Finance Division of Ministry of Finance (MOF) is now working to finalise the National Budget for FY 2010-11 which will be placed before the Parliament in June/2010. Honourable Finance Minister has concluded pre-budget consultations with the Chairman/Members of the Parliamentary Standing Committees, representatives from Economic Reporters Forum and NGOs, Editors of electronic and print media, Economists and Professionals and Secretaries of all Ministries/Divisions. Besides, Finance Division has also met all line Ministry/Division to finalize budget proposals.
Ministry Budget Framework (MBF) of 33 MTBF Ministries/Divisions for FY 2010-11 is almost ready which will be placed before the Parliament along with the National Budget. In the MBF, concerned Ministries/Divisions lay down their medium term strategy linking policies and priorities with resource allocation and resource allocation with the performance of departments and agencies. Another distinct feature of MBF is that it delineates impacts of public expenditure on poverty reduction and gender advancement. All remaining Ministries/Divisions will be brought under the MTBF process in FY 2011-12.
A high level task force has been set up to monitor the likely affects of global economic recession and also to provide necessary suggestions for tackling any adverse impacts. Meanwhile, the Government has announced 2nd incentive packages to manufacturers and exporters to mitigate adverse impacts of economic recession and to stimulate the economy.
Installation of Finance Division's Wide Area Network (WAN) has been completed. Work on the development of iBAS is continuing to introduce budgetary control at the Ministry/Division as well as CGA’s Accounting Offices. All treasury branches of Sonali Bank Limited are now capturing transactions of government receipts and payments through specially developed software. And also the government transactions through Bangladesh Bank branches have been brought under the coverage of automation.
“Deepening MTBF and strengthening Financial Accountability project” under the umbrella programme “Strengthening Public Expenditure Management Programme (SPEMP), a multi-doner trust fund financed programme, has formally began its operation. A contract between the Project Director and the Contracting Firm, in this regard, has recently been signed. It is expected that this project will usher in a new era which will enable the Finance Division to take its ongoing reform to its next higher stage building on the reform experience, output and outcomes through FMRP and its predecessor project RIBEC, in the area of Public Financial Management (PFM).
Source: Ministry of Finance website
