The size of the national budget would be as much as Taka 5 lakh crore in 2018, driven mainly by the phenomenal growth in internal resource mobilisation, Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith said on Wednesday, reports BSS.

"The growth in the internal resource mobilisation was over 2.0 percent in the past five years, significantly higher than what it was before," the minister said, noting that this strong growth would drive the size of the national budget to Taka 5 lakh crore in 2018.

The minister was speaking at a pre-budget discussion with the members of the Economic Reporters Forum (ERF) at his secretariat office.

The expecting budget outlay shows that the fiscal expenditure would be nearly doubled in three years. Muhith earlier said the budget for the upcoming 2015-16 fiscal year (FY16) would be around Taka three lakh crore.