National Economic Council
Profile
- Head
- Tarique Rahman
- Role
- Prime Minister (Chairman, NEC)
- Annual budget
- —
- Staff
- —
- Established
- 1972
- Legal basis
- Established by Presidential Order dated 31 January 1972 alongside the Bangladesh Planning Commission; formal composition and functions of ECNEC codified through Cabinet Division Resolution 1982; secretariat functions governed by the Rules of Business under the Planning Division
Convening its first full-budget NEC meeting under PM Tarique Rahman on 18 May 2026 to approve a record Tk 3,00,000 crore ADP for FY2026-27 covering 1,121 projects, a 50 percent jump over the current RADP; simultaneously overseeing development of a BNP-government five-year strategic framework (draft expected mid-2026) targeting 8 percent GDP growth by FY30, 10 million new jobs, and a trillion-dollar economy by 2034.
Recent activity
- 2026-02-17 appointment PM Tarique Rahman assumed chairmanship of NEC following formation of the BNP-led government; Prof Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir, adviser for Finance and Planning, assigned as the senior ministerial counterpart for planning and budget coordination within NEC proceedings. ↗↗
- 2026-03-01 budget NEC-approved FY2025-26 Revised ADP (RADP) of Tk 2,00,000 crore came into effect under the new government, covering 1,333 projects; implementation rate for July 2025 to March 2026 stood at 36.19 percent of the original ADP. ↗↗
- 2026-04-08 reform PM Tarique Rahman constituted a 35-member high-level economic advisory committee chaired by Prof Wahiduddin Mahmud to formulate a five-year strategic framework targeting a trillion-dollar economy by 2034; committee met at NEC Auditorium and tasked with producing a draft framework within two to three months for NEC consideration. ↗↗
- 2026-05-18 budget NEC meeting chaired by PM Tarique Rahman at the NEC conference room, Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, to consider FY2026-27 Annual Development Programme of Tk 3,00,000 crore (overall outlay including autonomous bodies: Tk 3,08,924.83 crore) covering 1,121 projects; domestic funding Tk 1,90,000 crore (63.33 percent), external financing Tk 1,10,000 crore (36.67 percent); ADP represents a 50 percent increase over the FY26 RADP and a 48.44 percent rise in domestic resource allocation. Top sectoral allocations: Transport and Communication Tk 50,092.53 crore (16.70 percent), Education Tk 47,591.12 crore (15.86 percent), Health Tk 35,535.50 crore (11.84 percent), Power and Energy Tk 32,691.54 crore (10.90 percent), Housing and Community Tk 20,361.72 crore (6.79 percent). Project breakdown: 971 investment and survey projects (Tk 1,78,914.63 crore), 107 technical assistance projects (Tk 2,796.28 crore), 26 carried over from current fiscal year. ↗↗
Provenance & notes
NEC is the apex political body for Bangladesh's development planning, chaired by the PM; its executive arm ECNEC (Finance Minister as chair, PM as alternate) handles individual project approvals above Tk 50 million. The Planning Division provides the secretariat; meetings are held at the NEC conference room, Sher-e-Bangla Nagar. entity_type is set to 'parliamentary_committee' per schema constraint; NEC is constitutionally a cabinet-level inter-ministerial council, not a parliamentary committee in the legislature sense. The '9th Five Year Plan' label used by the user prompt refers to the BNP government's five-year strategic framework under preparation (July 2026-June 2030 period); the Tarique government rebranded it from the Hasina-era 9th FYP as a 'strategic plan' rather than a formal five-year plan. No primary source confirms that this framework was a formal agenda item at the 18 May 2026 NEC meeting alongside the ADP; the two processes are concurrent but distinct as of the verification date. annual_budget_bdt is null: no separate operating budget for the NEC secretariat is publicly disaggregated from the Planning Division's budget line. staff_count is null: Planning Commission staff are counted under the Planning Division, not disaggregated to NEC secretariat.
Sources
- https://www.bssnews.net/news/387845
- https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php/National_Economic_Council
- https://www.tbsnews.net/economy/budget/budget-2026-27-govt-plans-tk3-lakh-crore-adp-1410051
- https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/fy27-adp-higher-allocations-proposed-health-and-education-1418001
- https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/development/400844/nec-approves-tk-2-lakh-crore-radp-for-fy26
- https://www.bssnews.net/news/350416
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Committee_of_the_National_Economic_Council
- https://www.thedailystar.net/business/economy/news/govt-drafts-5-year-strategic-plan-4152386
- https://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/economy/govt-drafting-five-year-strategic-plan-to-spur-economic-growth
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangladesh_Planning_Commission