Bangladesh, June 13 -- When Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury rose in parliament on Thursday, the symbolism required little explanation.

For the first time in nearly two decades, a BNP-led administration presented a national budget - and it arrived with a spending plan to match the moment.

At Tk 9.38 lakh crore ($75 billion), Bangladesh's 55th national budget is the largest in the country's history, 19 per cent higher than last year's revised outlay.

It is also the first full-year fiscal blueprint of the Tarique Rahman administration, which secured a two-thirds majority in February.

Framed around the themes of "Economic Democratisation and Deregulation", the budget seeks to stabilise an economy burdened by inflation, attr...