The World Bank would review the country's financial sector performance, especially the issue of lack of good governance in the banking sector, in the current fiscal year.
"A WB mission will sit with the finance division officials on Sunday to look into the issues related to country's financial sector," said a senior official of the finance division said Thursday.
He said the global lender takes it as a routine job but the finance division is serious as it would review the financial sector, which was seriously affected by the big financial scams related to business enterprises like Hall-Mark Group, Bismillah group and the loan forgery in Basic Bank revealed recently.
"The scam incidents have clearly showed lack of good governance in the banking sector, indicating the failure of authorities like Bangladesh Bank and Banking and Financial Institutions Division," said the official.
Sources in the banking division said the Banking Secretary Dr Aslam Alam will chair the meeting at the finance division and World Bank Country Director Johannes Zutt would attend the review meeting.
WB mission will stay more than two weeks for the review of the overall economic situation of Bangladesh.
Other economic issues to come under the review would include implementation of budget, balance of payment situation, revenue earnings, foreign exchange reserve and export performance.
In its recent report titled Global Economic Prospects (GEP), the World Bank said the political obstacles to passing and executing reform legislation by Bangladesh pose downside risks to the economic growth outlook.
In this situation, it projected Bangladesh's gross domestic product growth at 5.8% for the outgoing fiscal year, down by 0.23 percentage points than the estimate by Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.
"In countries either exiting (Pakistan) or entering electoral cycles (Bangladesh, India, Nepal), spending pressures associated with elections could boost fiscal expenditure, adding to inflationary pressures and both internal and external imbalances," said the GEP report.
It said risks in the post-election period include the possibility that past reforms are reversed or implementation delayed.
However, the global lender forecasts that the Bangladesh economy might pick up modestly to 6.1% in fiscal 2013 -14 and 6.3% in fiscal 2014 -15, as external demand strengthens gradually, and agricultural output returns to more normal levels.
