Dhaka, May 19 -- Bangladesh's budget deficit surged by 73.04 per cent in the first seven months of the current fiscal year compared to the same period in FY24, driven largely by sluggish tax collection, official data shows.

According to the Ministry of Finance (MoF), the total government expenditure stood at Tk 2.746 trillion during the July-January period of FY25, while revenues reached Tk 2.362 trillion, resulting in a deficit of Tk 384.93 billion.

During this period of FY24, the deficit was Tk 222.44 billion.

Of the total spending in this period of FY25, operating expenditure accounted for Tk 2.233 trillion, and development expenditure amounted to Tk 512.71 billion, the ministry data shows.

The tax revenue collected by the now defu...