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4 ministries get outlay for next 3 years

New framework introduced

REJAUL KARIM BYRON
Under a new budgetary framework, the finance ministry has allocated budgets for the next three fiscal years to four ministries -- education, agriculture, social welfare and women affairs.
The government plans to similarly allocate three years' budget to 15 more ministries from fiscal 2006- 2007 and the remaining 29 ministries and divisions from fiscal 200708, according to a finance ministry decision announced Saturday at an inter-ministerial meeting.
The first four ministries were given Tk 29,471 crore for the next three fiscal years.
This new concept, advised by the World Bank (WB), is believed to streamline expenditure, reduce waste and help the ministries implement their schemes smoothly through advance planning.
According to the WB, the traditional budget formulation process remains an annual routine lacking a strategic medium-term framework. In this process, sector policies are tailored according to resource allocation. More importantly, any effort to establish a linkage is undermined by separate budget preparation process for investments (development budget) and recurrent expenditures (revenue budget).
The present budgetary system is flawed in two aspects. The finance division in September seeks list of expenditure demand for revenue budget from different ministries through a call notice. For development budget, the planning ministry issues another call notice in January to obtain lists of development projects from different ministries.
"This whole exercise delays the process and when projects are taken, it is never contemplated what will be done with the project staff. This has been a perennial problem," noted a finance ministry official.
Besides, the government is gradually reducing the size and activities of the planning ministry. Some work of the planning ministry will be taken over by the finance ministry and some by the line ministries themselves, sources said.
"The four ministries have been taken as a test case. We will plan for the other ministries based on the experience," a finance ministry source said.
On Saturday, a meeting of the finance, education, agriculture and social welfare and women affairs ministries was held at the planning ministry on the new framework.
It was announced at the meeting that the upcoming budget will have a unified budget for these four ministries.
The education ministry received Tk 17,871 crore for fiscal 2005-06, 06-07 and 07-08. For the next fiscal, it will get Tk 5,361 crore.
The agriculture ministry similarly got Tk 7,500 crore for the next three years, Tk 2,235 crore for the next fiscal year.
The social welfare ministry got Tk 1,959 crore for three years, Tk 588 crore for the next fiscal year.
The women affairs ministry got Tk 2,141 crore with Tk 642 crore for the next fiscal year.
These four ministries will now form their own budget committees to decide how the funds will be utilised.
They will have to periodically inform the finance ministry and the programme division of the planning ministry about funds utilisation.
At the Saturday meeting, the planning ministry officials expressed their frustration about the decision, observing that the new framework will gradually make the planning ministry redundant.