' of the government's tax net while calling for rationalising the existing tax exemption and rebate facilities. "Presently, the government's tax net does not target anyone beyond district level", he said, "However, there is now a sizable population with taxable income at upazila (sub-district) and rural areas".

Chairman of SME Foundation AKM Aftabul Islam called for increased involvement of private sector in policy making and fast formulation of the legal framework for PPP projects.

Senior Research Fellow of CPD Ms. Fahmida Khatun said there would not be significant economic growth without addressing the energy and infrastructure constraints. She criticized the government for allowing the black money to whiten at a 10 percent tax rate in Bangladesh Infrastructure Finance Fund. “This will not work,” she said. The budget should have some provisions to ensure minimum wages for the garments workers in line with the gradual increase in commodity prices, she added.

Speakers at the roundtable also urged the government to tax individual earnings made through share trading, saying the income has nothing to do with capital gains.