16 more ministries to be brought under MTBF
Friday, 5 February 2010
Fazlur Rahman
The government will bring 16 more ministries and divisions under the mid-term budgetary framework (MTBF) over the next two years to achieve greater realism in their budget planning and strengthen their resources management, officials said.
Currently, 32 ministries and divisions are included in the MTBF under the World Bank-supported technical assistance programme. They together account for almost 69 per cent of the total spending on government programmes and projects.
Officials said the government wants to add the rest of the ministries and divisions to the list as projects implemented by them sometimes overlap.
"So the Ministry of Finance will bring the rest of the line ministries or divisions under the framework to avoid overlapping and strengthen their budget management," a finance ministry official told the FE Wednesday.
In 2005, the finance ministry adopted the MTBF against the backdrop of large budget deficits contributing to macroeconomic instability. The budget planning used to be incremental and short-term with little attention given to the effectiveness and efficiency of public spending programmes.
Initially, four ministries -- education, social welfare, women and children's affairs and agriculture -- planned their budgets under the MTBF procedures.
Later, ministries of primary and mass education, health and family welfare, fisheries and livestock, water resources, communications and local government division were brought under the unit in fiscal 2006-07.
In 2007-08, ministries of science and ICT, environment and forest, food and disaster management and rural development and cooperative division were added to the list.
Ministries of shipping and land were included in the last fiscal year, while housing and public works and energy and mineral resource division, power division and bridge division have been added in the current fiscal year 2009-10 to improve their performance.
The MTBF in Bangladesh covers a three-year period - the budget year and the following two years.
The government will bring 16 more ministries and divisions under the mid-term budgetary framework (MTBF) over the next two years to achieve greater realism in their budget planning and strengthen their resources management, officials said.
Currently, 32 ministries and divisions are included in the MTBF under the World Bank-supported technical assistance programme. They together account for almost 69 per cent of the total spending on government programmes and projects.
Officials said the government wants to add the rest of the ministries and divisions to the list as projects implemented by them sometimes overlap.
"So the Ministry of Finance will bring the rest of the line ministries or divisions under the framework to avoid overlapping and strengthen their budget management," a finance ministry official told the FE Wednesday.
In 2005, the finance ministry adopted the MTBF against the backdrop of large budget deficits contributing to macroeconomic instability. The budget planning used to be incremental and short-term with little attention given to the effectiveness and efficiency of public spending programmes.
Initially, four ministries -- education, social welfare, women and children's affairs and agriculture -- planned their budgets under the MTBF procedures.
Later, ministries of primary and mass education, health and family welfare, fisheries and livestock, water resources, communications and local government division were brought under the unit in fiscal 2006-07.
In 2007-08, ministries of science and ICT, environment and forest, food and disaster management and rural development and cooperative division were added to the list.
Ministries of shipping and land were included in the last fiscal year, while housing and public works and energy and mineral resource division, power division and bridge division have been added in the current fiscal year 2009-10 to improve their performance.
The MTBF in Bangladesh covers a three-year period - the budget year and the following two years.