A cabinet meeting was held today with Prime Minister Tarique Rahman in the chair. Photo: PMO

DHAKA, March 17, 2026 (BSS) - The cabinet has approved proposals to convert two ordinances related to the supplementary budget for fiscal year 2024-25 and the national budget for 2025-26 into law.

The decision was taken at the cabinet's third meeting held at the secretariat today, with Prime Minister Tarique Rahman in the chair.

One of the approved proposals concerns the enactment of the Appropriation (Supplementary) Ordinance, 2025, which relates to the supplementary budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year. Under Article 91 of the constitution, a supplementary financial statement must be presented in the parliament if approved expenditures become insufficient or exceed the allocated amount.

However, as the parliament was dissolved at the time, it was not possible to present the supplementary budget within the required timeframe. In this context, the interim government issued the ordinance under Article 93 of the constitution. The cabinet has now approved its conversion into law.

The Cabinet also approved the proposal to enact the Appropriation Ordinance, 2025, which is tied to the national budget for the 2025-26 fiscal year. According to Article 87 of the constitution, the government is required to present its annual budget -- detailing estimated revenues and expenditures -- in the parliament. Due to the dissolution of the parliament, this could not be done, leading to the issuance of the ordinance under Article 93, which is now set to become law.

In addition, the Cabinet approved Bangladesh's participation in the World Trade Organization's (WTO) Plurilateral Joint Statement Initiative (JSI) on the Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement (IFDA).