<div style="text-align: justify; "><b><span style="font-size: 1rem;">The purchasing power of marginal, middle class and lower middle class has decreased due to the direct impact of double-digit inflation, said Distinguished fellow of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Dr. Debapriya Bhattacharya on Sunday.</span><br></b></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">So the main budget for the next fiscal year 2024-2025 will be how to restore the stability of the macro economy and reducing the high inflation.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He said this at a press briefing when unveiling a survey report titled "New Government, National Budget and Citizen's Aspirations", which was conducted in collaboration with the Citizen's Platform for SDGs, Bangladesh. The event was held in a hotel in Gulshan on Sunday (May 5).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">At the press briefing also urged for the government to allocate more funds for social protection, education, and health in the next budget.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Unveiling the report, Dr. Debapriya said the number of child marriages, malnutrition, and population under the poverty line has increased along with widening the income discrimination in the society.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“The inflation situation improved globally including the South Asian countries, while in Bangladesh the inflation situation is totally opposite, people are crying in manage their family expenditure as they have been experiencing a deteriorated inflation for two years,” he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The survey revealed that decent employment is the top aspiration for Bangladeshi people.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In terms of decent employment, 44.9 percent of citizens surveyed also called to reduce unemployment, 36.44 percent wanted increased job opportunities, and 11.02 percent aspired for allowances for the unemployed.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;The second major aspiration was education, with 49.72 percent of the respondents saying they wanted quality education. A total of 28.53 percent also asked that a stipend or scholarship be provided.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Another agenda was social protection, with 33.25% aspiring for food security.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“Parliament has a standing committee on budget, let them meet. Such a meeting was not seen in the previous Parliament,” Dr. Debapriya pointed out.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Besides, the finance minister has to present the economic situation to the parliament every three months, but this has not been practiced, he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">CPD executive director Dr. Fahmida Khatun said that tax management should be improved. Those who are paying taxes are being taxed more. They are often harassed, reports unb</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Many people are not paying taxes, they are evading taxes. Besides, money is going abroad through money laundering, she said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“In the tax structure, direct tax is a tax on direct income, which is 30 percent of the total tax. On the other hand, indirect taxes such as VAT and duties are 70 percent. Change must be made here, she pointed out.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd/fas</div>