Farida Begum

Ministry of Finance, Bangladesh

The Ministry of Finance is responsible for over-seeing the function of the financial institutions of the country and also plans, implement and control public expenditure policies and programs of the Government. Both fiscal and monetary policies fall under its jurisdiction. A number of measures have been undertaken by the Government during the nineties to strengthen the banking system. These include improvement of legal and regulatory framework, passage of the Bankruptcy Act, 1997 and the Loan Court Amendment Act by Parliament, enforcement of loan classification guide-lines, recapitalisation of nationalized commercial banks and the formation of Banking Reform Committee. The Government is keen to correct and remedy past failures and imperfections in the financial markets. The reforms of the financial sector and trade liberalization are being complemented by an appropriate foreign exchange measures. An active exchange rate policy to maintain the competitiveness of the economy is also being followed. The local currency Taka has been made convertible in all current account transactions. Laws have been amended to boost private and foreign investment in the financial sector. A number of stock Exchanges, foreign banks and financial institutions are already active and also fully operational in the country.