Overview:
The Institute of Public Finance Bangladesh (IPF) offers FEEM as one of its signature training courses for developing a common understanding of key macro-fiscal, revenue, and public financial management principles in a critical mass of government officials across all ministries and agencies. This training programme is typically completed in ten weeks of full-time, non-residential ambience. Thrice or fourth a year, IPF hots FEEM, with a typical batch size of 25 participants ranking from Assistant Secretary or equivalent officers to Deputy Secretary or equivalent officers across the government.
Started off its journey back in 2004 under the FMRP programme of the Finance Division, the first major review of the course underwent in 2008 with the help of the staff from Birmingham University, UK. It was looked at again, in lesser depth, in 2013 by the local PFM experts and in 2019, an extensive reevaluation was done by the staff of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) at the behest of the former Finance Secretary Mr Abdur Rouf Talukder.
The fiscal policy and PFM processes in Bangladesh are substantially impacted by the FEEM course. Out of its nine modules, the first eight modules are directly related to fiscal policy, macroeconomics and public financial management while module 9 addresses topics related to contemporary issues for development.
Objectives
Since the key aim is to develop a common understanding of key macro-fiscal, revenue, and public financial management principles in a critical mass of government officials, as discussed in the beginning, the specific objectives are:
-
To provide participants with a detailed understanding of the economy and its interlinkages as well as statistical and analytical techniques to be used in analysing the economic and financial indicators;
-
To provide an outline of the fiscal accounts and identities and revenue sources in terms of policy and welfare measures;
-
To explain fiscal discipline, allocative efficiency and operational efficiency of budgeting;
-
To explore methods of enhancing the effectiveness of Government Policy decisions through budget auditing, monitoring and control; and
-
To orient the participants with overall developmental issues both national and global.
Resource Pool
The pool of instructors consists of a cohort of Finance Division officials and national think tanks who not only possess practical experience in the related field but also have academic excellence from world-reputed universities. They frequently deliver a synthesis of academic expertise and practical experience.
Internationalization of the FEEM Course
IPF has a partnership deal with the IMF South Asia Regional Training and Technical Assistance (SARTTAC), local in New Delhi, India which offers a one-week course on Strengthening Public Financial Management Framework as a part of the FEEM course. This course introduces participants to the best practices in public financial management (PFM) in the areas of medium-term budget frameworks and forecasting techniques, strategic budgeting, fiscal reporting, public investment management, and financial risk management. The rich course content, high-quality resource persons, state-of-the-art pedagogy, the ambience of the New Delhi Aero City and the dynamic learning facilities in the IMF-SARTTAC provide participants with a vibrant and rewarding experience. IPF also provides the opportunity for the toppers of the FEEM course to avail foreign masters in Economics and PFM-related issues in the world’s high-ranking universities.
Emphasis on the language competencies
The programme includes one additional separate module (English Language) to assist participants in enhancing their overall competencies. At the conclusion of the course, participants are required to take the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) exam organized by IPF.
Success Figures
Since the inception of the FEEM course in 2004, a total of 673 civil servants have graduated in 28 batches and out of them, 121 civil servants have completed their Masters in the area of public finance and economics-related courses from reputed Universities in the UK and Japan. Most of the senior civil servants who are serving in PFM areas in Bangladesh such as the Secretary, Bangladesh Bank Governor, and so on are FEEM alumni.