Ancillaries receive most allocation in WB-funded BBS capacity upgrade project

Most money for a World Bank-funded development project for Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) has been allocated for operational expenses on ancillaries that range from toiletries to foreign trainings, raising questions about justification.

On the wish-list are toilet tissues, toilet cleaning detergents, staff ID cards, office decoration, vehicle maintenance and fuel, sources have said.

The allocations are part of the Tk 10.96-billion funds for Statistical Capacity Enhancement and Modernization Project (SCEPM), which aims to strengthen the country's statistical capacity and raise Bangladesh's Statistical Performance Indicator (SPI) score to 75 by 2030 from 70.8 in 2023.

The project seeks to build a modern and integrated national statistical system capable of producing reliable, timely, and quality data to support evidence-based policymaking-which are all reported wanting over time.

However, the inclusion of non-core-expenditure items faces critical appreciation of the appropriateness of using development funds for routine operational costs. Officials familiar with the project have said such items are typically covered by the agency's regular operational budget, not development-project funds.

According to project documents, a sum of Tk 7.86 billion, representing nearly 71.7 per cent of the project's total cost, has been allocated for revenue expenditure, reflecting a heavy focus on operational and recurrent components rather than physical or capital investments.

Of the total, Tk 106.98 million has been proposed for foreign training programmes for 222 government officials, while another Tk 378.08 million will be spent on local training aimed at enhancing staff skills and institutional efficiency.

The BBS plans to spend Tk 3.6 million on sanitary items such as soap, handwash, glass cleaner, and toilet tissues, Tk 160 million for office decor and furniture repair, Tk 275 million for 8,100 tablet devices, and additional sums for honoraria, consultancy, training, travel, and fuel.

The project also plans to spend Tk 1.19 billion on consultancy services - equivalent to about 10.9 per cent of the total cost - to support technical assistance, research, and project implementation.

Additionally, Tk 4.25 billion has been earmarked for conducting four major surveys, including the establishment of a comprehensive National Population Register (NPR), which aims to improve the integration and accuracy of demographic data across government systems.

Sources say the project's expenditure structure was questioned during the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) meeting held on June 24. The committee approved the project but attached a condition for re-evaluating the ICT components prior to the start of implementation.

Following ECNEC's instructions, BBS submitted a revised project proposal on September 28. However, the Planning Commission returned it again, saying that the revision failed to fully comply with ECNEC's directives.

Contacted over the conundrum, Planning Adviser of the interim government Dr Wahiduddin Mahmud said the project was approved because it is important for strengthening the national statistical system, but the government would not endorse any unjustified expenditures.

"Some components required re-evaluation. As the revision was incomplete, the proposal has been sent back for further correction," he told The Financial Express.

Dr Zahid Hussain, former lead economist at the World Bank's Dhaka office, says while items such as sanitary supplies, ID cards, and other routine equipment are essential for any government office, such expenditures should be met from the regular revenue budget, not from development project funds.

He notes that the taskforce led by Dr Hossain Zillur Rahman had earlier observed that the BBS's excessive reliance on projects had weakened its institutional focus and compromised data quality.

"Unfortunately, the new project does not appear to align with the taskforce's recommendations," he told the FE writer.

Dr Hussain points out that the BBS had previously developed the National Household Database (NHD) which is currently not operational. Similarly, government's single-registry initiatives for social-safety-net programmes also failed due to overlapping responsibilities and coordination issues among multiple agencies.

"The proposed National Population Register (NPR) is unlikely to succeed unless the institutional and operational complexities identified in past initiatives are properly addressed first," he warns.

Efforts to reach Aleya Akter, secretary of the Statistics and Informatics Division, for comments over the past three weeks were unsuccessful. Although she once gave an appointment, she later declined to meet, citing her illness.

Mohammed Mizanur Rahman, Director-General of the BBS, says allocation for revenue items included in the project as the operation budget of the BBS is far below the requirement.

However, he also says that the items such toilet tissue, toilet cleaner, hand-wash along with furniture of the officials play a major rule in the way of capacity enhancement.

Towfiqul Islam Khan, Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), says capacity-strengthening initiatives should focus on enhancing analytical ability and data accessibility, not on operational or decorative expenses.

"The new project should have been aligned with recommendations of the BBS-reform taskforce, which had urged the agency to reduce project dependence for core surveys - a suggestion yet to be implemented," he told the FE writer.

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