Introduction

A budget is a statement of planning for expenditure, that allows goals to be set for financial reasons; basically, someone making a budget for whatever reason says "this is how much money we have now, this is how much we expect/will allocate to spend in these areas, this is what we expect to earn, and this is what we expect to end up with". The purpose of a government budget is to forecast the expenditures a government plans to make and the revenues it expects to collect for the ensuing financial year. In a modern industrial economy, a budget reflects the priorities a political government sets to different sectors of the economy. Bangladesh is yet to become a fully industrial economy. So, naturally, the differences in their political ideologies are hardly reflected in the allocation priorities. The national budget of FY2011-12 has been announced at the midpoint of the present governments five years tenure, marred by challenges to maintain the balances and the achievement of the targets for which it was voted to power. Salient Features of the Budget Speech of 2011-12: This year's budget speech set out a slogan: "Towards Building a Happy, Prosperous and Caring Bangladesh" Detailed narrative of past achievements Contextualization of global trends A revised MTMF taking cognizance of the new realities

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Executive Summary
The National Budget for the fiscal year 2011-2012 that was presented in the parliament on June 09, 2011 has been passed without any major alterations. It tends to set sight well beyond the next fiscal year, primarily to achieve the Millennium Development Goals of poverty reduction by one-half within the year 2015 and high-growth trajectory of 7% in fiscal 2011-12 and the rate rising further to 8% by fiscal 2014-15, with inflationary pressure contained at 7.5% in the next fiscal year and further down to 5% in the medium term. The vision of Digital Bangladesh also has not been forgotten. Those are, however, lofty wishes; implementation of the same would take quite a bit of investment and time.

Given its size, the national budget that our finance minister AMA Muhith has proposed is the largest in the country's 40-year history. This reflects the overall growth the economy has undergone within this period. This reflects the overall growth the economy has undergone within this period. There is no question that meanwhile both our human and material resources have witnessed a phenomenal growth. The total budget at around Tk. 1,630 billion is by any measure ambitious.

In this report, I endeavored to analyze the national budget 2011-12 by considering three different sectors Education, Women Empowerment and Poverty Alleviation. I emphasized on the resources and allocations of these sectors. Furthermore, I tried to make comparisons between this years budget and its preceding years. At the end of every sector, I recommended some important issues which I believe would make the budget more effective to achieve its objectives.
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1. Education:
With a vision to attain cent percent net enrollment at primary level by 2011, 100 percent adult literacy by 2017 and make degree level education free by 2013 by following the guidelines of the National Education Policy 2010, the finance minister has proposed an allocation of TK. 19,837 crore in the budget for FY 2011-12, development and non-development combined, for the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Primary and Mass education. This allocation is 12.13 percent of the national budget of FY 2011-12 and 9.31 percent higher than the revised budget of FY 2010-11. It is a matter of fact that the overall allocation in education sector in FY 2010-11 could not pave the path for achieving the targets due to poor implementation status. Therefore, it is highly recommended that proper implantation of proposed ADP of BDT 6125.67 crore for education and religion (28.12 percent higher than the proposed ADP of FY 2010-11) in the next fiscal year can smoothen the way of achieving the targets of the government. From the calculation of weighted average of the data of the past few years, it is observed that 88.61 percent of the proposed ADP is revised and 81.16 percent is implemented over the years.

Figure: Public Investment in Education For establishing knowledge based and technology dependent digital Bangladesh and achieving the targets of Education for All (EFA), Millennium Development Goal (MDG), National Plan of Action II (NPA-II), National Education Policy (NEP) and the election manifesto of the Awami League, the current government has taken many initiatives. Under the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education (MoPME) and Ministry of Education, the government has taken 93 projects most of which are yet to be continued in FY 2011-12 which indicates the level of inefficiency in implementing the ADP.

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Under the business as usual scenario, the education budget, both development and nondevelopment, has increased over the years but the expenditure statistics is that much unsatisfactory. The development budget for FY 2010-11 is Tk. 5657 crore while nondevelopment allocation is BDT 14149 crore. However, till February 2011, development expenditure is only Tk. 1756.4 crore and non-development expenditure amounts Tk. 8736.9 crore. The overall growth rate of education budget since FY 2006-07 is only 14.14 percent which is only 13.64 percent of the national budget. However the growth rate in FY 2011-12 is only 7.4 percent which is 12.13 percent of the national budget of the fiscal year. Noticeably, the revised budget in education sector is in an increasing trend since FY 2007-08. From the calculation of weighted average of the data of past few years, it is observed that the revise budget for education sector in FY 2011-12 might be BDT 20194.69 crore which is 11.28 percent higher than the revised budget of FY 2010-11.

Figure: Growth of Education Budget and percentage of National Budget

As government has taken some time-befitting measures, it will be a great challenge to implement all projects within the time limit. For achieving the targets adopted by the government, allocation for education sector should be increased in the revised budget and revised ADP. Moreover, maximum implementation of ADP is required to achieving the goals of the current government.

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MDG EFA NPA II

Table: Education targets and initiatives of GoB Targets 100% net enrollment by 2015 100% net enrollment by 2015 95% net enrollment by 2015 5% drop-out by 2015 90% adult literacy by 2015

EM 2008

100% net enrollment by 2010 (2011) 100% adult literacy by 2014 (2017)

NEP 2010

100% net enrollment by 2010-11 Pre-primary education Compulsory & free primary education to class VIII Secondary education from class IX up to XII Teacher-student ratio 1:30 by 2018 100% adult literacy by 2014

NB 2011-12 Stipend for 40% students (30% female & 10% male) in all upazilas Create Prime Ministers Education Assistance Foundation Transform 307 schools into Model Schools Build 3000 academic buildings of private schools Distribution of laptop, multimedia projector and internet modem in 20,500 educational institutions 100% adult literacy by 2014 1:40 teacher-student ratio by 2011-12 Challenges of the budget in the Education sector: Expansion of both coverage and fund for School Feeding Programmme is appraisable; however it is very difficult to succeed in this regard. Establishing directorates of education at district level is well appreciated. However no indication is provided about the existing education offices at district headquarters. Talent Hunt Programme sounds great, but implementation will call for significant additional resources (funds, HR, etc.) Proposal to revisit the MPO Program is a bold step, but the challenge will be implement it without influence.
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Recommendations Special stipend programme should be introduced for children from low income families going to public universities. The government may also consider providing Interest-Free Education Loan to these students on merit basis who will then repay the amount within a given time-frame (e.g. 5 years from the date of graduation). All existing public Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) institutions need to be modernized and equipped with technologically advanced teaching and learning materials. To reduce the existing gap between the demand for and supply of skills in the contexts of domestic and global market curricula need to be reviewed and human resource situation must be significantly improved. While the EC Assisted School Feeding Programme is a welcome initiative, similar programmes need to be introduced in different poverty-prone regions of the country with a view to increasing enrollment, retention rates and improving quality of education in primary schools. In view of this, government

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2. Women Empowerment:
The present government has pledged to ensure womens empowerment in its election manifesto. The government has taken many initiatives in the national budget to fulfill their commitment. The achievements of the government in the last two years are admirable. The government has formulated Development Policy 2011. Moreover, Elimination of Family Violence and Protection Act 2010 have been formulated with a view to stopping violence against women. The National Children Policy 2011 has also been formulated to confirm the commitment of the government by making adequate arrangements for upholding children rights and ensuring children welfare. In order to keep its earlier promise of eradicating child labor and preventing them from doing hazardous jobs, the present government formulated National Child Labor Elimination Policy 2010. 88,000 rural mothers across the country and 67,500 garment workers are receiving maternity allowances given to benefit the poor pregnant mothers. In the present fiscal year (2011-12), the total proposed budget allocation for gender related expenditure is Tk. 43,194 crore of which Tk. 1237 crore has been allocated for the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs (MoWCA). However, about 26.40 percent of the total expenditure has been allocated to ensure gender parity while in the previous fiscal year it was 25.96 percent of the total budget. The following figure shows the status of allocations for gender related expenditure in some previous budget including this fiscal year. Allocation:
Allocation for Ministry of Women Affairs is 0.76% of total Budget of FY2011-12.

This is 0.32% lower than that of FY2010-11. Reporting of gender disaggregated budget allocation has increased to20 ministries in FY2011-12 from10 ministries in FY2010-11. Allocation for womens development has increased in 12 ministries and reduced in 8 ministries in FY2011-12 compared to FY2010-11.

Figure: Gender related expenditure (year wise)

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Figure: Ministry Wise Gender Related Budget Allocation in Fiscal Year (2011-12)

(MoPME- Ministry of Primary & Mass Education, MoE- Ministry of Education, MoSICT- Ministry of Science,

Information & Communication Technology, MoHFW- Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, MoWCA- Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, MoHPW- Ministry of Housing and Public Works, LGD- Local Government Division, RDCD- Rural Development and Co-operation Division, MoI- Ministry of Information, MoA- Ministry of Agriculture, MoFAR- Ministry of Fisheries and Animal Resources, MoFE- Ministry of Forest and Environment, MoL- Ministry of Land, WRD- Water Resources Division, DMRD- Disaster Management and Relief Division, RRD-Road and Railways Division, MoS- Ministry of Shipping, MoLWA- Ministry of Liberation War Affairs, MoEW- Ministry of Expatriate Welfare)

It has been observed by analysing the previous years budgets that in the revised budgetary provisions, the amount of grants have decreased in women focused projects. In FY2011-12, the government has taken new initiatives like special training on different new trades like housekeeping, mobile servicing and English language. Various initiatives have been undertaken to eliminate violence against women and children. In order to create women friendly environment for working mothers, the government has taken measures to increase the number of child day care centers. But no specific amount is mentioned in the budget speech for tracking the governments expenditures. In last fiscal year (2010-2011), the allocation of Annual Development Program (ADP) for MoWCA is Tk. 21,225 lakh. From July 2010 to April 2011, the total ADP implementation rate was 62 percent which stood at Tk. 13,201.74 lakh. In spite of all these efforts and allocations, the budget yet to be considered as a gender sensitive one. At the same time, skyrocketing inflation is causing enormous suffering to the lives of poor women. . Again the picture is not very pleasant in the utilization and management of allocations to above sectors. There remain some gross obstacles to ensure a gender sensitive budget. In addition, the allocation for women in the indirect productive sectors like information technology is quite feeble. Women hardly get any advantage from the grants. The Government pledged in its manifesto that necessary measures would be taken for appointment of women in senior posts in the administration and in all sectors of employment. The allocation in the budget for employing women is too meager to serve the purpose. The government needs to pay more attention to the cause of women. In the sports sector, there is a clear picture of discrimination against women. In the education sector, women get very
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insignificant amount through the allocation for development of the cadet colleges at the national level. Although women are directly related with agricultural works in different ways, there is not any women centered project in the productive agricultural sectors. Similarly in the industrial sector, there are few projects for women which are confined to micro-credit. In Bangladesh, incidences of violence against women are very high. The allocation to combat these offenses has to be concrete. Budget allocation in the health sector is also gender discriminatory. The government aimed to reduce maternal mortality rate to 1.5 percent from 3.8 percent by 2021. In present fiscal year, only Tk. 3572.77 crore has been allocated to for womens health. It is admirable that 78 percent of the total expenditure in the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief Division has apportioned for the benefit of women. Again, the government should grant more allocation in the Ministry of Social Welfare for gender related expenditure. Only 40 percent of the total expenditure of it has been allocated for ensuring womens development. In addition, the budget does not address the issues of womens participation in politics. The allocations in the budget for womens empowerment are too little to bring any significant change in womens lives. Recommendations: Proper allocation is needed to implement the National Women Development Policy. There should be a gender audit both at the stage of preparation and outcome assessment of the budget. In general, allocations in sectors from which women stand to benefit most should be increased. Employment generation schemes for women who are the sole earning member of their respective families should be introduced. Women from poor families should be included in such schemes and also provided training according to the activities at upazilla level. Government should also provide monthly remuneration supporting this scheme. The issue of womens repression and the severity of various forms of Violence against Women (VAW) pose considerable threat towards the efforts of the government to create a just and tolerate society. While the law against VAW has been passed in the national parliament, government needs to allocate separate fund for victims of VAW towards medical and legal support. Climate change has been severely affecting the marginal population of Bangladesh, mostly women and children. In places affected by climate change the government can introduce special women employment and health care services. Considering the current price level monthly allowance for widowed and physically challenged women should be increased to Taka 500 from Taka 350. Similarly, monthly allowance for lactating mothers should be increased from Taka 350 to Taka 500. The Maternal Health Voucher scheme should be continued and expanded to more than 45 upzillas, predominantly in the monga, char and haor areas.

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3. Poverty Alleviation:
Despite considerable thrust on poverty alleviation in all plan documents since the independence of Bangladesh, a significant number of population still lives below the poverty line. It is a constitutional obligation of the government to provide a decent living standard for the citizens by alleviating poverty. In its election manifesto, the present government has therefore laid special emphasis on poverty alleviation and pledged to reduce poverty. They made a commitment to reduce the rate of poverty to 25 percent and 15 percent by 2013 and 2021 respectively. If a projection is made based upon the past, with the assumption of business as usual, the governments target might not be possible within the time limit. There is also a strong rural urban difference in the percentage of poverty rate where in rural areas this rate is higher than the urban areas.

Figure: Current situation and future projection of poverty scenarios

According to the Budget speech in FY 2011-12, Social safety net framework for poverty reduction is divided into four major categories: Provision of special allowances so that the hardcore poor can face the incidence of poverty to a certain extent. Employment generation for the hardcore poor through micro credit and different funds/ schemes. Ensuring food security for hardcore poor by providing food free of cost or at fair price. Providing support to the hardcore poor in the areas of education, health and training to face the incidence of poverty.

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Figure: Budgetary allocation for the reduction of poverty

People living below poverty line in 2000 were 55.8 million, which increased to 56 million in 2005. Though, the number of poor people increased during this period, it increased at a slower rate than those of the previous decade. The business as usual situation may be further exacerbated due to lower rate of growth, slump in investment, rise in inflation and increase in unemployment than those of the 1990-2005. Bangladesh has already experienced a double-digit food inflation rate on point-to-point basis since July 2007. The soaring prices of essential commodities, especially, food prices could hurt the poor and worsen equity. Food inflation has a profound nexus with poverty and inequality. Food inflation hits hard the poor since their purchasing power decreases due to the erosion in real income. There exists a positive relationship between food inflation and poverty. As the food inflation increases, the additional number of people goes under the poverty line.

Figure: Inflation versus population under poverty line 15 | P a g e

At present the overall poverty rate is decreasing but the gap between rich and poor and the number of people living under poverty line is increasing comparing with 2005. It is also need to be recognized that the inequality is increasing day by day. It is time to tackle the problem of inequality. It should be noted that a large segment of the population in Bangladesh remain vulnerable cause by natural calamities and economic crisis of various types like sharp increase in food price and economic down-turn. Such shocks affect not only the poor but additional people go below the poverty line. Here social protection can play a vital role to reduce these kinds. New Measures to Alleviate Poverty: During his budget speech, the finance minister expressed his confidence in reducing poverty and social deprivation with the implementation of some newly formed measures. They are such as: Widow, Divorced and Distressed Women Allowance Scheme Allowances for the Insolvent Disabled Programme for FY 2011-12 Maternity Allowances for Poor Working Mothers Schemes Disabled Service and Assistance Centres Acid Burnt Women and Rehabilitation of Physically Disabled and Women Selfemployment Fund for FY2010-11 Eradication of Begging Profession Employments for the Hardcore Poor Socio-economic Empowerment of the Poor NGO Foundation Palli Karma-Shahayak Foundation (PKSF) Social Investment Program Project (SIPP) of Social Development Foundation (SDF) Pension Insurance Scheme for the welfare of the deprived and low-income group by using the Database for Integrating Programmes

Recommendations: To achieve the estimated target, the government should have a look to ensure the proper implementation of the allocated money. Infrastructures development, political stability, control over the inflation, increasing export by establishing labor oriented industries, effective allocation for different social safety net programs, fare distribution of wealth and good governance should be ensured. Most of the initiatives taken by the government are on short-term basis, which might never be a sustainable solution for the reduction of poverty. The government should focus on long term policies. This is high time for Bangladesh to give more emphasis to build up a basic social floor, of course taking the ground realities of the country into consideration.

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Conclusion:
With half of its tenure now behind, it is about time to take stock how so far the government fulfilled its scores of electoral promises and addressed the pressing economic issues in one of the most difficult economic situations and analyze how it would like to take the country forward in the remainder of its tenure. There will always be questions on what the money is spent on. A major focus for the budget of FY2011-12 is to maintain macroeconomic stability and growth momentum. Strengthening of institutions that deal with development praxis is crucial to better administration of development. It is essential to invest in development of human resources and capacity building and raise the efficacy of all Ministries and Institutions related to ADP and budgetary implementation. The government's success in achieving the set goals will depend on its capacity for efficiently navigating the complex interplay of forces of possibility and obstacle affecting economic growth and functioning of a result-oriented, efficient and corruption-free administration. Last, but not the least, political stability in the country is the primary prerequisite for finally reaching the sought after goals set in the proposed budget for 2011-12.

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Bibliography:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. www.mof.gov.bd; Official Website of the Ministry of Finance www.cpd.ord.bd; Official Website of Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) http://www.answers.com/topic/government-budget Forum: A monthly publication of The Daily Star www.unnayan.org; Official Website of Unnayan Onneshan The Innovators A Centre for Research and Action on Development 6. wiki.answers.com 7. www.scribd.com 8. www.thedailystar.net

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