Aug 13 (V7N) — Finance and Planning Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury Wednesday said Bangladesh needs to move beyond traditional public financing and explore alternative sources of finance to bridge the huge funding gap required to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
"We are saying that we want to move somewhat beyond traditional public financing. There are limitations within the traditional public finance system," he said.
The finance minister was responding to a question from a journalist at a press meet held after the closing ceremony of the three-day national conference titled "Navigating Five Year Strategic Framework for Achieving SDGs: Policy, Partnership and Priorities" at Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Center (BCFCC) here in the capital.
The minister said the global public finance architecture is undergoing major changes and Bangladesh needs to adapt to this changing environment by exploring alternative financing mechanisms.
"We are talking about alternative financing because the global public finance architecture is changing. We need to move in that direction and explore alternative financing," he said.
Amir Khosru said Bangladesh has already started moving towards alternative financing, particularly through the capital market.
"Our capital market is already coming into the discussion and moving forward. Foreign fund managers are coming, and there are now many products, including bonds, through which we can partially bridge the financing gap using alternative financing," he said.
He also pointed to efforts to increase the country's tax-to-GDP ratio as another important avenue for mobilising domestic resources.
"We are also trying to increase our tax-to-GDP ratio. Hopefully, at the end of the day, we will be successful," he said.
While responding to a question on the estimated financing gap of around Taka 50 lakh crore for achieving the SDGs, the minister said the government is pursuing a broader stakeholder consultation process to identify and incorporate recommendations that may fall outside the existing programme framework.
"We have noted the issues raised by different discussants. If there are issues beyond our existing programme, we will incorporate them. This is part of the stakeholder consultation process," he said.
Khosru said the consultation process would continue as the government is working with all stakeholders through discussion and engagement.
The finance minister also stressed the need for a comprehensive shift in the financing approach in line with changes taking place globally.
"We have to look at how the global public finance architecture is changing and move towards alternative financing mechanisms," he added.
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