The Government of Bangladesh announced the nation’s highest ever defence and internal security budget since independence for Fiscal Year 2020-21 with a revised budget set to cross $7 billion.
Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal presented the 49th Budget of Bangladesh under the title ‘Economic Transition and Future Pathway’ in the Jatiya Sangsad (national parliament) on Thursday (11th June) afternoon. This is his second budget as finance minister.
The country’s biggest budget of Tk 568,000 crore budget is 19.9 percent of GDP. In the proposed budget of the new financial year, the size of GDP has been estimated at Tk 3,171,800 crore. In the budget, the expenditure of the Annual Development Program (ADP) has been estimated at Tk 205,145 crore.
In the proposed budget, the target for achieving GDP has been set at 8.2 percent. The total revenue target for budget expenditure has been set at Tk 382,016 crore.
In Bangladesh the Army, Air Force and Navy are covered under the Defence Budget as well as defence industries. The defence budget however excludes all paramilitary and law enforcement agencies who are funded through the Public Security Division’s budget. The PSD budget includes allocation for border protection agencies such as Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), the Bangladesh Coast Guard and specialist crime fighting paramilitary forces such as the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), which operates under the Bangladesh Police’s command.
Proposed defence budget breakdown with comparison from previous FY:
| Ministry/Division | Budget 2020-21 (BDT) | Revised Budget 2019-20 (BDT) | Budget 2019-20 (BDT) |
| Ministry of Defence | 34,842 | 32,975 | 32,520 |
| Armed Forces Division | 41 | 131 | 38 |
| Law and Justice Division | 1,739 | 1,632 | 1,651 |
| Public Security Division | 22,658 | 22,214 | 21,920 |
Capital equipment purchases such as fighter aircraft, armoured vehicles, frigates and attack helicopters are funded through separate special allocations irrespective of the official defence budget allocation.
Such funds are secured on a case to case basis whereas the outlined defence budget covers salaries, POL, maintenance of existing equipment as well as construction of minor infrastructure when required. In addition funding is also separately allocated for development works of major military bases such as the under construction submarine base at Magnama in Cox’s Bazar or the Sheikh Hasina Cantonment in Barisal-Patuakhali region.
