The Government of Bangladesh, under the current Public Financial Management (PFM) Reform Strategy (2016-21), adopted a PFM Action Plan (2018-23) to support the effective implementation of the strategy. The Action Plan sets out the key goals and objectives and priorities of reform actions. In this regard, the EU-funded Technical Assistance (TA) “Supporting the implementation of the PFM Reform Strategic Plan in Bangladesh” started in September 2020.
One of the TA Workplan’s activities was establishing a “Budget Helpdesk” for the Members of the Parliament (MPs) with the assistance from the Budget Analysis and Monitoring Unit (BAMU) of the Bangladesh Parliament Secretariat inside the Parliament premise. The institutional and research support was provided by CPD. Dr Khondaker Golam Moazzem, NKE, TA and Research Director, Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) is in overall charge of their programme. The main objective of the ‘Budget Helpdesk 2022’ was to assist the MPs during the budget session regarding any sort of queries that they might have on the budget and to prepare and publish budget briefs or ministry-wise summary booklets concerning their budgets. A series of topic-wise debriefing sessions was arranged for the MPs where experts on relevant areas made their interventions on the budgetary process of Bangladesh. The ‘Budget Helpdesk’ helped in the overall engagement of MPs in the government budgetary process. During the budget session, relevant experts were tagged with the Bangladesh Parliament Secretariat (BPS) members to cater to respective queries and analyses.
Activities
Orientation session
A day-long orientation session was arranged for the BPS officials and the research assistants involved in the Budget Helpdesk activities. The orientation was arranged before the activities of the Budget Helpdesk were initiated. The main aim of this orientation session was to equip the research assistants and secretariat officials with improved analytical knowledge of the budgetary process. The four-session long orientation session was arranged on 26 May 2022, at the training room of the Bangladesh National Parliament. A total of 22 participants attended the orientation from both inside the Parliament and outside. The session was also inaugurated by the Secretary of the Bangladesh Parliament Secretariat, Mr K. M. Abdus Salam. Besides, additional secretary (F&PR), Mr Swapan Kumar Baral and other high officials of the Secretariat attended the session. The session was conducted by the technical co-ordinator of the Budget Helpdesk and assisted by a researcher. The topics for the sessions included “Macroeconomic Policies in Bangladesh: An overview, National Budget of Bangladesh Basic Concepts, Sources of Budget data and Analysis of Budget data (hands-on exercise)”. The sessions were undertaken by Dr Khondaker Golam Moazzem, Research Director, CPD; Mr Muntaseer Kamal, Research Fellow, CPD; Mr Abu Saleh Md. Shamim, Research Associate, CPD and Ms Ratia Rehnuma, Research Associate, CPD.
Inaugural Session
Targeting the budget sessions for the fiscal year 2022-23, the helpdesk was inaugurated on 5 June 2022. The help desk was inaugurated by the Honorable Speaker of the Bangladesh National Parliament, Dr. Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, MP. The inauguration session was attended by the Chief Whip of the Bangladesh Parliament, Mr Noor-E-Alam Chowdhury, MP; the Secretary of the Bangladesh Parliament Secretariat, Mr K. M. Abdus Salam; the Head of Cooperation of the European Union Delegation to Bangladesh, Mr Maurizio CIAN; Dr Khondaker Golam Moazzem of CPD; and several Members of Parliament and representatives from the European Union Delegation.
Information Support through Budget Helpdesk
The Budget Helpdesk has provided information support for the MPs. Relevant officials including research assistants and other officials were present before, after and during the budget session to assist and answer the queries of the MPs. The Budget Helpdesk had four desks. One of the desks was arranged for the external research assistants; in this case the research assistants were from the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD); one desk was arranged for the research assistants from the Bangladesh Parliament library, one desk for the officials from NBR and another desk for the BAMU officials.
The activities of the Budget Helpdesk continued from the first day of the budget session till the end of it i.e., 5 June 22 to 30 June 22.
Debriefing sessions
One of the broader goals for the Budget Helpdesk activity was to support the MPs in providing subject wise information on the implementation of the budget process. In this regard, eight debriefing sessions were arranged on 29 May, 20 June, 26 June and 28 June 2022 respectively. The debriefings were arranged in 4 days with 2 sessions per day. Hon’able Speaker of the National Parliament, Dr. Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, MP attended every debriefing session and shared her valuable thoughts on different issues.
Debriefing sessions 1 & 2 (29 May 2022)
Two debriefing sessions were conducted on 29 May 2022. The Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) of Bangladesh Mr Muslim Chowdhury lectured at the first session. The main focus of his lecture was the “Public Financial Management of Bangladesh”. Dr Fahmida Khatun, Executive Director, CPD, took the second session for the day. She provided her lecture on the “Macroeconomic Policies of Bangladesh”. The main objective of this discussion was to highlight the salient features of major macroeconomic policy documents of Bangladesh, with a particular focus on the fiscal and monetary management sides of these documents. A total of 25 MPs participated in both sessions.
Debriefing Sessions 3 & 4 (20 June 2022)
The two sessions for this debriefing were taken by Mr Md Abul Kalam Azad, Special Envoy of the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) and Ms Fatima Yasmin, Senior Secretary of the Ministry of Finance respectively. The topic for the first session was “Visionary Plan: Towards 2100 and Mega projects”. This presentation concentrated on Bangladesh’s current economic achievements, including the rapid improvements in terms of various indicators, Least Developed Country (LDC) graduation and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and impacts and challenges of the country’s mega projects. Ms Fatima Yasmin conducted the next session titled “Dynamics of Foreign Aid and Future Challenges” which focused on different aspects of foreign aid, and the current scenario of Bangladesh in the context of the ongoing economic crisis. Both sessions received very interactive participation from the Members of the Parliament. A total of 31 MPs were present on this day.
Debriefing Session 5 & 6 (27 June 2022)
As like the previous two debriefings, two sessions were arranged. The key resource persons for the sessions were Mr Zunaid Ahmed Palak, MP, Hon’ble State Minister, ICT Division, who gave a presentation on “Digital Bangladesh and its Impact on the National Economy”. This session was very interactive and received much attention from MPs. Mr A.H.M. Shafiquzzaman, Director General (Additional Secretary), Directorate of National Consumers’ Right Protection, was the second presenter for the day. Mr Shafiquzzaman covered “Import Trade, Consumers Right and National Budget 2022-23”. Trade and Consumer’s Rights in the context of the presented budget for the fiscal year 2022-23 was the main focus of the presentation. This debriefing session had the highest number of participations from the Members of the Parliament. A total of 52 MPs attended both the sessions.
Debriefing Sessions 7 & 8 (28 June 2022)
This was the last of the four-day sessions arranged for the Members of the Parliament. The first session of debriefing was taken by the Hon’ble State Minister for the Ministry of Planning, Dr Shamsul Alam. He provided his lecture on budget implementation and fiscal sustainability. Dr Alam explained all the important and salient features of the National Budget. He further covered areas of budget implementation and the role of the Members of the Parliament in the implementation process. Mr Md. Abdur Rahman Khan, Additional Secretary, Finance Division, Ministry of Finance made the second presentation. The topic for his lecture was the “Budget Management Process of the Country”. This was also highly appreciated by the Members of the Parliament. The last debriefing had 37 Members of Parliament present.
Publications
Under the Budget Helpdesk activity, nine budget briefs were prepared and published to disseminate the budget analysis and ministry-wise budget allocation among the MPs.
The “Budget Helpdesk 2022” was an endeavour to assist the Members of the Parliament with an improved knowledge of the country’s budgetary process to contribute to a better public financial management process in Bangladesh. This was designed with many sub-components, including the orientation session, the debriefings and the helpdesk itself. It is not a new activity for the Bangladesh National Parliament but every year it is expected to broaden its service area and cater to more MPs. This year’s helpdesk was set with the same goal. Under the guidance of the Honourable Speaker of the Bangladesh National Parliament, constant support from BAMU along with technical assistance from the European Union, the “Budget Helpdesk 2022” was successfully completed. It is expected to continue with better and more efficient service in the coming years.