US recommends 8 points for transparency in Bangladesh’s financial sector

The US State Department has made eight recommendations to improve transparency in Bangladesh’s financial sector, according to its newly released Fiscal Transparency Report.

The report said the interim government is essentially following the budget structure prepared by the previous administration, which remains unchanged. However, it noted that the government has undertaken some important reform measures to increase financial transparency.

The recommendations are:

Publish end-of-year financial reports within a reasonable timeframe.

Prepare budget documents in line with international standards.

Present executive office expenditures separately.

Disclose complete information on government revenue and expenditure in the budget.

Ensure independence of the supreme audit authority as per international standards, and provide it with full access to budget data.

Publish audit reports in time, including recommendations and detailed information.

Disclose key information on natural resource extraction contracts.

Publish data on government procurement.

The report noted that the previous government made executive budget proposals and enacted budgets available online to the public, but did not publish end-of-year financial reports within a reasonable time. While budget information was generally reliable, it did not meet international standards.

It added that although the budget disclosed government debt, planned expenditure, revenue income and earnings from natural resources, the data was incomplete in several respects — notably, executive branch expenditures were not presented separately. Allocations and income of state-owned enterprises were disclosed, but comprehensive details on revenue and expenditure were missing.

The State Department observed that the government’s audit body, under the interim administration, was unable to conduct a full review of accounts. Only summaries were published, and the department considered the institution not fully independent by international standards.

While legal standards were followed in awarding contracts and licences in the natural resource sector, only limited data was made available on government procurement. The interim government conducted all resource extraction processes openly and transparently, and suspended all ongoing and previous direct procurement methods taken by the former administration.