World Bank renews support for Bangladesh reforms

Dhaka, Feb 11 (V7N) –World Bank Vice President Martin Raiser on Tuesday reiterated the World Bank's pledge to support the reform agenda of Bangladesh's interim government.
Raiser called on Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus at the State Guest House Jamuna, where the two discussed issues of mutual interest, including the World Bank's financing of the country's major transparency, governance, and digitalization reforms, including tax administration.

"The World Bank is supporting Bangladesh with a range of urgent reforms to improve transparency and governance, including in tax policy and administration, public procurement, and statistics," the World Bank vice president said.

Raiser said reforms are very important for Bangladesh's democratic transition, future governments and inclusive growth.

"These reforms will help lay the foundation for future inclusive growth by strengthening people’s and business's confidence in the integrity of Bangladesh’s institutions," said Raiser.

Raiser called for the separation of tax administration and tax policy to improve transparency and governance in the revenue system. “Parliament should be the sole authority to decide on tax exemptions.”

The chief adviser explained his recent creation of a consensus commission to facilitate dialogue with the political parties over the reforms recommended by six major commissions.

"Once the political parties have reached consensus over the reforms, they will sign a July charter, which will be implemented by the interim government and later by a political government," the chief adviser said.

Raiser also stressed the improvement of public procurement and the importance of the independence of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics to improve the quality of data, which is essential for sound policymaking.

The meeting also discussed the importance of a strong digitization agenda, including details of the National Identification (NID), with Raiser saying the World Bank can help Dhaka connect with countries that have robust digital identification infrastructure.