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Debt management unit on cards

Bid to bring transparency in govt expenditure, lending

REJAUL KARIM BYRON
The government is going to form a debt management unit (DMU) in the Finance Division to ensure discipline and transparency in government expenditure and lending.
The government also decided under the Financial Management Reform Programme (FMRP) to collect monthly accounts on expenditures incurred by all ministries and district offices. These accounts are to be submitted to the FMRP office.
The government annually spends around Tk 40,000 crore.
The ministries of education,
agriculture, women and children affairs and social welfare have already started sending their monthly accounts to the FMRD office. Each of these four ministries also has opened a financial management unit (FMU) to comply with a set of FMRP instructions on how to compile the accounts on a monthly basis. The FMUs will also be opened in other ministries soon.
"Typically, when we start working on the budget, we don't instantly get accounts on government spending," said a FMRP source. "This new system will keep us ready all the time and facilitate us tremendously in making the budget in June."
In addition to expenditures under revenue and development budget, the government spends and earns a significant amount through its district offices. But there are wide discrepancies in these accounts too.
Therefore, the office of the Comptroller General of Accounts (CGA) is now working on framing a set of accounting instructions for the district offices.
The offices of deputy commissioners (DCs) across the country will be linked through computer network and share accounting information online on a daily basis.
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But sources said the DC offices were not adequately cooperating with the CGA office, saying this kind of accounting did not go with the terms of references under which they operated. The issue was raised at the finance ministry that is now working on how to resolve the differences.
The government presently has an internal debt of over Tk 50,000 crore, which compels it to spend 20 percent of its revenue budget just to pay the interest.
The government collects loans through banks and savings instruments and its bank borrowing is handled by the central bank. This procedure sometimes creates mismatch with and confusion about the government's intention and results in putting excessive burden of interest on it.
To avoid such pitfalls, from this fiscal year, the Finance Department will directly deal with the bank borrowing through the DMU.
The FMRP, which has five com-
ponents, aims at improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the allocation of resources through an accountable and transparent institutional management.
The first FMRP component is to deal with strengthening auditing practices and information of improved parliamentary scrutiny of public financial management.
The second component is to develop a regulatory framework for financial and performance management.
The third one is to increase resource allocation and utilisation and financial, resource and performance management capacity in line ministries.
The fourth and the fifth components are to help the government enhance financial management capacity and build the capacity of a financial management academy.
The Department for International Development (DFID), UK and Royal Netherlands Embassy (RNE) are financially supporting the FMRP.