Staff Reporter :
Though Bangladesh has made significant progress in fiscal transparency, it still fell short of the minimum requirements, US Fiscal Transparency Report, 2022 read on Friday.
“During the review period, the government made significant progress by publishing its end-of-year report within a reasonable period,” the report said.
It also said that the information in the budget was considered generally reliable, although budget documents were not prepared according to internationally accepted principles.
Regarding the audit report, it said, “the government’s supreme audit institution reviewed the government’s accounts, but its reports did not contain substantive findings and were not made publicly available within a reasonable period. The supreme audit institution did not meet international standards of independence.”
The report made it clear that the fiscal transparency informs citizens how government and tax revenues are spent and is a critical element of effective public financial management.
Transparency provides citizens a window into government budgets and those citizens, in turn, hold governments accountable. It underpins market confidence and sustainability, the report said.
Regarding the budget documents, the report said, “The budget documents provided a reasonably complete picture of the government’s planned expenditures and revenue streams, including natural resource revenues.”
“Financial allocations to and earnings from state-owned enterprises were included in publicly available budget documents. Information in the budget was considered generally reliable, although budget documents were not prepared according to internationally accepted principles,” it continued.
The report has given four recommendations for improving Bangladesh’s fiscal transparency which includes preparing budget documents according to internationally accepted principles; ensuring the supreme audit institution meets international standards of independence and has sufficient resources; publishing timely audit reports that contain substantive findings, recommendations, and narratives; and making basic information about natural resource extraction awards publicly and consistently available.
The report observed that 72 countries met minimum requirements and 69 did not. Of those 69, the FTR identified 27 countries that made significant progress towards meeting requirements.
It assesses that those did not meet the minimum fiscal transparency requirements and indicates whether those governments made significant progress toward meeting the requirements during the review period of January 1 – December 31, 2021.
The “minimum requirements of fiscal transparency” means the public disclosure of: national budget documentation (to include income and expenditures by ministry) and the government contracts and licenses for natural resource extraction (to include bidding and concession allocation practices).
