Dhaka, June 25 -- On the morning after the budget, Salma Begum unlocked her small grocery shop in Jatrabari as the radio replayed fragments of the finance minister's speech. She paid little attention to the headline figure. Instead, her focus remained on the price of a litre of soybean oil, her son's college fees, and the interest on a loan for her small business, all far removed from the trillions discussed in Parliament. Like her, most citizens see a budget not as what is announced in Parliament but as what it means at a shop counter, a classroom, and a hospital bed over the next twelve months. Since the speech, as economists and business chambers scrutinised the fine print, the conversation has rightly shifted from the size of the prom...