DHAKA : Finance and Planning Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud
Chowdhury today 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.