Family Card Scheme Won’t Strain Budget, Says PM

Bangla Press Desk:   Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on Wednesday said there is no risk of pressure on the budget due to the Family Card and it will not conflict with other services.

Describing the Family Card as an investment by the state, he said, “It will not increase inflation, rather, it will help reduce inflation. It will also promote local industries and create employment”.

The Prime Minister said this while replying to a complementary question from National Citizen Party (NCP) lawmaker from Cumilla-4 Md Abul Hasnat (Hasnat Abdullah) in the Jatiya Sangsad (JS) here this morning with Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad, Bir Bikram, in the chair.

Tarique Rahman, also ruling BNP chairman, said the government will implement the Family Card programme gradually for four crore families across the country.

Noting that no government across the world can do this all at once, he said it requires data collection of each family.

“In the first stage, we will give the card to marginalized families,” the Prime Minister said, adding, therefore, the budget will be developed step by step while the number of card will also increase gradually.

“That’s why the calculations we have done in this regard show that there is no reason to put pressure on the budget,” he said.

Noting that the total financial support currently being provided under existing social safety programmes is less than the amount of Tk2,500 allocated under per Family Card, the Leader of the House said the government has found through research that some individuals receive multiple benefits.

“We will cut them down, but not all of them. We will only cut down those that are repeated. We will do this gradually,” he added.

Stressing that the programme will not cause inflation, as the government will not print additional money, the Prime Minister said instead, it will help reduce inflation.

Noting that beneficiaries are expected to spend the money on essentials such as clothing and books for children, mostly locally produced goods, he said, adding, as a result, the funds will circulate within the rural economy and support local industries. Source: daily Sun

BP/TD