Dhaka, June 12 -- Finance and Planning Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury has said the proposed budget for the next fiscal year is designed to include all citizens despite the country's resource constraints.

On Friday, Khosru defended the Tk 9.38 trillion spending plan he presented in parliament a day earlier.

The budget, unveiled around four months after the BNP-led government took office, seeks to create what he described as an inclusive economic framework.

"We had to prepare an inclusive budget for everyone," Khosru said. "For the past one and a half decades, our economy was a patronage economy. It was an economy for a few people. Certain individuals and groups received special advantages.

"But we want to ensure participation fr...