IMF for stronger asset disclosure process for civil servants

The International Monetary Fund has urged Bangladesh to strengthen the asset declaration process for public officials in order to combat high-level corruption effectively.

The Washington-based lender made the suggestion in its document released on Tuesday. It also outlined measures to restore macroeconomic stability and end the balance of payments crisis.

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The suggestions have to be followed in order to receive the remaining instalments of the IMF's $4.7 billion loan.

The advice comes hard on the heels of revelations of financial felonies of unprecedented scale involving a number of former and incumbent senior government officials.

The amassing of huge wealth by former inspector general of police Benazir Ahmed has particularly taken the nation by surprise.

"To combat high-level corruption effectively, it is essential to reinforce the asset declaration process for public officials by enforcing sanctions for non-compliance and adopting a standardised approach for the usage and regular updating of the declarations," said the IMF.

According to the document, the government told the IMF that it remained committed to strengthening governance and combatting corruption.