Call for ensuring young leadership's participation in govt financial planning implementation

Young leadership has urged the government to stop the use of public funds in mega projects under the guise of development and to free the country from the burden of foreign loans.

They emphasized the need to involve the general public, especially young leaders, in the formulation of people-centric financial planning as part of the government's financial planning and implementation, reads a press release.

This was expressed during a discussion on "Thoughts of Young Leadership" held as part of the development of the Public Financial Management Reform Strategy 2025-2030.

Strengthening Public Financial Management Program to Enable Service Delivery (SPFMS), Finance Division, Ministry of Finance organized the workshop supported by the World Bank, held this morning at the Intercontinental Hotel, Dhaka, with participation from around 60 young leaders.

The meeting, chaired by Dr. Mohammad Khairuzzaman Mojumder, Secretary, Finance Division, with special guests including Mohammad Saiful Islam, Secretary of the Energy and Mineral Resources Division, and Md. Rezaul Makhsud Jahedi, Secretary of the Ministry of Youth and Sports. Suraiya Jannat, Lead Governance Specialist and Task Team Leader at the World Bank in Dhaka, presented on the topic "Future Government: From Government of the Past to the Government of the Future." Sami Mohammad, a student of the Department of Economics, Dhaka University, highlighted the "Thoughts of Young Leaders" on government financial management reform during the event, which was conducted by Bilquis Jahan Rimi, Additional Secretary (Budget-1) and National Program Director of SPFMS.

The young speakers called for the inclusion of "pre-budget discussions" in the strategic documents for sustainable and people-friendly financial reforms. They advised significant reforms in the conventional methods of tax collection and suggested, if necessary, to avoid the traditional year-end tax collection methods in favor of daily or weekly collection.

In his remarks, Dr. Khairuzzaman Mojumder stated that the Government Financial Management Reform Strategy 2025-2030 would be formulated in light of the hopes and aspirations of the younger generation.

In his speech, Mohammad Saiful Islam emphasized that if financial reforms consider what the new generation wants and how they envision building the country, it would be possible to address various existing challenges in the financial sector.

Youth and Sports Secretary Md. Rezaul Makhsud Jahedi announced that the Ministry of Youth and Sports is taking the initiative to launch a skills development training project to support the families of the martyrs and injured from the July movement.

The Finance Division has initiated the development of the Third Government Financial Management Reform Strategy 2025-2030 with support from the World Bank. Global Affairs Canada and the European Union are providing financial assistance for this program. Previously, the government formulated and implemented two financial management reform strategies for the periods 2007-2012 and 2016-2021.

The participation of stakeholders in the PFM reform strategy is a crucial initiative that plays an important role in making financial management sustainable, transparent, accountable, and effective. A strong PFM system's foundation lies in enhancing asset management efficiency and delivering quality services. Additionally, it involves introducing medium-term budgeting and macroeconomic forecasting, along with the digitization of public financial management through e-systems like IBAS++ (Integrated Budget and Accounting System), automation of national savings schemes, modernization of pensions, and reforms in the management of state-owned enterprises.