Bangladesh unveils budget

Bangladesh has announced that it will be spending a large proportion of this year's budget on education and defence.

The government said its budget was aimed at increasing industrial growth and investment in the private sector.

But the opposition has criticised the government for reducing personal income tax, a year before general elections are due, while at the same time increasing public spending by borrowing more money and increasing sales tax.

The finance minister who announced the budget, Shah Kibria, also called for the country's complicated tax system to be simplified to prevent corrupt tax officials getting extra money from taxpayers.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service