Anwar, who held the charge of agriculture ministry, also demands autonomy of Bangladesh Bank saying that the central bank cannot serve as a directorate of the Ministry of Finance.

He was addressing a post-budget discussion organised by Economic Reporters Forum (ERF) at the CIRDAP auditorium in Dhaka.

The finance adviser, Mirza Azizul Islam, who was present at the discussion as chief guest, echoed the former minister's views and made an assurance that the government will consider reforms in his ministry.

He said the autonomy of the central bank basically depends on the relation between the finance ministry and the governor.

The adviser, however, thinks Bangladesh Bank enjoys autonomy in all areas except creation of posts and increase in salary.

"If there is no good relation between the governor and the finance ministry, autonomy would bring no good," he said.

Pointing to the fact that the present government has taken several measures to bring about reform in different ministries, M K Anwar suggested that first of all reform is needed in the Ministry of Finance and Planning.

"Otherwise, it will be difficult to implement the proposed budget," he said.

He narrated his experiences when he was in the agriculture ministry and said release of allocation and fund from the finance ministry was not hassle-free, although the agriculture ministry was given freedom to get allocation for the ministry under a medium-term budgetary framework.

According to the tariff structure in the proposed budget, import cost of 2800 finished products would be reduced. On the other hand, import cost of 1200 highly used industrial raw materials would be increased.

This tariff structure will have adverse impact on domestic industries, Anwar said.

He said although the PRSP (Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper) targeted generation of 30 lakh new jobs, but it succeeded in creating only 10 lakh jobs during the three years period of PRSP implementation.

And for such poor performance, a total of 20 lakh people remain far away from the job market, Anwar said, adding that if the tariff structure makes any hindrance to the growth of local industries, the probability of new job creation would be minimised.

Citing an example of his ministry's dilemmas, Mirza Aziz said the planning ministry takes two year to finalise a development project paper. And so the government will consider decentralising the financial power of the ministries.

He differed with the view that proposed tariff structure would affect the local industries adversely and said, "We should realise how far the proposed tariff structure hits the local industry."

The survival of an industry depends on its financial efficiency, he said. Citing examples of Russia and China, he said China's economy marked 10 to 11percent growth on an average even after privatisation and trade liberalisation.

On the other hand, Russia geographically separated after taking protectionism, he said.

The adviser said the finance ministry will scrutinize the 1807 recommendations it received about the proposed budget.

Speaking on the occasion, Awami League leader and former commerce minister Tofail Ahmed said the present government proposed a very good budget neutrally as there is no political activity in the country.

He however suggested keeping the current fiscal's tariff intact in the new budget so that the local industries' smooth running is not hampered.

Rashed Khan Menon of the Bangladesh Workers Party, Colonel (rtd) Faruk Khan, Dr Mohammad Abdur Razzak of AL, GM Kader, former lawmaker of JP, Jahir Uddin Shawpan, former lawmaker of BNP, and Md Kamruzzaman of Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh took part at the discussion.