The Department of Economics under the School of Business and Entrepreneurship (SBE) of Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB) organized a seminar, titled “Budget Talk 2026-27” on June 25, 2026, at the IUB Auditorium.

At the seminar, Prof. Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed, former finance advisor to the interim government of Bangladesh and former governor of the Bangladesh Bank, delivered a keynote address, themed “Resource Mobilization: Prioritization and Implementation”, according to a press release.

Prof. Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed said, “The political government has the mandate to propose a big budget. To fulfill the promises they have made to the people, they must show they are proposing a big budget. Therefore, an expansionary budget with 3.6% of GDP as deficit is not a bad one.”

He also said, “If we look at the challenges of the budget, resource mobilization is a major one. The target given to the National Board of Revenue (NBR) is quite ambitious – about BDT 700,000 crore. But, given the capacity, tax structure, and their mandate for collecting taxes, it will be very difficult in one year to increase the tax collection.”

He added, “The first step for the government should be focusing on the capacity to implement and monitor. I have seen the budget – allocation wise it’s okay. They have given special emphasis on the social sectors like education, health and social security. However, it’s important to remember that giving money always doesn’t ensure spending – so allocation is not enough, you also must ensure capacity and be able to monitor the allocation.”

The keynote speech was followed by a panel discussion featuring Dr. Ijaz Hossain, energy and sustainable development expert and retired Professor of BUET; Dr. Md Fardous Alom, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Finance; and Dr. Shamsuddin Ahmad, former senior financial sector specialist with the World Bank.

The discussion, moderated by Dr. Shahriar Kabir, Professor of Economics at IUB, was followed by a question-answer session, during which the panel members responded to several queries from the audience about employment, taxation, revenue, power sector, and so on.

Earlier, the event started with speeches delivered by Didar A. Husain, Chairman of the IUB Board of Trustees; and Prof. Dr. Daniel W. Lund, Vice Chancellor (acting) of IUB. Prof. Dr. Raisul Awal Mahmood, Dean (acting) of SBE, introduced the panelists. Dr. Khaled Saifullah, Head of the Department of Economics, delivered the closing remarks.

The event was anchored by Nabila Maruf, Senior Lecturer of Economics at IUB. The Independent Economic Society (IES), an active student club of IUB, collaborated with the Department of Economics in organizing the event.