DHAKA, July 29 (BSS) - The World Bank (WB) said today that
strong, transparent and accountable public financial institutions
have become indispensable for Bangladesh to promote better public
service and improve the livelihood of people.

The government, with support from the donors, is implementing
a project styled "Strengthening Public Expenditure Management
Programme (SPEMP)" aimed at strengthening and modernizing core
institutions of budgeting and financial management in the
country.

The SPEMP is a comprehensive umbrella programme to support
various aspects of public financial management (PFM) reforms,
said a WB release today.

It addresses both the supply and demand side technical
reforms and social accountability reforms. The SPEMP is financed
by a multidonor trust fund administered by the WB and aims to
develop and implement three individual projects for key priority
areas.

These include budget preparation and execution within the
government, external auditing through Comptroller and Auditor
General (C&AG), and legislative and public oversight.

The SPEMP is a comprehensive five-year programme with
contributions mainly by European Union (EU), UKaid from UK
Department for International Development (DFID), Danish
International Development Agency (DANIDA), and potentially
Netherlands - Minister of Foreign Affairs and Canadian
International Development Agency (CIDA).