Can Gender Responsive Budgeting Contribute to PFM Reform: A Case Study of Bangladesh*

Abstract: The gender-responsive budgeting (GRB) system has come to play since the 1990s. While there is evidence of positive — considerable or limited — as well as no impact of GRB on the public finance management reform process, there is no concrete evidence of its negative impact either. Bangladesh is a new entrant in adopting the GRB system. The country has come a long way in ensuring gender parity in education and enhanced women’s economic empowerment in other spheres contributing to its impressive economic growth. Special allocations in the national budget for girls and women have underpinned this success. In this context, this paper explores whether and to what extent the GRB mechanism has played a role in the country’s overall public finance management reform process. Secondary data analysis shows that despite some developments, such as a regular publication of gender budget alongside the national budget every year, the GRB process has remained to be somewhat rhetorical in Bangladesh. There are, nonetheless, different initiatives currently under process so to make the GRB mechanism more effective in enhancing gender equality and improving the overall public financial management system.

Key words: gender-responsive budgeting; public finance management; governance; gender equality; Bangladesh

         JEL code: H610