Bangladesh to receive $250m from World Bank

The fund will be used to boost transparency and efficiency in Bangladesh’s public sector

The World Bank (WB) has approved $250 million in financing to support Bangladesh in enhancing transparency, accountability, and efficiency across key government institutions.

The funding, under the “Strengthening Institutions for Transparency and Accountability (SITA) Project,” will support ongoing government reform efforts to modernise public sector functions that are essential for improving data transparency, domestic revenue mobilisation, public investment management, public procurement, and financial oversight, the multilateral lender said in a press release today.

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The project will focus on strengthening governance structures and operational capacities in five major government agencies: the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, the National Board of Revenue, the Planning Division, the Bangladesh Public Procurement Authority, and the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General.

“This investment will leverage digitisation to improve transparency and reduce corruption, helping Bangladesh modernise public institutions suited for an emerging economy,” said WB interim country director for Bangladesh, Gayle Martin.
“It will also improve public service delivery and enhance trust in government institutions.”

The project aims to streamline operations, improve access to reliable statistics, modernise tax administration, and raise tax compliance to enhance domestic revenue generation and fiscal sustainability.

The WB stated that, along with the government of Bangladesh, it is preparing a separate development policy credit to be discussed later this month, which will support reforms in revenue mobilisation, banking, data dissemination, investment management, auditing, and social programme delivery.

The SITA Project is expected to complement these efforts by building the institutional capacity needed to implement them.

“The project takes a holistic approach across five critical institutions to improve government effectiveness—an essential element for sustainable economic growth,” said WB lead country economist and task team leader for the project, Souleymane Coulibaly.

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