DHAKA, June 11, 2020 (BSS) – To tackle any possible food crisis due
to COVID-19 pandemic, Finance Minster AHM Mustafa Kamal today said the
sell price of the all chemical fertilizer will remain unchanged in the
next fiscal year.
He also proposed Taka 9,500 crore as subsidy for the agriculture sector.
“As in previous years, sell price of chemical fertilisers will be
kept unchanged in the next fiscal year irrespective of their import
costs, and we will continue to provide incentives to the agriculture
sector”, he said while presenting the national budget in the Jatiya
Sangsad here.
To meet expenditure of fertiliser and other agricultural incentives
Tk. 8,000 crore has been allocated in the revised budget of FY 2019-20
and Tk. 9,500 crore has been allocated in the budget for FY 2020-21,
the minster added.
Kamal said: “We have taken up a project of Tk. 3,198 crore to
promote farm mechanization…an allocation of Tk. 5,000 crore for the
Agriculture Refinancing Scheme will also be made through Bangladesh
Bank in the next fiscal year.”
“This year we will continue our interventions, such as agricultural
subsidies, incentives and support cards for fertilizers-seeds and
other agricultural inputs, support for agricultural rehabilitation,
special agriculture credit at low interests and easy terms, etc., at
the required levels to combat the effects of the novel coronavirus,”
said the minister.
Besides, farmers’ subsidies on procurement of agricultural equipment
used in harvesting crops will continue. The number of farmers holding
agricultural input support cards currently stands at 2 crore 8 lakh 13
thousand 477.