Background:

The government is committed to address PFM bottlenecks by strengthening financial management institutions and systems. In 2018, the government approved a PFM Action Plan (2018-23), which lays out the PFM priorities. SPFMS is currently helping the government implementing eight of the 14 components in the Action Plan. SPFMS uses the World Bank’s Program for Results financing instrument developed with ten disbursement-linked indicators (DLIs). The government uses its own rules and procedures of the PFM process and systems throughout implementation. This ensures that work processes are suitable for Bangladesh’s context. Additionally, SPFMS allows the necessary flexibility for the government to course-correct as needed to achieve reform targets.

In this connection, the Bangladesh Public Financial Management (PFM) Reform Strategy (2016-21), approved by the Minister of Finance in August 2016, clearly sets out the key goals of the PFM reforms and identifies the priority reform actions. The Strategy was developed by a cross-institutional team from the Ministry of Finance, the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General, the Planning Commission, and the National Board of Revenue, among others. A PFM Action Plan (2018-2023) and Revised PFM Action Plan (2024-2028) has been subsequently approved, to support effective implementation of the Strategy. This PFM Action Plan provides the implementation roadmap for those priority actions with clear institutional responsibilities, cost-benefit analysis of sub-activities, and results indicators to monitor the successful implementation. The PFM Action Plan also elaborates on the governance structure for reforms and the change management approach introduced earlier in the Strategy. Following figure shows the PFM reform journey in brief-

A PFM Action Plan (2018-23) and revised PFM Action Plan (2024-2028) was approved, to support effective implementation of the PFM Reform Strategy (2016-21). The Action Plan fulfills the need for an operational document, and as such, it is consistent and should be read with the Strategy to get a complete understanding of the PFM reforms in Bangladesh. This PFM Action Plan provides:

• The implementation roadmap for those priority actions with clear institutional responsibilities;
• Cost-benefit analysis of sub-activities; and
• Results indicators to monitor the successful implementation;
• Elaboration on the governance structure for reforms and the change management approach.