WB sees most milestones on track in its funded projects
Monday, 14 March 2011
FE Report
The government's project executing agencies have passed a key test Sunday after the World Bank said it is happy with the progress they made in implementing billions of dollars of development projects aided by the Bank. In the first ever review of World Bank funded projects, the Washington-based lender said it found "good progress towards results" in development schemes in which it committed around US$6.2 billion until 2014. "This year's review of progress toward results found that most milestones were on track. However, lack of progress data hampered a full assessment nearly half the time," the bank said in a joint review with the government. "This reviews shows that government and the development partners need to strengthen systems and capacity to monitor progress toward results to ensure that our joint actions are leading to desired outcomes," Country Director of WB Ellen Goldstein said. The pass-mark comes a sigh of relief for the country's project implementing agencies such as government departments and divisions as they feared that a poor result could prompt the bank to cut its committed loan. Finance Minister AMA Muhith was the guest of honour during the day-long review. Labour minister Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, economic adviser to the prime minister Mashiur Rahman were also present. Muhith admitted the planning commission lacked the data as to how much impact these development projects have made. He asked the commission to prepare report cards of each project three months before the fiscal year-end. "The Planning Commission should come up as the forecaster of the country's economy with performance results," he told the Joint Country Performance and Results Review for Bangladesh of the World Bank Country Assistance Strategy 2011-14 at Sher-e- Bangla Nagar in the capital. International affairs adviser to the PM Gowher Rizwi chaired the final session. Economic Relations Division secretary Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan moderated the sessions. Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman made concluding remarks. The finance minister said the monitoring and evaluation system should be strengthened at the upazila (sub-district) level for proper and desired implementation of the projects. "Monetary evaluation should be given the highest priority by all agencies of the government. I think monitoring and evaluation should be done in the districts and more in the upazilas," he said. He added: "Last year, the WB conducted consultations throughout the country to hear from Bangladeshis about our challenges and priorities, and then launched the Country Assistance Strategy to the general public." "One year on, they are carrying through with increased transparency and accountability in delivering development results in Bangladesh," he said, urging the agencies to live up to the World Bank standards. Dr Atiur Rahman stressed the need for capacity building of the project officials in order to implement the schemes properly and in time. "With the support of the development partners, the country's GDP growth is forecast about 7.0 per cent this year with 12 per cent increase of industrial growth and 40 per cent of export growth," he said. World Bank Dhaka office chief Goldstein said the lender will provide additional resources for data development and strengthening monitoring and evaluation systems at the project, sector and country level. Labour, employment, overseas employment and expatriate welfare minister Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain said Bangladesh has made significant progress in sanitation and ensuring pure drinking water supply.
The government's project executing agencies have passed a key test Sunday after the World Bank said it is happy with the progress they made in implementing billions of dollars of development projects aided by the Bank. In the first ever review of World Bank funded projects, the Washington-based lender said it found "good progress towards results" in development schemes in which it committed around US$6.2 billion until 2014. "This year's review of progress toward results found that most milestones were on track. However, lack of progress data hampered a full assessment nearly half the time," the bank said in a joint review with the government. "This reviews shows that government and the development partners need to strengthen systems and capacity to monitor progress toward results to ensure that our joint actions are leading to desired outcomes," Country Director of WB Ellen Goldstein said. The pass-mark comes a sigh of relief for the country's project implementing agencies such as government departments and divisions as they feared that a poor result could prompt the bank to cut its committed loan. Finance Minister AMA Muhith was the guest of honour during the day-long review. Labour minister Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, economic adviser to the prime minister Mashiur Rahman were also present. Muhith admitted the planning commission lacked the data as to how much impact these development projects have made. He asked the commission to prepare report cards of each project three months before the fiscal year-end. "The Planning Commission should come up as the forecaster of the country's economy with performance results," he told the Joint Country Performance and Results Review for Bangladesh of the World Bank Country Assistance Strategy 2011-14 at Sher-e- Bangla Nagar in the capital. International affairs adviser to the PM Gowher Rizwi chaired the final session. Economic Relations Division secretary Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan moderated the sessions. Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman made concluding remarks. The finance minister said the monitoring and evaluation system should be strengthened at the upazila (sub-district) level for proper and desired implementation of the projects. "Monetary evaluation should be given the highest priority by all agencies of the government. I think monitoring and evaluation should be done in the districts and more in the upazilas," he said. He added: "Last year, the WB conducted consultations throughout the country to hear from Bangladeshis about our challenges and priorities, and then launched the Country Assistance Strategy to the general public." "One year on, they are carrying through with increased transparency and accountability in delivering development results in Bangladesh," he said, urging the agencies to live up to the World Bank standards. Dr Atiur Rahman stressed the need for capacity building of the project officials in order to implement the schemes properly and in time. "With the support of the development partners, the country's GDP growth is forecast about 7.0 per cent this year with 12 per cent increase of industrial growth and 40 per cent of export growth," he said. World Bank Dhaka office chief Goldstein said the lender will provide additional resources for data development and strengthening monitoring and evaluation systems at the project, sector and country level. Labour, employment, overseas employment and expatriate welfare minister Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain said Bangladesh has made significant progress in sanitation and ensuring pure drinking water supply.