Bangladesh didn’t meet minimum requirements of fiscal transparency in 2023: report

The 2024 Fiscal Transparency Report of the US has put Bangladesh in the bracket of the countries that did not meet the minimum requirements of fiscal transparency between January 1 and December 31 in 2023.
The Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs of the Department of State in its report published yesterday said, of the 139 countries evaluated, 72 governments met minimum requirements of fiscal transparency and 68 did not meet the minimum requirements of fiscal transparency.
“Of these 68, however, 23 made significant progress toward meeting the minimum requirements of fiscal transparency,” said the report.
Bangladesh is one of the 45 countries that did not make significant progress towards meeting the minimum requirements of fiscal transparency.
In South Asia, Afghanistan, Maldives and Bangladesh are the three countries that were bracketed under this category.
During the review period, Bangladesh government made its executive budget proposal and enacted budget publicly available, including online, but did not make its end-of-year report publicly available within a reasonable period.
“Information in the budget was considered generally reliable, although budget documents were not prepared according to internationally accepted principles,” the report says.
Information on debt obligations was publicly available. Budget documents provided a reasonably complete picture of the government’s planned expenditures and revenue, including natural resource revenues, it added.
However, the government did not break down expenditures to support executive offices, nor did the budget provide a substantially complete picture of revenues and expenditures. Publicly available budget documents included financial allocations to, and earnings from, state-owned enterprises, the report added.
“The government’s supreme audit institution did not review the government’s accounts, but it released some summarised findings made publicly available within a reasonable period. The supreme audit institution did not meet international standards of independence.”
Bangladesh government specified in law or regulation, and appeared to follow in practice, the criteria and procedures for awarding natural resource extraction contracts and licenses. Basic information on natural resource extraction awards was not consistently made publicly available, it added.
The report suggested that Bangladesh make its end-of-year report publicly available within a reasonable period, prepare budget documents according to internationally accepted principles and break down expenditures to support executive offices in the budget.
It also suggested the government provide in the budget a substantially complete picture of the government’s revenues and expenditures, ensure the supreme audit institution meets international standards of independence and has sufficient resources to obtain timely and direct access to the entire annual executed budget.
It also suggested that the government publish timely audit reports that contain substantive findings, recommendations, and narratives; and make basic information about natural resource extraction awards publicly available.