Bangladesh sees maiden exchequer surplus worth Tk 2,703cr

The government of Bangladesh, posted a maiden cash surplus of Tk 2,703.09 crore in its 50 years of balance sheet in the fiscal year of 2020-21 ending June 30, amid the barrage of the deadly Covid-19 pandemic.

A report of the central Bangladesh Bank unveiled Tuesday that the public exchequer did generate that surplus fund. In the same period of the earlier fiscal year the country had posted a huge cash deficit worth Tk 4,486.36 crore, officials said.

A high official of the Finance Division attributed such maiden fund overabundance to what he said, ‘efficient financial management’ by the government. He said the introduction of the electronic fund transfer (EFT) system and larger budgetary support by the World Bank, ADB and AIIB also contributed to such competent economic management.

Besides, pouring of idle funds of the 16 autonomous bodies into the public exchequer under Integrated Budget and Accounting System have also played a major role to generate this surplus balance, officials said.

They said thanks to the new accounting system, the government will also be able to trim its interest payment outlay which is around Tk 68,589 crore now.

Finance adviser to a former caretaker government, Dr AB Mirza Azizul Islam, however, said the government has failed to use budget support funds coming from global lenders, like, WB, ADB and AIIB for controlling the Covid-19 pandemic that has worsened by the second deadly wave caused by Delta Variant of the coronavirus.

The government accounts on June 30 reported a surplus cash balance worth Tk 2703.09 crore of which Tk 2120.25 crore came as a budget support loan from international sources and while sales of treasury bills and other bonds summed Tk 1,500 crore, officials said. A total of Tk 917 crore was spent at the final moments of the just concluded fiscal year to meet some expenses.

Out of the 16 autonomous bodies, Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board, National Housing Authority, DESA, DESCO, Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation, Bangladesh Road Transport Authority, Bangladesh Rural Development Board and Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation comprised the lion’s share of the surplus fund.

Meanwhile, the government had mobilised Tk 17,000 crore in budget support from various development partners in fiscal 2020-21 to meet its additional finance needs owing to the coronavirus pandemic.

Mirza Azizul said Bangladesh, like many others across the globe, struggled with the deadly Covid-19 infections. He said people’s livelihoods across all socioeconomic backgrounds as well as different development projects in the country had adversely been affected because of the lockdown.

Mirza Azizul said: “If you examine the latest implementation data of the finance, planning and other line ministries, you will notice that they have miserably failed to implement their development projects.”