Taking part in the discussion, AL lawmaker Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim termed the new budget ambitious. He urged the government to prepare a budget based on domestic resources rather than expected foreign and local borrowings. He also asked to expand the tax-net towards this end.

Labelling the finance minister's promise to create about nine lakh new jobs as a fraud, Selim said there is no directive in the budget how the government will create employment for such a huge number of people.

Jatiya Party (Manju) Chairman Anwar Hossain Manju said national budgets so far have failed to benefit the poor mainly due to giving to the pressures from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and other United Nations agencies.

Placing a statistics, the JP leader said the common people are not interested in the budget, as it has repeatedly failed to improve their condition. He urged for a political commitment of the government to improve the socio-economic status of the masses.

GM Kader of the JP (Ershad) focused his deliberations on strengthening the local government bodies in order to facilitate participation of the grassroots people in budget planning. Otherwise, he said, the government's development efforts would not reach the poor.

He said this is the 10th time Finance Minister Saifur Rahman has placed the national budget, but each time the sufferings of the people only increased.

AL MP Shahjahan Khan while giving the budget speech accused the finance minister's son of tender snatching and extortion.

BNP lawmakers Sardar Shakhawat Hossain Bakul, Salauddin Ahmed, AKM Selim Reza Habib, Habibul Islam Habib, GM Fazlul Haq, Fazlul Haq Milon, Abu Hena, Ilen Bhutto, Khadiza Amin and Jamaat lawmaker Delwar Hossain Saydee also took part in the debate.

From the opposition, AL lawmakers Kazi Zafar Ullah and Syed Abul Hossain also spoke.

Yesterday's discussion on the budget, like earlier ones, was dominated by political and extra-budgetary issues including law and order.