He also said efforts are not enough for reducing poverty although it is the main goal in the budget.

He urged the government not to impose any more tax to cover the huge deficit in the proposed budget.

The BNP spokesman also urged for more allocation for the power sector and said, "The allocation for power sector should be increased even if it means cuts in other sectors."

"There are many good provisions in the budget as initiatives have been taken to develop human resources," he told reporters giving his reaction to the proposed budget yesterday evening in his Gulshan residence adding that the allocation for research as well as for scholarships for male students in primary schools are some good sides of the budget.

"Price hike of essentials is still going on. Steps have been taken to reduce the prices but I have doubts about the success of the steps, as tax reduction is not enough to control the price hike, monitoring is also important," he said adding that it is not possible to control prices without controlling the middlemen in the market.

He also said, "Earnings of the people should be increased and it is tough to curb the price hike of those few products, the prices of which have gone up in the international market."

He stressed the need for increasing the number of scholarships in colleges and universities and said allocation for research in the agriculture sector should be increased as there are many researchers in the country working in agricultural institutions.

Appreciating the provision for subsidy for farmers, the former local government and rural development minister said it is important to make sure that the farmers get the money without harassment.

"There are further scopes for expanding the social safety net programme," the BNP leader said adding that improving the lives of the poor is impossible without creating job opportunities for the unemployed.

Demanding an increase in the allocation for local governments, the former minister said the provisions in the budget for trainings for local government officials, and for bringing improvements to the drinking water situation, sanitation and birth registration are also some good things in the budget.

He said the fresh imposition of tax on computers is not a wise decision and the tax on newsprints should be reduced some more.

Mannan Bhuiyan said expansion of the VAT net and the income tax net is not bad but the authorities concerned should be updated so that nobody faces harassment.

COMMUNIST PARTY OF BANGLADESH
General Secretary of the Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) Mujahidul Islam Selim yesterday in a statement said the proposed budget is a traditional one and full of contradictions and inconsistencies.

"An anti-people, anti-nation reactionary philosophy was followed in the proposed budget," he said in his reaction to the budget.

He also said the proposed budget is more or less just another traditional one although there was an opportunity for the caretaker government to show some greatness in it.

The proposed budget is destined to widen the disparity among classes as most of the money for the budget will come from indirect taxes to be collected from the general people, he said.

WORKERS PARTY
The Workers Party of Bangladesh in a news release expressing its reaction to the budget said it is a 'World Bank (WB) friendly budget' which does not take into consideration the sufferings of the masses.

WP expressed its deep resentment as no step has been taken in the budget to save the local jute industry.

"This budget did not say anything on the mechanism for controlling the spiralling of prices of essentials," the WP news release said.

"The caretaker government is ready to bring reforms to all sectors but it is not ready to go beyond the World Bank prescription regarding reforms in the economic sector," the release added.

The Workers Party however said some steps have been taken in the budget regarding price control, and reduction in import duties on food items.

The party also welcomed the provision in the budget for providing subsidies for diesel import.

It also said restructuring of duties and taxes will harm the local industry especially the peripheral industries of the garments sector.