The government has waived certain formalities involved in the disbursement of funds meant for autonomous bodies to help meet their expenditures on development and non-development activities without any interruption.
Funds are now being automatically released, sources said.
The government allocates a significant amount of funds in the national budget for autonomous organisations and corporations under different ministries and divisions.
Usually, such entities are required to visit their relevant ministries and the finance division physically to get such funds released.
On April 12, the finance division issued an order on the matter signed by Shirajun Noor Chowdhury, a joint secretary of the finance division.
It said the fund of the fourth quarter will automatically be disbursed.
Officials at the finance division told the FE if there is any amount pending, it will also be disbursed automatically.
The autonomous bodies have been given the authority to utilise the fund directly. An official of the finance division said the finance ministry has already finalised revised budget. The original allocation for the organisations has shrunk, however.
Finance division officials said that such a decision had been taken, considering the emergency situation caused by Covid-19.
When asked about the misuse of the fund, a senior official said that they will not be able to spend the money as offices remain closed for a long.
"We did it to ease the disbursement under abnormal situation not only in Bangladesh but across the globe," said an official at the finance division.
The government offices have remained closed since March 26 last.
Officials having direct knowledge of the process said it will help implement their projects.
This fund includes grant from the government for the organisations.
This also includes equity and loan as government support to conduct different development and non-development activities.
The government allocates around Tk 20 billion for such entities from the budget of Tk 5.23 trillion for the current fiscal year, according to a finance division official, who deals with the issue.
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